Ed’s Real Scoop – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Street vendor hot dog, Bao Bar, Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on March 30, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hot dog from street vendor at King and John

Street vendor hot dogs have mostly disappeared from the city, which is too bad; they’re certainly not gourmet, but when you need a quick bite, they’re pretty tasty. I actually made a short film about street vendor hot dogs back in 2007, so yeah, I like them. This particular one wasn’t the best I’ve had (the secret of a good street vendor dog is to grill it until it’s got a crispy exterior and a smoky, charred flavour, and that didn’t happen here), but for five bucks for a quick meal, it’s hard to complain.

Great Chicken and Crackle Belly baos from Bao Bar

I think part of the reason I don’t want to dwell on negativity on this blog is that it’s very possible to catch an otherwise good restaurant on a bad day. So rather than trash a place that doesn’t deserve it, I feel like it’s a better idea to just focus on the places I like. That being said, I tried a couple of the baos at this place, and nothing about them — not the bread, the meats, or the sauces — was even remotely good (I should note that “great chicken” is the name of the dish, and certainly not my description of it). But then Bao Bar is generally fairly well regarded online, so maybe it was just a bad day.

Pumpkin and sweet cream from Ed’s Real Scoop

I have a love/hate relationship with Ed’s Real Scoop (well, love/hate is a bit strong… love/like I guess?); when it’s good, it’s very good. But I find it to be the most inconsistent of the better ice cream shops in the GTA. But here’s them at their best: on this particular visit I had pumpkin and sweet cream, and both were fantastic. The pumpkin had a really satisfying pumpkin pie flavour, and the sweet cream (which is reliably the best flavour here) was as delicious as usual. Having them together is basically like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. It’s a boffo combination.

Burnt Marshmallow at Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on June 21, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 189 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I’ve mentioned before that the ice cream at Ed’s Real Scoop can be a bit hit and miss. One of their more consistent flavours, however, is the burnt marshmallow. It’s pretty much always delicious.

I mean, how could it not be delicious? It’s basically sweet cream, which is clearly the best flavour at Ed’s, with a rich, deeply flavourful caramel sauce swirled in. It only just barely tastes like burnt marshmallow (it tastes more like creme caramel to me), but more importantly, it tastes delicious.

And the ice cream itself is nice and creamy, though like all of the ice cream at Ed’s in the last few years, it has a slightly gummy texture that I find marginally off-putting. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s there and it’s unfortunate (I will concede that in this particular case, the gumminess could be attributed to the fact that this is a marshmallow flavour. But it’s there in all of their flavours, sadly).

Middling Gelato at Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on September 26, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 189 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I’ve mentioned before that I quite like Ed’s Real Scoop, but that really, their sweet cream is where it’s at. It’s outstanding. Their other flavours are disappointingly hit-and-miss.

But in all my dozens of visits to the place over the years, I’ve never bothered to try their gelato. This is going to be a short post — more of a PSA than anything else — because it’s not very good. I’d advise that you stick to the ice cream. Specifically, stick to the sweet cream.

I tried the pistachio and the bacio (chocolate hazelnut), and both of the flavours were pretty weak. There just wasn’t much there, other than a generic sweetness. This tends to be an issue with their ice cream, too, but at least in that case they’re starting with a great quality base.

Alas, the gelato itself was thin and underwhelming, with barely any creaminess at all. It’s a waste of time when the ice cream is right there.

Quality Ice Cream at Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on June 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 920 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I like Ed’s a lot, though it tends to be a bit hit-and-miss. Still, it’s one of the better places for ice cream in the city, and as you can see from the picture above, it’s popular.

And while the quality is a bit inconsistent, their sweet cream is always delicious. It’s about as simple as a flavour can get; as the name implies, it’s basically just sweetened cream. It’s proof that if you’re starting with good quality stuff, you don’t need elaborate flavourings and chunks mixed in.

My second scoop was chocolate, and remember when I said this place is hit-and-miss? Yeah, it was pretty middling.

I also checked out the Roncesvalles location recently; I got one scoop of sweet cream, and one of chocolate peanut butter. Again, the sweet cream was amazing, and the other flavour was just okay.

I should probably just stick with sweet cream.