downtown – Page 7 – Michael Eats

Nashville Hot Chicken at Knockout Chicken

Published on July 23, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 207 Augusta Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://knockoutchickento.com/

Knockout Chicken has been serving up fried chicken sandwiches in Kensington Market for a few years now (they also have a location in Mississauga), and yeah, I can see why they have staying power. Their fried chicken is pretty solid.

They have a whole bunch of sandwiches on the menu, but the woman behind the counter said the Nashville Sandwich is the most popular (“Nashville-style fried chicken breast, homemade coleslaw, pickles, jalapenos, and chipotle aioli”), so that’s what I got.

It’s not the crispiest or the juiciest fried chicken I’ve ever had, but I enjoyed it. It’s got a decent kick to it, it’s nice and flavourful, and the slightly sweet bun suits it well. It’s got a bit more going on than you’d expect from Nashville hot chicken, but for the most part, it works.

My only real issue here is with the coleslaw, which tastes heavily of sour cream and is a bit one-note rich. I think the sandwich would have been improved with less (or none) of this stuff, but everything else was tasty enough that this wasn’t a huge deal.

Dave’s Genuine Deli at the Waterworks Food Hall

Published on July 14, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 50 Brandt Street, Toronto (inside the Waterworks Food Hall)
Website: https://www.davesgenuine.ca/

I’m a sucker for a good smoked meat deli sandwich, so it bums me out that there are so few great ones being served in the GTA. There’s SumiLicious and Centre Street Deli and… that’s about it?

Well, you can add one more sandwich to that list: Dave’s Genuine Deli. I actually went to the original location a year or so ago and the sandwich was just as good then, so they’re consistent, too.

They have a handful of sandwiches on the menu (including, intriguingly, a couple of southern-style BBQ sandwiches), but of course, I went with the smoked meat, which you can order as a quarter or half pound serving (I went quarter and kinda wished I went with half once I realized how good it was).

It’s so good — super tender, perfectly rendered fat, great spicing, and a very pronounced smoky flavour. That smokiness kind of reminds me of Caplansky’s in their glory days in the Monarch. Great bread, too. It’s a top-shelf smoked meat sandwich.

The only thing I’d change is that I’d order the mustard on the side next time. They were very heavy-handed with it, and on a lesser sandwich I’d be fine with that (it might even be necessary), but the quality of the meat was so good that the aggressive slathering of mustard overwhelmed its flavour and took away from it a bit. Still, that’s a very minor complaint for an otherwise phenomenal sandwich.

I also got an order of the fries, and they were great too, with a perfect crispy/creamy combo and a nice amount of salt.

Tasty Eats at Gushi Fried Chicken

Published on June 26, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 707 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.eatgushi.com/

There are a bunch of great options in Market 707, a collection of street vendors that operate out of shipping containers near Kensington Market. I’ve previously tried (and loved) Marq’s Chicago Beef, and I think the fried chicken at Gushi is just as good.

I ordered the original Gushi chicken meal, which comes with a generous amount of karaage (Japanese fried chicken made from bite-sized pieces of thigh meat) on top of purple rice, topped with spicy mayo.

The fried chicken is stellar. It’s super crispy, nicely seasoned, and features perfectly cooked chicken. It’s incredibly satisfying, and works very well with the sticky purple rice.

The only thing I would change is that I’d probably ask for the spicy mayo to be on the side next time. It’s quite tasty — and its zippy flavour complements the fried chicken very well — but there’s a lot of it. It’s a bit overwhelming. The chicken is so tasty on its own that such a thorough deluge of heavy sauce is probably overkill.

Tasty Eats at Wellington Market in The Well

Published on May 30, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 486 Front Street West, Toronto
Website: https://thewelltoronto.com/eat/wellington-market/

When I was invited to a press event at Wellington Market, the new upscale food court in The Well, my first thought was: do I really feel like braving downtown traffic on a random weeknight, only to arrive at a place where I’ll probably have to talk to people?

I’m lazy and antisocial, you see. But also: free food.

Yeah, the prospect of free food got me. The only thing better than food? Food that I don’t have to pay for.

And oh boy, was there a lot of food that I didn’t have to pay for at this event. If you’re unaware of Wellington Market’s whole deal, it’s basically a food court, but filled exclusively with stuff that’s a bit more interesting than standard food court fare. And on this particular night, every restaurant was just handing out free food like candy on Halloween. It was a free food bonanza; I tried a bunch of stuff.

I think the thing I was most excited about was Japadog, the legendary Vancouver chain (sampled by no less than Anthony Bourdain) that specializes in Japanese-influenced hot dogs.

I tried the chili dog, and while I didn’t notice anything particularly Japanese about the flavour, it was a top-notch dog, with a good amount of tasty chili and a satisfyingly smoky wiener (that’s what she said?). It was one of the better things I ate.

There was also Blue Claw, which specializes in lobster rolls. The lobster roll here was probably my least favourite thing that I ate that night, but hey, they can’t all be winners.

(Also, the lights here did something very weird to my phone’s camera, which I’ve never seen before.)

Rosie’s Burgers has a few locations throughout the GTA. They were handing out chicken sandwiches, and yeah, it was a great sandwich. Satisfying combo of crunchiness/juiciness, and a nice zippy sauce to cut through the richness.

There’s also some dessert shops here, including Shake Therapy, which specializes in milkshakes and falooda, a sweet, milky Indian dessert with ice cream.

I tried the rose falooda and thought it was quite tasty, though the texture was odd (it was basically like drinking a sweet glass of milk with a scoop of ice cream in it). Still, I enjoyed it and would get it again.

Back to savoury, there was Doraji, which specializes in Korean bibimbap.

They were handing out samples of the bulgogi beef bibimbap, which you can top with a number of sauces (I went with the old classic, gochujang). This was comparable to the better bowls of bibimbap I’ve had in the GTA; I quite liked it.

There was also La Cubana, a Cuban restaurant with a couple of locations in the city.

They were serving a sampling plate with the classic Cubano, yucca fries, plantain, and a little doughnut hole. Everything here was tasty, though the doughnut was the highlight, weirdly. It had a great lightly crispy/chewy texture, and just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar.

Then there was Samosarie, which, as you’d assume from the name, specializes in samosas.

They have a whole bunch of funky flavours on offer; I was told the tandoori chicken was the most popular, so I went with that.

I enjoyed it (it really nails the tandoori chicken flavour), though it doesn’t have the crispy fried exterior that you’re expecting. I think it’s baked rather than fried, and it reminded me more of a Jamaican patty than a traditional samosa. It’s not bad; it’s just different.

I was getting quite full by this point, but there was still room for a bit more.

This place is called Sam’s Juices. I guess they mostly specialize in drinks, but they do have a “hot & honey” chicken sandwich on the menu.

There was nothing about this that got my heart rate up in any particular way, but I enjoyed it (and it’s quite possible that I would have enjoyed it more if I weren’t extremely full).

I was pretty much ready to tap out, though I did see a place called A La Table handing out what appeared to be fruit cups, which I figured I could handle.

This turned out to have a bunch of cheese and crackers in there, along with the fruit. I’m not sure who would order this or why, but hey, it exists if that’s your thing.

And that was pretty much that. There were a few more places I wish I could have tried (most pressingly: Ryu’s Noodle Bar, which serves some of the best ramen in the city), but alas, I only have so much stomach space.

(I was thinking about making a Schindler’s List “I could have eaten more” joke, but you know what? I’m too classy for that.)

Tasty New York Pizza at Prince Street Pizza

Published on November 16, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 472 Front Street West, Toronto
Website: https://princestreetpizza.ca/

Prince Street Pizza is a New York pizza joint that specializes in square, Sicilian-style slices that recently opened in Toronto with a whole bunch of hype. The lines were reportedly around the block.

Thankfully, things seem to have settled down a bit (there was a short line when I went, but nothing too bad). The place is takeout only, but if you go around the corner to the shopping area at The Well, there are some outdoor tables to be had.

It turns out the excitement over the place is quite warranted; it’s very good.

They have a variety of more traditional slices, along with the square ones they’re known for. I went with the Spicy Spring, which is their signature slice.

This particular pizza is basically just no-frills pepperoni, but every element is right where it should be: the slightly spicy pepperoni is thoroughly tasty (and it’s the type that curls up into little grease goblets — the king of pepperoni), the quality of the sauce and the cheese is top notch, and the crust is great.

The crust here is greasy enough that it essentially fries on the bottom, and yeah. Yeah, that’s the way to do it. It’s crispy, chewy, and has a great flavour.

While I liked that the slice wasn’t too overloaded with cheese, my only real complaint is that this meant that a lot of the pepperoni didn’t have anything to stick to, and fell off as soon as I picked up the slice. But if that’s the biggest complaint about a slice of pizza, you know you’re in good shape.