food – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Delicious Empanadas at La Morena

Published on April 30, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1175A Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/lamorenastclair/

If you’re looking for some very tasty empanadas, I think La Morena is where it’s at. The tiny place was doing very brisk business when I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and it’s easy enough to see why.

I tried a couple of empanadas: Colombian beef (“shredded beef and potato”) and Colombian chorizo (“homemade chorizo and potato”).

Both feature pastry made with corn flour, with a nice crispy exterior and just enough substance to hold up to the tasty fillings.

I was a bit surprised that both fillings tasted basically the same, and were a bit more muted in the flavour department than I was expecting.

But the optional hot sauce — a zingy, vibrant yellow concoction that I want to take home in a jug — brings some serious flavour. I would have enjoyed the empanadas without it, but that sauce really puts them over the top.

Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

Published on April 27, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Website: http://jollibeecanada.com/

I’ll give the Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich one thing: they’re not stingy with the avocado. Typically with a fast food sandwich featuring avocado, you need to pull out a magnifying glass to spot the stuff, but there’s actually a generous amount of it here.

As for the rest of the sandwich? Uh…

Here’s how Jollibee describes it: “Our New Spicy Avocado Bacon Chicken Sandwich starts with a crispy, juicy, hand-breaded chicken breast fillet, topped with hickory-smoked bacon, creamy Hass avocado, fresh jalapeños, crisp lettuce, and spicy sriracha mayo, served on a toasted brioche bun.”

It’s fine, mostly, but it’s a bit of a salt bomb. Between the salty chicken and the salty bacon, and with nothing sweet to balance things out, it’s a lot. The chicken was pretty dry, which somehow made the saltiness issue seem more pronounced (the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes in a mostly empty restaurant for this thing, only for it to be clearly not fresh, just added insult to injury).

The sandwich is also not particularly spicy, which is a shame. The spice level is there, but it’s quite mild.

Otherwise, it was okay. The chicken had a nice exterior crunchiness, the combo of bacon and avocado is certainly a tasty one, and the bun was nice and fresh. It’s fine, but I can’t say I’m particularly keen to run out and buy another one.

Also: the sandwich cost $13.99 before tax (!!), which might make it the most expensive fried chicken sandwich in the GTA (at least outside of restaurants with waiter service). Even local joints like PG Clucks and the Michelin-noted Chica’s Chicken are cheaper by a buck or two.

Delicious Cream Puffs at Ian Cakery

Published on April 26, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1100 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.iancakery.ca/

I’ve mentioned before that, even now — years after they closed their only location in the city — I still regularly think about Beard Papa and their delicious Japanese cream puffs. Tragically, they used to at least have locations in Vancouver, but they’ve now apparently vacated Canada altogether.

(They are, however, still alive and well in Japan and elsewhere in the world — just not here, for some reason?? Come on, man.)

There are a few places serving a similar style of cream puff in the GTA, but I think the one at Ian Cakery might actually be the closest to what Beard Papa serves.

They have a few different flavours — I went with the classic vanilla, and man, it was good. The choux pastry has a nice crispy exterior, and the very generous amount of custardy cream within is seriously delicious.

I’m still longing for the day Beard Papa makes its triumphant return to the GTA (it’s gotta happen eventually, right???), but until then, I’m glad that Ian Cakery exists.

Stellar Diner Food at Susie’s Rise & Dine

Published on April 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 539 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://susiestoronto.com/

The crowds at Susie’s Rise and Dine are no joke — the first time I tried to visit, I told them I didn’t have a reservation and was told the wait would be something like two hours. Clearly, reservations are advised.

It’s in the style of an old-school diner, with the menu mostly consisting of brunch and diner standbys (with the occasional item having a bit of an Asian twist).

I tried a couple of things. First up: the tuna melt (“Japanese tartar sauce, malt vinegar pickled celery, sour cream & onion kettle chips, American cheese, served on griddled rye bread”). I wasn’t planning on ordering this, but the waitress said it was her favourite, so sure, why not?

The waitress was 100% right. Good god, that tuna melt. It’s almost certainly the best I’ve ever had. I know that it looks pretty standard (I mean, there’s not much you can do to gussy up a tuna melt), but trust me, it was obscenely good.

The contrast between the perfectly crispy bread and the creamy tuna (not to mention the extra crunch and flavour from the chips) is perfect, and the whole thing has an addictively zippy flavour that just works. It’s so satisfying.

Next up: The Big Trouble Breakfast Sandwich (“soft scramble, char siu glazed sausage, crispy hash brown patty, cheese, scallion milk bun”).

This was good, but after that mind-blowing tuna melt, there was really nowhere to go but down — and yeah, that’s where this went. All the components are quite nice and it’s an above average breakfast sandwich, but none of the flavours really pop and it feels like it’s missing something.

Some pickles or a sauce with some zip to it would really perk things up (though the sausage was quite light on the char siu glaze; it’s possible that more of that might have added the flavour that the sandwich was missing). Still, I didn’t dislike eating it, that’s for sure, but it couldn’t help but be a bit of a letdown after the tuna melt.

Amazing Pizza at Beast Pizza

Published on April 18, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 96 Tecumseth Street, Toronto
Website: https://thebeastrestaurant.com/

I was a big fan of Beast way back in the day — it was one of my earliest reviews on this blog, and I actually wrote about the Beastwich on Serious Eats (alas, that post is long gone) — so it’s weird it took me this long to check out Beast Pizza.

I’m happy to say that Beast has not lost a step over the years. I’m honestly a bit shocked that it doesn’t come up more often when the best pizza in the city is being discussed (though I guess the fact that they’re only open for dinner and don’t do slices probably doesn’t help).

I started with the smoked trout pate: “Applewood smoked Ontario trout pate topped w/ pickled chilies and chives. Served w/ our house-made pizza dough bread.” This was pretty fantastic — it’s rich and creamy with a mild smokiness, and a nice flavour from the trout. The fresh bread that comes on the side is great. It’s a stellar appetizer.

But of course, the pizza is the reason to come here.

I went with the meatball: “red sauce, mozzarella, meatballs, fennel jam, and arugula.”

Every element here is just right; the meatballs are tender and packed with flavour, the fennel jam adds some nice pops of sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm, and the pepperiness of the arugula rounds things out.

But as good as all the flavours are here, it’s the crust that makes this a best-in-the-city contender. The contrast between the seriously crispy exterior and fluffy interior is the stuff dreams are made of. It also has a good amount of flavour, and enough chewiness to keep things interesting. It’s so good.