egg – Michael Eats

Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich from 7-Eleven

Published on March 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 980 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.7-eleven.ca/

The egg salad sandwich at 7-Eleven in Japan has become somewhat legendary over the years, so now that it’s landed in Canada, it comes with a whole lot of hype. The first time I attempted to buy one, it was sold out, and I overheard someone else in the store asking about it.

It’s a very simple sandwich; the package it comes in lists the ingredients as just “shokupan bread, eggs, mayonnaise (Kewpie), mustard, salt.”

I can’t claim to be an expert on the real deal in Japan — I’ve had it a couple of times, but generally speaking, if I’m looking for a quick bite in a Japanese 7-Eleven, I’m grabbing an onigiri — but it’s clear even to me that this just isn’t the same.

The egg salad itself is actually quite pleasant — it’s eggy and rich, and is somewhere in the ballpark of the Japanese version. They’re a bit too stingy with it, however, with a lot of the sandwich having very little of the stuff.

The real deal-breaker here is the bread. It’s dense, and not even remotely comparable to the pillowy ultra-fluffiness of the real deal version.

It’s so dense that it makes the thin amount of egg salad feel like an even worse problem than it is, with an unyielding texture that thoroughly overpowers the egg.

Overall, it’s a perfectly fine convenience store egg salad sandwich (especially for the current promotional price of five bucks), but if you’re hoping for a taste of Japan at home… not so much.

Unique Thai Brunch at Le Lert

Published on January 9, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 27 Carlton Street, Toronto
Website: https://lelert.ca/

I like brunch — we all like brunch — but sometimes it can get a bit boring. Enter Le Lert, which has a fun brunch menu with a Thai twist.

There’s some tempting stuff on the menu, but I went with the omelette over rice, which you can get with northern style sausage patties, grilled pork jowl, pan-grilled striploin, roasted chicken thigh, or grilled mixed mushrooms.

I got the grilled pork jowl, though I was able to try one of the sausages as well.

It’s tasty stuff. The perfectly-cooked omelette and the fluffy rice make for a great combo, and the unctuous pork jowl is tender and flavourful. As for the northern style sausage patty, it’s just as good, with a great lemongrass-infused flavour. The plate also comes with a little bowl of a thick, zippy sauce that does a great job of jazzing everything up. It’s tasty stuff.

Hearty Kothu Roti at Saffron Spice Kitchen

Published on November 29, 2025 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 459 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.saffronspicekitchen.com/

Saffron Spice Kitchen is a delightful little restaurant on Queen Street specializing in Sri Lankan eats. And when I say little, I mean little. They’ve got a couple of counter seats, but mostly, this is a take-out place.

They have a variety of wraps and curries on the menu, but their specialty seems to be the kothu roti (basically a Sri Lankan hash, with chopped up roti, eggs, and meat), with the butter chicken version being the one they’re best known for.

It’s quite tasty and seriously hearty, with a richness from the eggs and a satisfying chewiness from the roti. It’s also delightfully flavourful, and is absolutely crammed with Sri Lankan spices.

The butter chicken on top isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, it’s a solid version of the dish and works well with the kothu roti.

You can choose from three levels levels of heat; I went with the hottest version, and while it could have been hotter, it was studded with sliced peppers that gave it some nice pops of heat. It’s a tasty dish.

But the portion, good lord. It costs fifteen bucks, which seems like it might be on the pricey side until they hand it to you and you realize that it must weigh like three or four pounds. It’s a good thing this is mostly a take-out joint, because this is a dish that either needs to be shared or split up into like two or three meals. I barely made a dent in it.

Pork Overload at Fushi Co.

Published on November 23, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4186 Finch Avenue East, Scarborough
Website: https://fushi.co/

Fushi Co. mostly caught my eye thanks to the photos of the pork and rice they have posted in the window of their restaurant, which reminded me a lot of a mind-blowing pork dish I had in Taipei. That was back in 2019, and I still occasionally think about it. I’ll be sitting there minding my own business, and boom, I’m thinking about that pork. It was magical.

The dish I had here was a bit more deluxe — I could have had the one which just comes with braised pork knuckle, which I believe would have pretty much been identical to the one from Taiwan. But the “Signature Four Happiness Pork” comes with pork knuckle, pork belly, a bone with a decent amount of meat attached, and intestines. Why yes, I would like all the pork.

Is it too much pork? I think it’s too much pork. Certainly, it’s more pork than any reasonable person should eat in one sitting. But did I eat it all? You bet I did. Did I feel good about it after? I sure didn’t!

It’s quite tasty. All the pork is reasonably tender (even the intestine, which has none of the chewiness or gaminess you might expect), and the deeply savoury flavour is very satisfying. I wish there had been some kind of hot sauce or chili oil to kick things up, but such is life.

It’s not even remotely as good as the Taiwanese pork of my dreams (that was legitimately one of the best things I’ve ever eaten), but it’s still an enjoyable dish. Plus, at 15 bucks for enough rice and meat to comfortably feed two, it’s a great deal.

Amazing Breakfast Sandwiches at Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee

Published on August 2, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1473 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/dads.goodmorning

Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches opened pretty recently, and it’s already extremely popular. I tried to visit a couple of weeks ago, at just before noon on a Saturday, and it was all sold out. I don’t mean one or two sandwiches were sold out. I mean they had sold out of everything.

Clearly, going early is advisable. I showed up at around 9:00am this time, and the place was packed, so I’m guessing another sell-out was inevitable.

(An aside: the sign calls this place “Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches,” but online, it appears to be called “Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee.” Figure out a name and stick with it, guys; this isn’t that hard.)

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: Dad’s ’48 (“egg, hashbrown, cheddar, house ketchup, bacon or sausage”) and Katsu Dad (“katsu egg, caramelized onions, chili crisp, aioli”).

I was wondering if maybe this place was a bit over-hyped, but both of these sandwiches took my skepticism, loaded it into a cannon and shot it into the sun. The hype: 100 percent deserved.

The Dad’s ’48 is the more traditional of the two, but is just perfectly executed on every level. You can choose between bacon and sausage; the guy behind the counter mentioned that they make their sausage in house, so that’s what I went with.

It’s phenomenal. Perfect balance between the silky egg patty, the gooey cheese, the meaty sausage (which is nicely spiced and thoroughly delicious), and the crispy hashbrown. The ketchup and pickle slices (which the menu doesn’t mention) add more flavour and zinginess. The fluffy, slightly sweet bun is the perfect vehicle. It’s a top-tier breakfast sandwich. One of the best in the city for sure.

But as much as I liked that one, I think I might have liked the Katsu Dad even more. The idea of breading and frying an egg patty is, frankly, genius. It’s got a great level of crispiness on its exterior, but the egg patty within is just as silky and perfectly cooked at the non-fried one in the Dad’s ’48.

And the combo of the ultra-savoury, mildly spicy chili crisp and the sweet caramelized onions — not to mention the creamy aioli — is a big winner. I can’t say I’ve ever had a breakfast sandwich quite like this before, and it’s one that will live in my dreams forever.