food – Page 18 – Michael Eats

Tasty Treats at Andrea’s Cookies

Published on March 15, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1632 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://andreascookies.com/

I’ve been wanting to try Andrea’s Cookies for a while. I actually tried to get a cookie a few months back, only to find that they were entirely sold out. Disappointing, but also, I figured, a good sign.

They’re popular enough to have recently expanded, with a second location on Ossington, though I visited just before that one opened.

They have several very interesting flavours that they rotate through (on my visit, they had intriguing varieties like almond croissant and coconut cream pie), but on my first visit to a cookie shop, I’ve gotta get the old standby: chocolate chip or chocolate chunk.

It was chunk, in this case, and it was clearly quite fresh, with the chocolate being delightfully gooey. You can’t go wrong there.

Aside from the generous amount of good quality chocolate, the cookie itself was not too sweet (with a nice — but not overapplied — hit of salt to balance things out), and a delicately crispy exterior.

The cookie is basically a much better version of Crumbl, in that they serve big fat cookies that have been way underbaked on purpose. This isn’t my favourite type of chocolate chip cookie; I like a chewy cookie as much as the next guy, but the gummy texture, not to mention the mild raw flour taste, isn’t particularly my jam. But if you like that, this is a better-than-average version of it.

Tasty Mexican Food at Taqueria el Pastorcito

Published on March 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1160 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://taqueriaelpastorcitoon.com/

It’s always nice when the name of a restaurant tells you what to order. At Taqueria el Pastorcito, you’ve gotta order a taco, and you’ve gotta order the pastor. Easy enough. And indeed, both are extremely delicious.

I tried a couple of things. I got a chorizo taco, and a pastor burrito.

The taco (which comes topped with onions and cilantro; I skipped the onions) is really tasty, with two very fresh corn tortillas stuffed with an extremely generous amount of nicely browned chorizo. The spicing of the sausage is a bit on the mild side, but there are an array of very tasty sauces on the side that makes quick work of that. It’s a great taco.

The pastor was even better. The burrito was a bit odd; as far as I can tell, the filling was basically just meat and a bit of cilantro. But the pork was so tasty, with a nice kick to it and a whole bunch of the delicious crispy bits that you’re hoping for from spit-roasted meat like this, that it totally works.

The place was packed on a recent Saturday afternoon, and it’s very easy to see why.

Delicious Sandwiches at San Wich

Published on March 11, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 616 Gladstone Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/sanwichto/

Gus Tacos has several locations throughout the city and is reliably tasty, so when I found out they had opened a sandwich shop called San Wich, I was all over it.

Right now it’s take-out only, though they do seem to have space for a decently-sized patio next to the restaurant, so once the weather improves, I’m guessing that’ll be a thing.

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: the beef barbacoa (“Mayo, harvati cheese, beef barbacoa, caramelized and raw onion in a bun”) and the cubana (“Mustard, mayo, pickles, braised pork, ham, harvati and gouda cheese in a bun”).

I really liked them both. The beef barbacoa was absolutely crammed with tasty beef, which was nicely tender without ever feeling mushy. And, of course, beef and caramelized onions are best friends. I skipped the raw onions, and while I don’t regret that choice (raw onions are gross; I’m right and the rest of the world is wrong), I think their crunchiness probably would have enhanced things (too bad they’re so gross — again, you are wrong about this, don’t argue with me about it, just accept it).

As for the bread, the fresh, fluffy roll works perfectly. My only knock against the sandwich is that some kind of acidity — a zippy sauce or some kind of pickle — would have been nice to cut the richness, but otherwise this was top-notch.

I think the cubana was even better. Like the barbacoa, the quality of the various meats was stellar, and unlike the barbacoa, this one was nicely rounded out by the mustard and the pickles, which do a great job of making the sandwich feel less one-note heavy.

I will say, however, that this might have been the greasiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten? The bun was slippery and was dripping the entire time I was eating it. It was like the whole thing had been dipped in a vat of oil. So it might give you a heart attack, but you’ll have a smile on your face when it happens.

I also tried a slice of the tres leches cake; I didn’t photograph this, and honestly, the less said about it, the better. Still hungry after the meal? Get another sandwich!

Mike’s Hot Honey Sandwich from KFC

Published on February 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 156 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I mentioned recently that KFC has really been leaning into wacky novelty items of late, which I quite enjoy. Mike’s Hot Honey Sandwich, on the other hand? Pretty standard stuff. It’s just a generic fried chicken sandwich that’s a little bit sweet.

Not the most exciting thing ever, but I guess they can’t all be delightfully weird.

The sandwich, as per KFC’s website: “The Mike’s Hot Honey® Sandwich features our triple-breaded chicken and is topped with signature Mike’s Hot Honey® – crafted from 100% pure honey and chili peppers. It’s also topped with crispy jalapenos for the perfect blend of sweetness and heat.”

(The website doesn’t mention it, but the sandwich also has pickles, and a decent amount of a mildly zippy mayo-based sauce.)

It’s… fine? Like I said, it’s a pretty standard sandwich, though the slight sweetness from the honey does work pretty well. I was afraid it was going to be too sweet, but it was actually pretty subtle. Plus, the zippy pickle slices do a good job of balancing out the honey’s sweetness.

As for the heat, it’s mildly spicy, but nothing that’s going to get anyone too hot and bothered. Even McDonald’s recent attempt at a spicy chicken sandwich, the McSpicy, is hotter.

Mostly, it’s a solid sandwich. Mostly. This is a luck of the draw thing, but the chicken itself was pretty dry and tough. I know they can’t do this (because it would acknowledge that the current way they do things sucks), but if you’re not in a rush, I really wish they’d let you wait for piece of chicken that’s freshly fried, rather than getting one that’s been drying out in a drawer. Oh well.

Tasty Sandwiches at Frank Ranalli’s Pizza & Italian Beef

Published on February 16, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 185 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.frankranallisitalianbeef.com/

I should note that this place is actually inside Woofdawg Hotdog in Kensington Market, so if you’re looking for Frank Ranalli’s signage, you won’t find it.

They serve Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches here, which you can get topped with sweet or hot peppers.

This style of sandwich consists of a hearty amount of thinly-sliced roast beef topped with giardiniera (pickled veggies) and, since I ordered the spicy version, hot peppers. The thing that makes an Italian beef sandwich stand out is the fact that the bread is given a quick dunk in a beefy au jus sauce. It’s a sandwich that pretty much cannot be dry by default. It’s delightful.

They also serve this type of sandwich nearby at Marq’s Chicago Beef, and I’ll admit that I liked that one a bit better (it has a more satisfying beefy flavour), but the sandwich here was still thoroughly delicious.