food – Page 23 – Michael Eats

A Great Deal at Juicy Dumpling

Published on May 3, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 280 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.juicydumpling.ca/

Juicy Dumpling actually does have stuff other than juicy dumplings on the menu, but of course, if you go to a place called Juicy Dumpling and you don’t order the juicy dumplings, what are you even doing with your life?

I got an order of six mini soup pork dumplings, which was $4.99, and a pork bun, which was $2.85. It was a solid lunch for under ten bucks.

I’m a little bit perplexed as to why they’re calling these mini soup dumplings. They seemed like a pretty standard size to me? I can’t recall having soup dumplings that were substantially larger than the ones they serve here.

They’re tasty dumplings. There’s no vinegar or any of the other condiments you’d expect with soup dumplings, but they’re pretty tasty on their own, with a decent amount of pork and soup inside. They’re not the best soup dumplings you’ll ever eat, but for five bucks for an order of six, they’re pretty great.

The pork bun was satisfying too, with a good amount of sweet pork filling inside of a fresh, fluffy bun.

Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich from Popeyes

Published on May 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 7080 Saint Barbara Boulevard, Mississauga
Website: https://www.popeyeschicken.ca/

I’m not sure how many fast food burgers and/or sandwiches I’ve eaten in my lifetime, but it’s a lot. Hundreds? Thousands?? Okay, probably not thousands, but the number is in the upper hundreds, certainly.

All that is to say that it means something when I make this statement: the Pickle Glaze Chicken Sandwich from Popeyes might be the worst fast food sandwich I’ve ever had.

Here’s how Popeyes describes it: “Our classic chicken breast fillet in a tangy, sweet dill pickle glaze with Louisiana herbs and seasonings, hand-battered and fried to golden brown perfection topped with barrel cured pickle slices.”

It was clear something was amiss as soon as I opened the bag; the smell of dill was immediate and overpowering.

I’m going to be generous and assume that something went wrong with the pickle glaze in my sandwich, because I cannot imagine that anyone would think what I was served should be fed to human beings. It must have been a mistake. I need to believe it was a mistake. But hey, I was served what I was served. Obviously I’m going to write about it. I need my sacrifice to mean something.

The flavour was acrid and off-putting. It tasted like someone in a lab took the flavour of dill, did a mediocre job of replicating it, and then multiplied it by a million.

It tasted like they took the amount of concentrated dill flavouring meant for a hundred sandwiches and dumped it into one.

It tasted like something that isn’t meant for consumption, like trying to swig a bottle of perfume. Every time I took a bite, I was like “I don’t want to be eating this! I should stop!” But I was on my lunch break from work and didn’t have any other food, and what was I going to do, throw it out and buy a second lunch?? What do I look like, Jeff Bezos???

The sad part is that the rest of the sandwich was actually pretty good. The bun was nice and fresh, and the chicken featured a satisfying balance between the crunchy exterior and the relatively juicy meat within. I had another fried chicken sandwich from Popeyes pretty recently, and this one was much better.

That flavour, though. It’ll haunt my dreams.

Sweet and Savoury Crepes at La Crepe

Published on April 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 300 Richmond Street West, Toronto
Website: None

Note: I’ve got a bit of a backlog of posts, and apparently this place has closed since my visit. Super useful post, I know. Enjoy?

La Crepe is a relatively new restaurant downtown that specializes in crepes. They have a few stools inside and one table outside, but mostly, it’s a take-out joint.

They have two sides of the menu: sweet, classic crepes, and savoury buckwheat crepes. I ordered the Parisienne from the savoury side (“French Emmental, ham, side up egg”).

A whole bunch of gooey cheese, ham, and an egg is always going to be a tasty combo. You cannot go wrong there. It’s impossible. They also peppered it pretty aggressively, which complemented the other ingredients well. It’s quite tasty.

The crepe was a little disappointing, though. The best buckwheat crepes have a light exterior crispiness and a chewy interior; this one was was just kinda dry throughout, despite being freshly made.

Still, it certainly wasn’t bad, and was a nice vehicle for the tasty stuff within. It may not have blown my mind, but it was a solid meal.

Cheap Eats at Mini Bar

Published on April 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 116 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: None

If nothing else, Mini Bar is an absolute steal. A relatively hearty sandwich downtown for eight bucks? Yeah, you can’t go wrong there.

Well, I suppose you could go wrong if the sandwich didn’t taste good, but that’s clearly not an issue here.

I ordered the bulgogi and kimchi, which comes in a Kaiser roll, topped with tender beef bulgogi, kimchi, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and a slice of cheddar cheese.

Is it going to rock your world? No, probably not; it’s a pretty no-frills sandwich, but for what it is (and considering the price) it’s very tasty. If I worked in the area, I’m sure I’d be a regular.

Mini Bar serves kimbap on Fridays, which is also quite satisfying. They were making them as I ordered, so it was super fresh and filled with tasty stuff.

Quick Bites: Doraji, Chica’s, Maman

Published on April 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Bibimbap from Doraji at the Well

I tried the bibimbap here during the media night at the Well, and quite enjoyed it. Well, I just tried it again — spicy pork this time (bulgogi beef, chicken, fried tofu, and vegetarian are also options) — and again, I quite enjoyed it. It’s a very classic bowl of bibimbap, executed perfectly. I honestly don’t have much more to say about it than that. If you like bibimbap, it’s a great version of that dish. And if you don’t, what is wrong with you??

Hot Honey at Chica’s Chicken

While Chica’s days of being the mind-blowing, thigh-slapping best fried chicken that you’ve ever had are long gone, it’s still quite good. For some reason, I hadn’t tried their Hot Honey sandwich until now, and yeah, it’s predictably delicious. Most things at Chica’s tend to be a bit sweeter than I’d like, so I probably shouldn’t be surprised that their version of hot honey is more honey, less hot. A bit more acidity and heat would really help round out the sweetness, but it’s still quite tasty for what it is. And as always, the chicken itself features a great balance between the crispy exterior and juicy interior.

Chocolate chip cookie at Maman

Maman is an NYC bakery chain that opened a location in Toronto a few years ago. They have a whole bunch of sandwiches and pastries on the menu, but I heard that the chocolate chip cookie is the thing to get. And yeah, it’s tasty. Nothing about it knocked my socks off, but it’s clearly an above average cookie. My only real issue is the sugar they sprinkle on top; it’s a neat idea in theory (I’m assuming the idea is to give you a crispy, slightly caramelized top), but in practice it just gives the cookie a slightly grainy texture. I still quite enjoyed the cookie (and it wasn’t too sweet, despite the sprinkling of sugar), but that was a shame.