food – Page 105 – Michael Eats

Mediocre Tacos at Wilbur Mexicana

Published on August 28, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 552 King Street West, Toronto
Website: http://wilburmexicana.com/

Wilbur is one of those places with a perpetual line out the door, and having just tried it for the first time, I’m not sure why.

That’s not to say it was bad. I just had two tacos, and they were both fine. But in a city as suffused with taco joints as Toronto, “fine” isn’t much.

I will say that their hot sauce selection is impressive. They have a few dozen bottles to choose from, not to mention a bunch of homemade sauces as well. If you want to add some spice to your taco, I can guarantee you’ll find something that strikes your fancy.

I tried a couple of tacos: al pastor (“pork, grilled pineapple, onion, cilantro”) and bulgogi (“Korean beef, cabbage, pear, sriracha, sesame seeds”).

I was most excited to try the al pastor, which is essentially Mexico’s take on the shawarma. But there were none of the crispy bits you associate with shawarma; it was just dry, personality-free lean pork brought to dessert levels of sweetness thanks to whatever they marinated it in and the pineapple.

It came on a corn tortilla that was dry, crumbly, and stale. A note to all restaurants serving corn tortillas: cook them fresh or GTFO.

The bulgogi, surprisingly enough, was way better. It was also quite sweet, but it had some savoury complexity to round things out. The beef was a little bit dry, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pork.

The tacos came with a handful of tortilla chips on the side. They were a huge upgrade over store-bought; they were way better than the tacos.

Delicious Asian-Style Ice Cream at Koishi

Published on August 27, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 160 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: http://little-pebbles.com/koishi-ice-cream

Koishi is a collaboration between Little Pebbles (which is great) and Arthur Pezzelli, the co-founder of Bang Bang (which is beyond great).

Bang Bang serves, bar none, the best ice cream in Toronto. It’s not even close; they blow everyone else out of the water. This makes Koishi a must-visit. A new place started by one of Bang Bang’s founders? Uh, yeah, I’m all over that.

Asian-style ice cream has very much become a thing in Toronto, and as you might infer from the name, that’s what Koishi is all about. They have a variety of Japanese-influenced flavours that you can get in a cone, a cup, or a sweet bun.

I’m all about the ice cream at places like this (as much as I love Bang Bang, the cookies are a complete waste of time), so I just went with a plain scoop in a cup.

I tried the honey soba: “toasted buckwheat & caramelized honey.”

It was pretty great — the crunchy bits of soba gave it a nice toasty flavour, and the honey was pleasantly floral, with a subtle sweetness that was just right.

The quality of the ice cream itself wasn’t as perfect as Bang Bang’s — it didn’t quite have the same level of rich creaminess, and it was very subtly icy — but it’s still top-shelf stuff.

A Different Noodle Experience at Dagu Rice Noodle

Published on August 24, 2018 by Michael Nusair3 Comments

Location: 505 Highway 7, Thornhill
Website: http://daguricenoodle.ca/

There are a couple of things that make Dagu Rice Noodle stand out from the typical bowl of Chinese noodle soup that you’ll find in the city.

The first is right there in the name: they use rice noodles, which are quite different than the standard noodles made with regular flour. They’re a bit softer, with a slightly gummy, chewy texture. I think standard noodles are a bit more satisfying, but there’s definitely nothing wrong with what they’re serving here.

The other thing that sets it apart? It comes in a Korean-style super-hot stone bowl; it’s a bubbling inferno. Honestly, this kind of baffles me. I’ll admit that I generally don’t like my food to be piping hot (if it’s so hot that you’re at risk of burning yourself, then it’s too hot. No thanks), so I guess I’m not the target audience here. But I just don’t understand what the benefit is to serving any food so hot you can’t safely eat it.

I suppose I should mention what the soup actually was. I ordered their signature noodle soup, which comes with braised pork, various sausagey meats, as well as a bunch of vegetables.

The super tender pork was probably the highlight. It was very similar to what you’ll find in a bowl of Korean pork bone soup, and it was full of meaty fall-off-the-bone goodness.

Everything else was fine. The broth was kinda one-note salty, but was immeasurably improved with the chili oil they’ve got on the table. The whole thing was enjoyable enough, but it’s probably not something I’d get again.

Fluffernutter Goodness at Lola’s Gelato

Published on August 23, 2018August 23, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 16 Brookers Lane, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lolasgelato.com/

Fluffernutters are delicious. That’s a fact.

In case you’ve been living an empty sham of a life and are unaware of the magic of the fluffernutter, it’s basically like a PB and J, but with gooey marshmallow sauce subbed in for the jam. It’s the best.

They have a fluffernutter-inspired flavour of gelato at Lola’s. Obviously I had to try it.

This was my first time having the gelato Lola’s. The quality is quite good — it’s not the richest or the creamiest gelato I’ve ever had, but it’s solid. It’s above average.

The flavour (called WTF – What the Fluffernutter) consists of peanut butter gelato swirled with marshmallow sauce, with Oreo bits interspersed throughout. It was really tasty. I wish the peanut butter flavour were a bit more pronounced — it doesn’t quite recapture the gooey, peanut-buttery joys of a fluffernutter sandwich — but it’s quite good regardless.

Unique Scoops at Wong’s Ice Cream

Published on August 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 617 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
Website: http://www.wongsicecream.com/

Ice cream is the best (obviously), but if you ever find yourself getting bored with the same old flavours, there’s an easy solution: head to Wong’s, an Asian-inspired ice cream shop with some seriously interesting scoops.

I don’t think you’re going to find taste combinations like pineapple cilantro, wasabi honey, or toasted ramen miso anywhere else in the city (though Wong’s is far from the only Asian ice cream joint in town; Kekou Gelato is another stand-out).

I got the rosewater white chocolate jasmine, and it was seriously delicious. The texture was ever-so-slightly grainy (from the white chocolate, perhaps?), but it was otherwise excellent, with a very rich, creamy consistency.

White chocolate tends to be intensely sweet, so I was worried this would be a bit much, but the sweetness was admirably restrained. Rosewater has a very distinct, very strong flavour (it’s a bit of an acquired taste), but again, the flavours here are really subtle and well-balanced. There’s a mild floral sweetness, but it isn’t in-your-face. If you’re on the fence about rosewater, this might just be the dessert to get you on board.