downtown – Page 24 – Michael Eats

Great Margherita Pizza at Pi Co.

Published on October 3, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1200 Bay Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.pi-co.ca/

Fact: a margherita pizza, done well, is the best pizza. It’s just crust, sauce, cheese, basil, and olive oil, but when it’s done well, it all comes together in a way that feels magical. It’s one of the world’s few perfect foods.

Pi Co. does it well.

The restaurant itself is actually pretty interesting — it’s mostly a take-out joint, and aside from the margherita, they don’t have any pre-topped pizzas.

The restaurant is set up almost like a Subway, with a variety of toppings behind glass that you can choose from on the spot. And the Neopolitan-style pies bake fast, so you can be in and out surprisingly quickly, despite the fact that they’re starting every pizza from scratch.

It’s quite good. A pizza like this lives and dies by its crust; the crust here was solid, with a satisfying chew, a decent amount of flavour, and a nice blistery exterior. The external crisp factor could have been slightly higher, but that’s a very minor complaint.

Everything else was great, with a nice balance of sauce and cheese. It’s not the best margherita I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty damn satisfying (again: it’s a perfect food).

Tasty Looking Taiyaki Cones at Sukoi Desserts

Published on September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 760 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://sukoidesserts.com/

Taiyaki — a fish-shaped, waffle-like dessert that’s traditionally filled with tasty custard or red bean — is great. What’s not to like? It’s delicious.

But I was a little bit concerned that the taiyaki cones they’re serving at Sukoi Desserts might be one of those looks-first, taste-second Instagram-bait creations that have been popping up all over the city. The fact that I overheard the owners discussing the cost of bringing “influencers” to the shop certainly didn’t instill confidence.

You can customize your cone in a few different ways — the ice cream (they had black sesame and vanilla when I went), the filling (red bean, custard, or Nutella), and the topping (chocolate cookie crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, or sprinkles).

I got a black sesame / vanilla twist, a topping of cookie crumbs, and a filling of red bean.

It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever eaten, but I wouldn’t call it empty Instagram bait, either. The ice cream was fine — it had a pronounced sesame flavour and an enjoyably subtle sweetness. It was a little grainy and not particularly creamy, but it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it.

The taiyaki was easily the highlight. It was warm and fresh, with a pronounced crispiness on its exterior and a perfect amount of substance on its interior. The generous amount of tasty red bean filling complimented it perfectly.

Overall it’s a tasty enough dessert, but the middling ice cream mostly just gets in the way of the delicious taiyaki, so… I guess it kinda is Instagram bait. Oh well.

Tasty and Unique Flavours at Dipped Donuts

Published on September 19, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 161 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/dippeddonuts/

Though Dipped Donuts has been serving their tasty treats at various events throughout the city for a few years, they’ve only just recently opened a permanent outpost in Kensington Market.

They keep things pretty simple; as far as I can tell, they only serve classic raised doughnuts — nothing with a cakey base, and on the day I visited, nothing filled (though they do have filled doughnuts in their rotation).

Their menu mostly consists of quirky flavours like rosewater pistachio, mango ginger, and London fog.

I tried the blueberry basil, and yeah, it’s good. The doughnut itself is a little bit more dense and chewy than the norm, which is actually quite satisfying.

The glaze was seriously delicious, though I’ll admit that I couldn’t taste any basil flavour. It was bright and fruity, with a mild tartness and a pronounced blueberry flavour. It’s also admirably restrained in its sweetness; it’s basically the polar opposite of the in-your-face sugar bombs you’ll find at Krispy Kreme.

Most of the time, I’m ready to tap out from the sweetness after one doughnut. Here, I could have happily eaten another one (or two).

Above Average Ramen at Ramen Misoya

Published on September 12, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 646 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ramenmisoya.ca/

I don’t need a whole lot to convince me to try a new ramen joint. Ramen Misoya is a Japanese ramen chain that’s been featured in the Michelin guide, with locations all over the world.

Michelin-featured ramen? That’s pretty much all I need to hear. I’m sold.

(Though the last Michelin-adjacent ramen joint that opened in Toronto, Konjiki Ramen, was pretty disappointing.)

I ordered the gold kome special, which is a pork- and miso-based soup that comes with chasu, half an egg, ground pork, and a couple of potato wedges.

It’s a solid bowl of ramen. The broth has a decent amount of complexity; it’s got a porky richness and a nice miso flavour, and it’s livened up by a mild gingery and garlicky bite. The level of salt is a bit too intense, but it’s otherwise above average.

The noodles were also quite satisfying, with a perfect thickness and a nice firm texture.

The add-ins, sadly, were hit-and-miss. The egg was tasty, with a great gooey yolk. But the chasu was so tough I could barely even bite through it, and had a vaguely gamy flavour.

The potato wedges were just weird; even if these had been perfect I’m not sure they would have worked. And they were undercooked and crunchy, so they definitely didn’t work.

TIFF-Inspired Ice Cream at Sweet Jesus

Published on September 10, 2018September 10, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 106 John Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.sweetjesus4life.com/

After essentially accusing Sweet Jesus of being empty Instagram-bait, I recently came to the realization that it’s probably a bit better than I’ve been giving it credit for. Yes, a heavy emphasis is placed on making their creations as visually pleasing as possible, but the soft serve is nice and creamy, and the flavours are usually satisfying.

That being said? Their new limited edition TIFF-inspired creation, the Marie Antoinette, is empty Instagram-bait.

It’s a collaboration with Nadege, and it features vanilla soft serve, maple sauce, macaron crumbs, mini macarons, and a full-sized macaron on top.

The full macaron is actually the best thing about it. It has a nice, lightly crispy texture, a very subtle chewiness, and a pleasant vanilla bean flavour that isn’t too sweet. It’s a quality macaron.

Otherwise, the rest basically just tastes like plain vanilla ice cream. The mini macarons are one-note crunchy and don’t really taste like anything, the maple sauce features shockingly little maple syrup flavour (I never would have guessed it was supposed to be maple if I hadn’t known), and the macaron crumbs just add a grainy texture.

The vanilla ice cream is tasty enough, so I certainly didn’t dislike eating it, but there isn’t a whole lot there.