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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.)

Creamy Avocado Ranch McWrap from McDonald’s

Published on May 17, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’m not really a fan of any of the McWraps, which are generally kind of dry and bland. I think they’re McDonald’s half-hearted attempt to put something “healthy” on the menu, but you know what? McDonald’s shouldn’t be healthy. It should be junk. It should clog your arteries and make you feel bad about yourself. That’s its purpose.

Still, there is a new McWrap, so, sure, I’ll give it a shot.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes the Creamy Avocado Ranch McWrap: “Made with 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken topped with creamy avocado ranch sauce, crispy jalapenos, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and cucumbers. All wrapped up in a soft white flour tortilla.”

Like the rest of the McWraps, you can get it with either crispy or grilled chicken; I went crispy. It’s fine. It’s probably one of the better ones, because the avocado ranch sauce is zippy and tasty, and there’s quite a bit of it. Would I have known the sauce had avocado in it if you hadn’t told me (and if it weren’t tinted green)? Absolutely not. It basically just tastes like a zestier ranch, but it’s solid for what it is.

Otherwise, the veggies are all fresh, the chicken is what it is, and the crispy jalapenos add some texture (but zero spice, sadly). I’m not mad I ate it, even if it’s not really what I want from McDonald’s.

Sweet Chili Junior Chicken at McDonald’s

Published on April 18, 2024April 18, 2024 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The Sweet Chili Junior Chicken is probably the least interesting of the three sandwiches on McDonald’s new Remix Menu, but I’ve tried the other two, so sure — why not?

McDonald’s describes this thing by saying “your tastebuds will be singing a whole new tune with a remixed Sweet Chili Junior Chicken made with Canadian-raised crispy seasoned chicken, topped with crunchy shredded lettuce, tangy sweet chili sauce and mayo-style sauce, all on a toasty bun.”

Spoiler alert: this did not make my tastebuds sing.

The problem is the sweet chili sauce. I really wish it were more chili, less sweet. It’s sweet. Like, dessert sweet. A sauce that sweet basically works as a dip for McNuggets, because you can control how much (or how little) you get in each mouthful. Here, where it’s just globbed into the sandwich, it’s too much. It’s overpowering.

Unless you really love that sauce, there’s zero reason to get this over a standard Junior Chicken.

Chicken Cheeseburger at McDonald’s

Published on April 11, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I recently wrote about the Surf ‘N Turf Burger, which features a double cheeseburger and a Filet-o-Fish patty crammed into one thing. It’s part of McDonald’s new Remix Menu, which is all about cramming things together to see what happens.

The Chicken Cheeseburger is basically a Junior Chicken and a cheeseburger crammed together. McDonald’s describes it as “a combo of two classics featuring a crispy chicken patty made with Canadian-raised seasoned chicken and a juicy 100% Canadian beef patty, all topped with a slice of melty processed cheddar cheese, a tangy pickle, onions, ketchup and mustard on a toasty bun.”

Like the Surf ‘N Turf Burger, it’s fine. It’s more of a fun novelty than something you’d likely want to go back for, but it’s okay.

The combo of fish and beef in the Surf ‘N Turf Burger was vaguely off-putting, so I guess this one is a bit better in that there’s nothing befuddling about it. The slight crispiness and peppery flavour of the chicken patty complements the cheeseburger reasonably well. But the beef and the chicken both want to be the star — they can’t decide who should be a supporting player, so the whole thing feels a bit neither here nor there.

Surf ‘N Turf Burger at McDonald’s

Published on April 5, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

McDonald’s recently introduced a “Remix Menu,” featuring a few fun combinations of regular menu items. Yes, this is all technically stuff you could have been ordering all along, but that would require either:

Ordering two separate items and then winding up with a bunch of extra bread, or
Trying to explain an unnecessarily complicated custom order to an overworked cashier who has no time for — or interest in — your nonsense.

I didn’t particularly want to do either of those things, so this promo is actually kind of exciting to me.

The new menu consists of a burger/chicken combo, a Junior Chicken with a sweet chili sauce, an apple pie McFlurry, and the one I tried: the Surf ‘N Turf burger, which features all the stuff you’d normally find on a McDonald’s cheeseburger (cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, and little onions) with a Filet-O-Fish patty crammed in.

It’s… fine? It’s not offensive to eat, but it turns out there’s a reason the cheeseburger / fried fish combo isn’t a thing. The two items don’t particularly complement each other.

McDonald’s beef isn’t super flavourful, so most of the taste here comes from the Filet-O-Fish patty. But the texture of the burger is much more prominent. So you’re basically eating a sandwich with a beef texture and a fish flavour. It’s weird. And again, it’s not gross, but I can’t see a scenario in which I’d ever want to order this again.