Etobicoke – Page 6 – Michael Eats

French Onion Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on April 1, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

French onion soup is delicious. That’s just a fact. If you disagree with that statement — sorry to break it to you, but you have bad opinions about soup.

Cramming French onion soup flavours into a hamburger is such a foolproof idea that I’m shocked you don’t see it more often. That’s not to say that you never see it (I actually reviewed a French onion soup burger for my burger blog a few years ago), but I think this is the first time I’ve seen it at a fast food joint.

The burger, as per Wendy’s menu: “A quarter-pound of fresh, never-frozen Canadian beef, two slices of cheese, caramelized onions, crispy onions, and a seasoned mayo sauce. Your favourite fancy soup is now your favourite fancy burger.”

(Is French onion soup fancy? I feel like any dish whose primary appeal is gobs of melty cheese can’t be classified as “fancy,” but maybe I’m wrong.)

The burger doesn’t do a particularly great job of capturing the flavours of a bowl of French onion soup, mostly because the cheese is American rather than the traditional gruyere (or even something vaguely gruyere-like, which does exist in processed cheese form). On the other hand, it’s delicious, so who cares.

It’s a really, really good fast food cheeseburger; one of the best I’ve had in quite a while, in fact. Gooey American cheese and griddled onions are best friends on a burger, the crispy onions add some nice texture, and the seasoned mayo sauce adds a nice dose of creaminess and richness.

And the patty itself was reasonably juicy and had a decent (if very mild) beefy flavour. Of course, that’ll depend on the location you visit, but I feel like Wendy’s is the most consistent fast food chain in that regard. It’s good more often than it’s not.

Jodie’s is a Hidden Gem

Published on March 26, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 331 Horner Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.instagram.com/jodiesrestaurant/

Jodie’s is basically the definition of a hidden gem. It’s tucked away in an industrial area of Etobicoke, it looks extremely unassuming, and there’s very little information about it online. But yes: it’s a gem.

The menu consists entirely of no-frills diner classics. I came at breakfast and ordered the morning mixer, which comes with two eggs cooked as you like; a pancake or French toast (I went with the pancake); your choice of bacon, ham, or sausage (I got sausage), with a side of home fries and toast.

It’s an exceptionally basic diner breakfast that could very easily be fine, but not much more.

Jodie’s knocks it out of the park, however, with perfectly prepared eggs, a pancake that strikes a great balance between fluffiness and substance, nicely crispy/creamy home fries, and some tasty sausages that I think are fried (they had an exterior crispiness that’s quite delightful). It’s quite simple, but when the execution is as good as it is here, simplicity is where it’s at.

Satisfying Fried Chicken at Burger Legend

Published on March 18, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1086 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://burgerlegend.ca/

Burger Legend recently opened a new location in Etobicoke; I tried the burger at their original Streetsville location a few years ago, and thought it was pretty solid.

I had the fried chicken sandwich this time, which they serve in various styles (Buffalo, Nashville, Cajun, etc.). I ordered the Nashville hot chicken, and it was pretty tasty.

It’s very hard to go wrong with a crispy, freshly-fried piece of fried chicken, and yeah, it was quite good. The white meat was a bit on the dry side and the chicken itself was underseasoned, but it was otherwise a solid fried chicken sandwich.

It is, as you’d hope from Nashville hot chicken, pretty spicy. It’s not going to blow your face off, but the spice level is noticeable. It’s topped with coleslaw and something they call “Bawss sauce,” and both are quite tasty and complement the chicken well. They also do a pretty good job of bringing the chicken some much-needed flavour.

The nicely toasted bun is soft, fresh, and holds up nicely to the substantial piece of chicken. It’s not a sandwich that’s going to rock anyone’s world, but it’s thoroughly tasty.

Tasty Polish Doughnuts at Basket of Bread

Published on December 12, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2783 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://basketofbread.com/

Basket of Bread is a tiny little bakery on Lake Shore in Etobicoke; though they sell a small variety of breads and some imported grocery items from Eastern Europe, they specialize in Polish filled doughnuts called paczki.

According to Wikipedia, the two most traditional fillings are plum jam and rose petal jam, and both are options at Basket of Bread, along with other fillings like raspberry, strawberry, and Nutella.

I tried the plum and the rose, and they were both quite tasty, with a restrained level of sweetness that’s so far from the overly sweet sugar-bombs you’ll find at place like Krispy Kreme or Tim Hortons that it’s hard to believe that they’re even the same thing.

The doughnuts themselves are slightly more dense than the norm, and both fillings have a good balance of tartness and sweetness. The rose, in particular, was pretty interesting, with a pronounced rosewater flavour. I wish the filling were a bit more generous, but it’s a quality doughnut.

Solid Noodle Soup at Kenzo Ramen

Published on December 10, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3337 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.kenzoramen.ca/

It’s hard to remember this now, but there was a time (not that long ago!) when ramen was actually pretty difficult to find in the GTA. And Kenzo is Toronto’s ramen OG; they opened their first location in 2002, and for quite a while, they were pretty much the only game in town if you wanted to sample ramen in the city.

Of course, these days it’s hard to go more than a few blocks without coming across a ramen joint, but Kenzo’s still around despite all the competition. So they must be doing something right.

And indeed, the bowl I had might not have been up there with the city’s best, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

They have a whole bunch of options, but the waiter mentioned that the King of Kings is their most popular, which is a spicy shio broth with an “assortment of stir-fried vegetables with ground pork, topped with charsu, egg, naruto maki, menma, wakame, green onion, nori.”

You can choose your spice level; I went with the spiciest, and it was indeed quite fiery.

The stir-fried vegetables are actually the most unique part; they give the whole bowl that distinctive stir-fried wok hay flavour, which makes it feel quite distinct. It actually kind of reminded me of a style of ramen called burnt miso ramen that I don’t believe you can find in the GTA.

The noodles were a bit on the soft side, and the broth lacked the complexity you’ll find in the best bowls of ramen, but overall it’s a tasty bowl of noodle soup.