Tag: Etobicoke

Tasty Grilled Burgers at Elijah’s Automatic

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Elijah's Automatic
Location: 821 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://elijahsautomatic.com/

I was actually quite excited to try Elijah’s Automatic, the newest venture from Shant Mardirosian of Burger’s Priest fame.  It’s been a while, but when Burger’s Priest first opened and had just the one location on the east end, it was something special.  Their burgers were upsettingly good.  Basically perfect.  That’s not to mention the fact that they pretty much single-handedly ushered in the smashed burger trend that swept through the GTA over the last decade or so.

A new burger place from the brains behind that operation?  Yeah, that’s exciting.

Elijah's Automatic

Smartly, Elijah’s Automatic isn’t making the griddled burgers you can get at roughly a billion other burger joints in the city; they’re grilling them.  It’s kinda funny that, pre-Burger’s Priest, it was hard to find a non-fast-food burger that wasn’t grilled.  Now it seems like a delightful change of pace.

Elijah's Automatic

I ordered the Automatic with Cheese (“Two flame broiled beef patties with cheddar cheese, pickle, charred onion, mustard and ketchup”) and the beef fat fries.

It’s a solid burger.  And when they say it’s grilled, it’s grilled.  The smoky, charred flavour is actually a bit overwhelming.  I think this style of burger might be better suited to one big patty rather than two smaller ones, which would provide a better balance between the flavour of the beef and the flavour from the grill.

Elijah's Automatic

It’s a shame; this article says they’re using dry-aged ribeye fat to give the burgers more flavour, but you’d never know.  All you can taste is the grill.

Elijah's Automatic

That’s not an unsatisfying flavour, of course.  I enjoyed it.  My burger blog is basically defunct at this point, but if I were reviewing this there, I’d give it a solid three out of four.  It’s slightly on the dry side and probably a bit too finely ground, but it’s quite pleasant.  It’s more along the lines of a fast food burger on a good day than something you should go out of your way for, but it’s a tasty burger.

Elijah's Automatic

As for the fries, they’re battered, which isn’t my favourite style of fry, but for what they are, they’re very good.

Firecracker McCrispy at McDonald’s

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Firecracker McCrispy at McDonald's
Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke 
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I wasn’t a particularly big fan of the regular McCrispy, which I thought was fine, but way too plain to be particularly worth thinking about.  But a spicy version?  Yeah, now you’re talking.

The McDonald’s website describes this as “a crispy chicken sandwich topped with a creamy sweet and spicy sauce and crispy jalapenos. Made with tender and juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken and served on a soft potato bun.”

Firecracker McCrispy at McDonald's

You can get it with or without bacon; the signage outside of the store advertised the bacon version, so that’s what I got.

It’s pretty decent.  It’s a big upgrade over the standard McCrispy, that’s for sure.  The sweet and spicy sauce is, as advertised, very sweet and a little bit spicy.  It’s borderline too sweet, but with all the other stuff, it works.

Firecracker McCrispy at McDonald's

The crispy jalapenos add some extra crispiness and a tiny bit more heat, and the patty itself is what it is.  It’s fine.

The bacon is probably unnecessary, though.  Something a bit thicker likely would have enhanced things, but the bacon here was so thin that it kinda got lost among the other components of the sandwich.

Delicious Sandwiches at Bunmi

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Bunmi
Location: 822 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: http://bunmi.ca/

Bunmi is a banh mi shop where everything is available as a banh mi or a bao, and it’s absolutely fantastic.  Seriously, seriously good.

They have a handful of sandwiches on the menu; I went with the signature banh mi, which comes with “BBQ lemongrass AAA tenderloin, with home-made butter, pickled carrots, cucumber, cilantro, topped with our secret BUN MI sauce.”

Bunmi

Everything about this just works.  The beef is tender and flavourful, the creamy Bun Mi sauce complements it perfectly, and the pickled carrots cut through the richness (and add some nice crunch).

I wish it were spicier (it was barely spicy at all, though I think that’s because I wound up with only hot sauce and no hot peppers), but it was so delicious that it barely even mattered.  It’s legitimately one of the tastiest banh mi that I’ve had in the GTA.

Bunmi

And the banh mi itself (i.e. the actual bread) was phenomenal, with a delicately crispy exterior and a fluffy interior.  A lot of banh mi can be a bit of a mouth-wrecker if you don’t eat it carefully, but this one you can eat with aplomb with an uninjured mouth — without ever losing out on the crispiness that makes banh mi so delightful.

I will note that the sandwich is costs more than the norm at $11.55, but this is an absolute steal for a sandwich this delicious (and this crammed with meat).  I’ve mentioned before that I think the expectation that Asian food needs to be dirt cheap is unfair; if you’re going to complain that a sandwich this good is overpriced at $11.55, you need to GTFO with that nonsense.

Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder at McDonald’s

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Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder at McDonald's
Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke 
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

Why aren’t these limited-time-only burgers at McDonald’s ever a Big Mac?  Why are they always Quarter Pounders?  A Big Mac with some kind of different sauce in it?  I’d try it!

Alas, here’s another Quarter Pounder, though I quite enjoyed this one, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder at McDonald's

The Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder: “A quarter pound of 100% Canadian beef topped with a creamy parmesan and black pepper sauce, hickory-smoked bacon, crispy onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and 2 slices of processed cheddar cheese served on a toasted sesame seed bun.”

I’ll admit that I got quite lucky with this one; a burger that’s hot, fresh, and well-assembled at a fast food joint is far from a sure thing, but that’s what I ended up with.  A burger at McDonald’s can be juicy, apparently!  Who knew?

Creamy Parmesan & Bacon Quarter Pounder at McDonald's

The main thing that makes this stand out is the creamy parmesan and black pepper sauce, which is actually pretty tasty.  It’s quite ranch-esque, but it does have a bit of a parmesan flavour (pepper, on the other hand, I didn’t particularly notice).  Put this on a Big Mac, please.

Otherwise, crispy onions and bacon are always welcome on a burger, and everything else is standard Quarter Pounder stuff.  It’s a solid fast food hamburger.

Great Shawarma at Leziz Kitchen

Published on by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Leziz Kitchen
Location: 418 Horner Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lezizkitchen.com/

Look, I’m going to cut right to the chase with this one: you know what shawarma is.  I don’t need to sell it to you.  And the chicken shawarma wrap at Leziz Kitchen?  It’s great.  You should try it.

Leziz Kitchen

Everything about it just works.  The shawarma itself is as it should be — it’s nicely spiced, it’s got a bunch of crispy bits, and the meat is juicy.

The wrap has a nice balance of meatiness and freshness from the veggies (mostly just lettuce and tomato; I skipped the onion), the garlic sauce is flavourful without being a garlic assault, and the hot sauce adds some nice zip.  And the pita, which they put on the grill to heat up and get some light toastiness, is fresh and lightly chewy; it does a great job of holding everything together.

Leziz Kitchen

It’s definitely one of the better shawarma wraps I’ve had in the Mississauga/Etobicoke area.