Distillery District – Michael Eats

Smoked Meat at Billy’s Bodega

Published on October 29, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 16 Trinity Street, Toronto
Website: https://billysbodega.com/

As soon as I saw photos of the smoked meat sandwich at Billy’s Bodega, I was in. House-made, hand-cut smoked meat? Yes please, I want that, where is it?

They actually have two smoked meat sandwiches on the menu. There’s the Little Billy, which comes with 150 grams of meat and costs $19, and the Big Billy, which comes with 300 grams and costs $29.

I went with the Little Billy. I had no idea what 150 grams of meat looked like, but based on the price, I figured this would be a decent amount of meat. It turns out 150 grams isn’t much meat! I don’t know if you get a sense of the scale from the photo, but I probably could have eaten each half of the sandwich in about two bites.

Lesson learned: splurge and get the Big Billy.

The quality of the meat is quite nice. It’s thickly sliced, it’s got a good amount of perfectly rendered fat, and it’s very tender. The texture is exactly where you want it to be. It’s stellar.

The flavour is a bit odd, however; it tasted more like corned beef than smoked meat. If it was smoked or spiced at all, I couldn’t taste it. It was pleasantly salty from the brine and had a nice beefy flavour, but that’s about it. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not what I was expecting.

As for the rest of the sandwich, the overly dense rye bread was toasted (?!?!?), and the application of mustard was a bit too heavy-handed. But then given the beef’s lack of flavour, a lot of mustard is probably a good thing?

A Simple but Tasty Sandwich at Cluny

Published on November 13, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 35 Tank House Lane, Toronto
Website: https://clunybistro.com/

Cluny is a French bistro in the Distillery District that also has an attached bakery where they sell various pastries and sandwiches.

The bakery has the requisite sweets, of course, along with a handful of tasty looking sandwiches and savoury pastries (the quiche looked good, as did the tourtiere). I went with the ham and brie sandwich.

I got it toasted, though I think untoasted might be the better option. Toasting gets the bread a little too crunchified, and melts the fat in the ham, making the sandwich a drippy, greasy mess.

Even so, it’s a tasty sandwich. The bread, even in its over-crunched form, is top-notch, and the speck ham and brie work nicely together. It’s a simple sandwich, but if you’re dealing with high quality ingredients that compliment each other well, further ornamentation is unnecessary.

Intense Hot Chocolate at SOMA Chocolatemaker

Published on November 7, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 32 Tank House Lane, Toronto
Website: https://www.somachocolate.com/

They sell hot chocolate at SOMA Chocolatemaker — but not just any hot chocolate. You have the option to get it as “an intense shot,” which is just what it sounds like. It’s basically like drinking pure, melted chocolate.

It’s not as overwhelming as it sounds; it’s thick and rich, but it’s still drinkable. It’s not quite at the consistency of melted chocolate, even if it’s close.

You can get Mayan hot chocolate, which is amped up with chili peppers and spices, or you can get the good old classic, which is what I ordered on this particular visit (I like the Mayan version too, but I do find that the spices kind of distract from the amazing chocolate).

It’s amazing. Of course it’s amazing; SOMA makes some of the best chocolate in the world, and they have the accolades to prove it. The flavour is rich and complex, with just the right amount of sweetness. I can’t imagine that a better cup of hot chocolate exists.

Tasty (and Unusual) Doughnuts at Flipside Donuts

Published on June 10, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 12 Case Goods Lane, Toronto
Website: https://flipsidedonuts.com/

Though I’ve had many, many sweet doughnuts in my lifetime (and so have you, I’m guessing, unless you’re living out some kind of Encino Man scenario and have just emerged from the ice), but I can’t say I’ve ever had a savoury one.

There’s a first time for everything, of course, and if what Flipside Donuts is serving up is any indication, savoury doughnuts are way better than you’d think they’d be.

Flipside serves mini doughnuts a la Tiny Tom, and if you order one of their savoury concoctions, you get eight little doughnuts with various toppings.

I ordered the Spadina Streetcar: “8 mini donuts covered in hoisin, braised duck, pickled vegetables, sesame aioli, cilantro.”

The doughnuts themselves are great — they’re freshly fried, just as you’d hope they’d be, with a mild sweetness that works quite well with the savoury toppings.

The texture is a bit more dense and cakey than Tiny Tom, with a lightly crispy exterior that’s incredibly satisfying.

And the toppings are delicious. Hoisin and duck is obviously a boffo combination, not to mention the extra punch of creaminess that you get from the aioli. And the freshness of the cilantro and the vinegary punch of the slaw helps to cut the richness from the other elements. The duck itself is a bit dry, but mostly, the dish works way better than you’d think.

I also tried a few of the sweet doughnuts. I tried Bellwoods Bonfire (“toasted spiced walnuts & hickory smoked maple syrup”), South Coast Sour (“lemon curd, toasted poppy seed”), Danforth Drizzle (“pistachio butter, Toronto honey, puff pastry”), and Viva YRT (“sweet mango puree & toasted coconut”).

There wasn’t a dud in the bunch, though the Danforth Drizzle, with its rich pistachio flavour, was my favourite.

Subtle (and Delicious) Pastries at Roselle Desserts

Published on October 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 362 King Street East, Toronto
Website: http://www.roselleto.com/

I think “subtle” is the best word to describe what they’re serving at Roselle Desserts, a charming little bakery on King, just around the corner from the Distillery District.

I tried three things: a chocolate chunk cookie, a chocolate souffle cookie, and a raspberry madeleine.

The souffle cookie was the best of the three. It had a rich, deeply cocoa-infused flavour, with a surprisingly subtle amount of sweetness. It also had a really satisfying texture: lightly crispy on the outside, and soft and fudgy on the inside.

Lack of sweetness seems to be a theme here; the chocolate chunk cookie was also way more subtle than the norm. It’s a great quality cookie, with a nice chewy texture and a very generous amount of tasty chocolate chunks.

Unlike the other two, the lack of sweetness felt like a detriment with the madeleine; this one was way too subtle for its own good, with only a vague whisper of raspberry flavour. The sweetness here was so restrained that I’m not even sure this should be classified as a dessert.