Tasty Eats at Lamb Soup Noodle House

Lamb Soup Noodle House
Location
: 4750 Yonge Street, Toronto (inside Emerald Park food court)
Website: none

The lamb soup at Lamb Soup Noodle House is pretty tasty, with a very clean lamby flavour.  I got the spicy version, which also had a very noticeable fiery kick.  Nothing about it blew my mind — but I’m a fan of lamb, and I’m never going to dislike anything that packed with lamb flavour.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

(The chunks of lamb are a bit tough and the fat noodles are overcooked, but I think the broth is the real reason to order this.)

I think the better thing to order here, oddly, isn’t the lamb soup — it’s the jian bing, an eggy Chinese crepe.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

I actually tried the jian bing here several years ago and quite enjoyed it.  It was called Gao’s Crepe back then, so I’m not sure if it’s the same place or another jian bing spot in the same location, but either way, it’s thoroughly delicious.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

Rather than going with the standard jian bing, I went with the one that comes stuffed with spicy noodles and cheese (!), and wow it was good.  The wrap itself was chewy and satisfying, it has a nice crunch, and the zippy noodles and melty processed cheese work surprisingly well together.  There’s also some kind of sausage in there, and yeah, that’s tasty too.  It’s all quite junky, but in a really satisfying way.

Tasty Thai Food at Kao Kang

Kao Kang
Location
: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://kaokang.ca/

Kao Kang, which is part of The Well’s recent expansion, is a spinoff of Koh Lipe, a Michelin-noted Thai restaurant downtown.

Michelin-adjacent eats in a food court?  Yeah, sign me up.

Kao Kang

The guy behind the counter noted that the pad gra prao (“holy basil, chili, green bean, garlic, fried egg on rice”) is their most popular dish, so that’s what I went with.  You can get it with either chicken or beef; I went with beef.

I enjoyed it.  Was it the best version of this dish that I’ve ever had?  No, absolutely not.  But it’s still a food court.  Let’s temper our expectations here.

Kao Kang

It’s very, very sweet, and is kinda lacking in the umami punch that you typically get from this dish.  It’s a bit one-note in its flavour, but is thoroughly pleasant, with a mild spicy kick and a perfectly cooked fried egg on top.  I don’t think I’d order it again, but I’m not mad I ate it.

Quick Bites: Brodflour, Corleone’s, Villa Madina

Pain Suisse from Brodflour
Pain Suisse from Brodflour

I’ll admit I hadn’t even heard of pain Suisse (which is similar to a chocolate croissant, but with pastry cream and chocolate chips) before seeing it at Brodflour, so I was excited to try it.  And yeah, it’s good.  I mean, look at it.  Of course it’s good.  The combo of the gooey chocolate chips and the slightly sweet pastry cream is a clear winner, and the croissant itself — as you’d expect from Brodflour — is stellar.

Veal sandwich from Corleone's
Veal sandwich from Corleone’s

Corleone’s sells a variety of Italian sandwiches like veal, meatball, and eggplant.  I tried the veal, and it was totally fine.  Nothing about it particularly jumped out at me (and the bun was a bit gummy) but it’s a solid sandwich.  There are a couple of things that stand out about this place, however.  One is that they offer a “junior” version of their sandwiches; most places like this sell massive gut-busters that pretty much demand that you take a nap afterwards, so I appreciated that the smaller sandwich here is satisfying without being comically oversized.  The other thing I appreciated is that the spiciest version of the sandwich is legitimately fiery, with a generous amount of a legitimately hot pepper paste spread on top.

Chicken shawarma wrap from Villa Madina
Chicken shawarma wrap from Villa Madina

Is the shawarma from Villa Madina the best you’ll ever eat?  No, absolutely not.  But it’s actually pretty decent, and for a eatery from a mall food court, that’s enough.  The shawarma has a decent amount of crispy bits and is relatively juicy, and the wrap itself is saucy and tasty.  It’s very middle-of-the-road, but it gets the job done.

A Tasty, Beefy Sandwich at Giragi

Giragi
Location
: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://www.giragito.ca/

Wellington Market at the Well was already one of the better food courts in the city, but the recent expansion — with places like Bear Steak Sandwiches, Chen Chen’s Nashville Hot Chicken, and The Carvery — makes it hard to beat.

Giragi

Giragi is another one of the newer places in the food court.  It’s an offshoot of Taline, a Michelin-noted restaurant, and yeah, they clearly know what they’re doing.

They serve a variety of meats (and falafel) that you can get in a sandwich or a bowl.  I went with the davar (beef) which comes topped with “pickled cucumber, hummus, pevaz, toum, chilli, cilantro, parsley.”

Giragi

It’s a great sandwich.  The first bite is pretty much  just sauce, but once you get past that, it’s absolutely crammed with good quality beef.  It’s basically a steak sandwich with Armenian flavours, and it’s quite delicious.

That beef, in particular, is just right — it’s cut into fairly sizey chunks, but they’re all tender enough, with rosy pink meat within, that this totally works.  They also have a very distinctly smoky flavour from the grill.  I liked it a whole lot.

Lee’s Stonemill Rice Roll is a Food Court Gem

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll
Location
: 1000 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga (inside Yuan Ming Supermarket)
Website: https://www.leesriceroll.com/

Lee’s Stonemill Rice Roll is a great food court eatery that specializes in — you guessed it — rice rolls.  The rice roll plates here mostly cost seven or eight bucks, which made me think they were going to be way smaller than they were.  It’s a great deal.

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

I tried the house minced pork and egg rice roll, the beef brisket rice roll, and an order of the scallion pancakes.

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

Both rice rolls were really tasty, particularly with some chili oil drizzled on top.  The dish features thick rice noodles topped with various meats, with the noodles having a nice chewiness that complements the meaty toppings quite well (both the minced pork and the ultra-tender brisket were great).

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

The scallion pancakes were a bit dense, but still quite enjoyable — and at $4.25 for a decent amount, a solid deal.