food – Page 34 – Michael Eats

Delicious Sandwiches at Mattachioni

Published on May 23, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1617 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.mattachioni.com/mattachioni-west

I previously tried the mortadella sandwich at Mattachioni and found it to be thoroughly delicious. Well, clearly this place knows their way around a tasty sandwich, because I just tried a couple more and they were both extremely tasty.

First up is the porchetta, which is as simple as it gets — it’s just a whole bunch of sliced porchetta on toasted sourdough. If the porchetta itself weren’t so good, this might have been too simple, but the tender, herby, and intensely flavourful pork shines brightly enough to not need any accompaniments.

The bread is great too, though it might have been a bit too aggressively toasted; I don’t think bread that good needs that level of crunchifying, not to mention the fact that it was so toasty that it was difficult to eat without wrecking the inside of your mouth.

I also tried the S. Marcobruno: “Tuna in olive oil, Egg, Tomato, Arugula, Radicchio,
Pickled red onion, Lemon.” I liked both sandwiches, but I think this one was the superior of the two, with a great balance between the meatiness from the tuna and richness from the egg, punched up with some delightfully zippy flavours. The bread was untoasted, and the quality level of the sourdough here is so high that I think that’s the way to go.

A Tasty Cardamom Bun at French Corner Bakery Patisserie

Published on May 22, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1224 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/frenchcornerpatisserie/

French Corner Bakery Patisserie (the word “bakery” is a bit odd there, isn’t it? Patisserie is basically just a French word for bakery, so it’s the French Corner Bakery Bakery) has a whole bunch of very tasty looking pastries.

I was actually planning on ordering the almond croissant, but then I saw the cardamom bun and couldn’t resist. I have a hard time saying no to a good cardamom bun, especially since they’re not exactly super common in the GTA.

And yeah, it’s a good one. The bready pastry is dense without being overly tough, the cardamom flavour is unmistakable, and the level of sweetness is delightfully restrained. It’s has a decent amount of sticky syrup on its exterior (not to mention the pearl sugar on top, which adds a great crunch that contrasts nicely with the toothsome pastry), but is otherwise not particularly sweet.

Clearly, I’m going to have to go back to try the almond croissant (and more!) because they know what they’re doing.

Great Shawarma at Leziz Kitchen

Published on May 21, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 418 Horner Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lezizkitchen.com/

Look, I’m going to cut right to the chase with this one: you know what shawarma is. I don’t need to sell it to you. And the chicken shawarma wrap at Leziz Kitchen? It’s great. You should try it.

Everything about it just works. The shawarma itself is as it should be — it’s nicely spiced, it’s got a bunch of crispy bits, and the meat is juicy.

The wrap has a nice balance of meatiness and freshness from the veggies (mostly just lettuce and tomato; I skipped the onion), the garlic sauce is flavourful without being a garlic assault, and the hot sauce adds some nice zip. And the pita, which they put on the grill to heat up and get some light toastiness, is fresh and lightly chewy; it does a great job of holding everything together.

It’s definitely one of the better shawarma wraps I’ve had in the Mississauga/Etobicoke area.

Delicious Cakes at Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe

Published on May 20, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 257 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/tokyocheesecakecafe.ca/

Tokyo Cheesecake Cafe was actually a really delightful surprise. I went in thinking I’d just check the place out, and wasn’t necessarily planning on buying anything. Nothing really caught my eye (I was hoping they’d have a Japanese-style strawberry shortcake; they did not), but the store was empty and I felt bad leaving without buying anything, so I got a slice of the original cheesecake.

I figured this would be a fluffy, eggy, soufflé-style cheesecake like you can get at Uncle Tetsu’s. I like that style of cheesecake, but it’s not my favourite.

This actually turned out to be completely different from that, with two layers on a chocolatey crust. The top layer is light and super creamy, and the bottom layer is much more dense, with more of a traditional cheesecake flavour and texture. There’s also a bit of a lemony flavour (lemon zest, maybe?) that complements it quite well. And the chocolate crust has a mild bitterness that does a great job of offsetting the sweetness of the cheesecake.

It’s a seriously delicious dessert. The silky top layer, the rich bottom layer, and the chocolate crust are a boffo combination. They also had a bunch of other flavours of cheesecake, and I (and you!) need to try them all ASAP.

Also: as it happened, I went back a couple of weeks later, and they actually had the Japanese strawberry shortcake I was craving on my first visit. I tried it, of course, and it was just as delicious as the cheesecake, with the cake itself being maybe the lightest, fluffiest cake I’ve ever had.

Quick Bites: Pizzeria Badiali, Ghadir Meat & Restaurant, Chica’s Chicken

Published on May 19, 2024May 19, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Cacio e pepe pizza from Pizzeria Badiali

I wrote about Pizzeria Badiali a few years ago and mentioned how great it is; I’ve been back a few times since, and it consistently pumps out some of the best pizza in the city. On my latest visit, I tried the cacio e pepe (“shredded mozz, fior di latte, cacio sauce, pecorino and black pepper”), and yeah, it’s top notch. It translates the tastiness of a bowl of cacio e pepe to a pizza pretty much perfectly. It’s peppery, cheesy, and rich, and the crispy/chewy crust is as amazing as ever.

Mixed Shawarma from Ghadir Meat & Restaurant

Speaking of the best stuff in the city, the last time I wrote about the shawarma from Ghadir Meat & Restaurant, I mentioned that it’s a contender for that crown. I tried chicken last time and got the mixed this time (which comes with chicken and beef), and hey, what do you know — it’s still some of the best in the city. It didn’t quite have the amount of crispy bits on the meat that I’d like, and there was no hot sauce (I guess you have to ask), but otherwise? Basically shawarma perfection. Perfect balance of meat, veggies, and sauces. Also: look at the way they’ve toasted this thing. It has an almost pita chip level of crispiness in spots. I need literally every shawarma joint to do this, please. Thanks.

Double Crunch Sandwich from Chica’s Chicken

The last couple of times I’ve had Chica’s Chicken, I’ve noted that they’ve been going downhill a bit. I was afraid that this might be an inexorable march to mediocrity, but thankfully, it seems like the quality level has plateaued. It’s not all-time-great like it used to be, but it’s still very good. On this particular visit, I got the Double Crunch Sandwich (which is part of a limited-time promotion with Jarritos, and will be gone by June 14): “fried chicken, peppercorn ranch, deep-fried jalapeños, lettuce on a brioche bun.” They were out of lettuce and subbed in coleslaw instead, but otherwise everything was as described on the menu. It’s a very tasty sandwich: it’s zippy, has some mild pops of spice from the fried jalapenos, and is packed with flavour. The chicken was, mostly, crunchy and juicy, though the thinner parts were a bit dry. It’s a very tasty sandwich, even if it can’t quite reach the heights of Chica’s at their prime.