food – Page 106 – Michael Eats

Mediocre Ice Cream at Emmy’s Ice Cream

Published on June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 426 St. Clarens Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://emmys-ice-cream.business.site/

I love ice cream (and I mean, who doesn’t?). I’m always on the lookout for the next great scoop.

I’m not going to bury the lede — Emmy’s does not serve the next great scoop.

It’s fine. There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. But the quality is more in line with something you might get from the supermarket with the words “Nestle” or “President’s Choice” on the label.

It’s in a bit of an odd location; it’s basically part of a coffee shop (they have their own sign and door, but once you’re inside, it’s all one store).

They don’t make their own ice cream. They source it from Dutch Dreams. I have a vague recollection of going to Dutch Dreams well over a decade ago and not being impressed, but I was hoping that they had improved in the interim.

Alas. I had the “Life on St. Clarens,” which is vanilla ice cream with a peanut butter swirl, along with brownie chunks and cookie dough.

Nothing about it particularly stood out. Though the ice cream was somewhat rich, the flavour was just generic sweetness. The same lack of flavour extended to the chunks — the brownie was just chewy and sweet, and the cookie dough was crumbly and sweet. Nothing makes an impact.

Given the fairly unambitious array of flavours they have on offer, I suspect that they’re trying to be more of a stop for local kids than somewhere you might go out of your way for. Which is fine. But… don’t go out of your way for it.

Quality Ice Cream at Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on June 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 920 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I like Ed’s a lot, though it tends to be a bit hit-and-miss. Still, it’s one of the better places for ice cream in the city, and as you can see from the picture above, it’s popular.

And while the quality is a bit inconsistent, their sweet cream is always delicious. It’s about as simple as a flavour can get; as the name implies, it’s basically just sweetened cream. It’s proof that if you’re starting with good quality stuff, you don’t need elaborate flavourings and chunks mixed in.

My second scoop was chocolate, and remember when I said this place is hit-and-miss? Yeah, it was pretty middling.

I also checked out the Roncesvalles location recently; I got one scoop of sweet cream, and one of chocolate peanut butter. Again, the sweet cream was amazing, and the other flavour was just okay.

I should probably just stick with sweet cream.

Ramen Disappointment at Kinton

Published on June 1, 2018June 1, 2018 by Michael Nusair3 Comments

Location: 4026 Confederation Parkway, Mississauga
Website: http://www.kintonramen.com/

Over the last several years, Toronto has seen an explosion of restaurants serving ramen ( a ramenaissance, even? No? That’s the worst and I should delete this blog immediately? Fair).

Despite this, Mississauga remains almost entirely sad and ramenless. There’s Kenzo, and… that’s about it. Kinton opening a location here is kind of a big deal.

Their grand opening is today, and to celebrate, they’re offering 50% off all of their ramen. I showed up a few minutes after they opened, and not surprisingly, the line-up outside was intense.

It’s a nice day, so I figured sure, why not? It’s been a while since I’ve had the ramen at Kinton, but my recollection was that it was some of the best in the city.

About 40 minutes later, I had a steaming bowl of original shio (salt) ramen with pork.

First, the good: the noodles were great. You can choose between thick and thin; I went with thick, and they were top-notch. They had just the right amount of heft, with a nicely firm, springy texture. I saw some people eating the thin noodles, and they looked way too delicate. Thick is clearly the way to go.

The pieces of pork were also exceptional; they were super tasty and melt-in-your-mouth tender. And while the egg wasn’t great (it was undercooked and runny), it was also quite tasty.

Alas, great noodles and pork does not a great bowl of ramen make.

The broth — a.k.a. the heart and soul of a bowl of ramen — was lacking. Kinton serves tonkotsu ramen, in which pork bones are boiled down for hours and hours until you get a thick, creamy broth. And they had obviously done something right: the rich broth was indeed thick and creamy.

But the flavour just wasn’t there. It was bland. It wasn’t bad at first, but the deficit of taste gets more and more blatant as you go, and by the end of the bowl I was sick of eating it. I actually left some soup in my bowl, which I pretty much never do. Not because I was full, but because it was getting monotonous.

The thing about a great bowl of ramen (or even just a good one) is that every mouthful seems to unlock something new; it’s like a symphony of flavours. Meanwhile, the bowl at Kinton was more like one sad tuba.

It’s literally their first day in existence, so it’s possible that they’re just working out the kinks — but since they’re a chain with nine other locations, I have my doubts.

Classic Eats at Swiss Chalet

Published on May 31, 2018May 31, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5980 McLaughlin Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.swisschalet.com/

This is going to be a short one. Because I just had the quarter chicken with fries from Swiss Chalet, and come on. Do you really need me to describe this for you? I’m pretty sure that you can legally lose your Canadian citizenship if you’ve never tried Swiss Chalet’s chicken.

I know there are some people who think that Swiss Chalet has gone downhill and that it’s just not very good, and I think those people are nuts. I can’t speak to anything beyond the chicken and the fries — it’s all I ever order — but those two items are still quite tasty.

And at eleven bucks for the chicken, a heaping portion of delicious fries, and a roll, it’s a pretty great deal. Yes, white meat is a couple of bucks extra, but lets face it: dark meat is superior in every regard. That’s not even an opinion. That’s fact. It’s just science. It’s tastier and more moist. I have a theory that people who prefer white meat don’t actually like chicken very much, because white meat is just a dryer, blander version of dark.

Tasty Gelato at Soma Chocolatemaker

Published on May 30, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 443 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.somachocolate.com/

I mentioned recently that Hollywood Gelato is a strong contender for my favourite gelato in the city. Also on that list? Soma Chocolatemaker. You wouldn’t think that a place that makes great chocolate would also make great gelato, but hey, why not? They also sell some pretty tasty cookies, so I guess they’re just great at everything.

I got the dark chocolate gelato, and as you’d expect from a place with the word “chocolate” in their name, the flavour was outstanding. It had a deep, rich chocolate flavour with a perfect balance of sweetness. The creamy, almost fudgey texture was deeply satisfying.

I’d be surprised if there were a better scoop of chocolate gelato in the city.