food – Page 78 – Michael Eats

Passable Taiwanese Food at Chi Chop!!

Published on September 2, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2352 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: http://chichop.ca/

You wouldn’t particularly know it from what they’re serving at Chi Chop (sorry — Chi Chop!!), but Taiwanese food is pretty great. It has a lot in common with Chinese cuisine, but it’s also got its own thing going on in some very delightful ways.

Chi Chop (!!) serves Taiwanese-style fried chicken, and it’s fine. I got the Ninja crispy chicken bento box, which comes with a generous piece of boneless fried chicken, rice, a salad, three small spring rolls, and miso soup.

Nothing particularly stands out. The fried chicken isn’t bad, but it’s made from white meat, and it’s predictably dry. It’s also a bit too aggressively battered, with an overly thick exterior.

Still, I didn’t dislike eating it. It’s nicely seasoned, and there’s nothing blatantly wrong with it. It’s missing the sauce from the photo on their menu (which would have been nice), but… I don’t know. It didn’t offend me. It’s a shrug. An edible shrug.

It probably doesn’t help that the set is a bit muddled; the chicken is Taiwanese, the soup is Japanese, and the spring rolls taste Filipino (they have a separate section of the menu dedicated to Filipino cuisine). It definitely feels like a “Jack of all trades, master of none” situation.

(Mostly) Tasty Eats at The Ex

Published on August 31, 2019September 1, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 210 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Website: https://theex.com/

Though I haven’t been in a couple of years, I enjoy going to the Ex. I mean, they have an enormous building dedicated entirely to food, not to mention vendor after vendor selling junky carnival food, so of course I enjoy it.

I didn’t get to try quite as much as I would have liked (this stuff was all extremely heavy), but I sampled a few things.

The Big Chief from Porkies Sandwich Co.

This place specializes in porchetta and pork belly, and serves a sandwich that’s crammed with both of them. The two meats are topped with caramelized onions, arugula, provolone, salsa verde, and chipotle mayo. It’s not bad — the two types of pork are a bit bland and textureless (they’re super tender, but there are zero crispy bits or crackling), but they’re still porky and satisfying. The cheese was unmelted and basically added nothing to the sandwich, but the onions and the sauces are tasty and do a good job of cutting through the extreme richness of the belly and the porchetta. I will say, however, that this might have been the greasiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. Grease was leaking everywhere.

Scorpion Burrito from Burrito Co.

Though Burrito Co. advertises this as “Canada’s hottest burrito,” that’s a dubious claim; the burrito itself is barely spicy at all. It does, however, come with a tiny dropper filled with a legitimately fiery hot sauce. This stuff isn’t kidding around, though I wish they had added it right into the burrito, because having to reapply it every couple of mouthfuls was a bit of a pain. As for the burrito itself, it was fine, I guess? It was decent enough, but nothing about it particularly stands out (other than the comically absurd $19.25 price tag).

Pickle Pizza from Rick’s Pizza

This is the only thing I tried that was outside of the food building. The slice is basically exploding with pickle flavour; it’s topped with pickle slices, and features dill ranch instead of tomato sauce. It’s a novelty food and it tastes like a novelty food, but it’s actually kind of satisfying. The pickles are nice and zingy, and the pizza itself is decent. I don’t know that I’d want to eat this all the time — but isn’t that the whole point of carnival food? If it’s something you’d want to eat on a regular basis, it’s probably not doing its job.

Fried Chicken and Spaghetti at Jollibee

Published on August 27, 2019September 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

Jollibee opened locations in Scarborough and Mississauga in the last couple of years, and they were both immediately swamped. People love Jollibee with a passion that’s unusual in the world of fast food.

I tried visiting the Mississauga location a couple of times when it first opened, and both times the line was way too intense. But I figured it was safe enough to give it another shot, and yeah, the extreme crowds have died down. I showed up at around 11:20 AM on a Friday and was able to order immediately, though by the time I left a line had already formed.

I ordered the Crispy Chicken Perfect Pair, which comes with a piece of fried chicken, Jolly Spaghetti, and a drink.

I assumed I’d like the fried chicken (and I did), but the spaghetti was a bit more of a question mark. It’s topped with meat sauce with chunks of hot dog mixed in, and it’s notorious for being quite sweet. I was expecting something in line with Chef Boyardee.

It’s interesting; the sauce is, as advertised, quite sweet. But it’s also tangy, and kind of reminded me of a cross between a traditional tomato sauce and barbecue sauce. It feels like it shouldn’t work, but it kinda does. The salty hot dog slices help to round out the sweetness, as does the cheese on top.

The spaghetti itself isn’t exactly al dente, but it’s not mushy, either. The whole thing is oddly compelling. I liked it.

The fried chicken is more straightforward. It basically tastes like KFC original recipe, but with a slightly more subtle flavour. The chicken was nicely crispy on its exterior and very juicy inside. It’s a quality piece of fried chicken.

Even the gravy is a bit more unique than you might think; it’s definitely not the typical brown gravy you’ll find at a fast food joint. It’s a little bit sweet, and there’s a spice in there I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It works really well with the fried chicken.

I ordered the peach mango pie for dessert, which is crispy and fried, as it should be. The filling is basically a fruit-flavoured goo (there were maybe like two or three tiny bits of fruit in there), but it’s still quite tasty. It’s basically impossible to go wrong with a deep fried pie.

Okay: I get it. I get the lines. It’s certainly not the best thing ever, but I can see why people who grew up with Jollibee have a deep fondness for the place. It’s pretty unique.

Jerk Chicken at Rasta Pasta

Published on August 22, 2019October 17, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 61 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://eatrastapasta.ca/

Rasta Pasta serves, as the name implies, a fusion of Caribbean and Italian cuisine. It’s a bizarre amalgamation of flavours, but they’ve been a Kensington Market hotspot for years, so they’re obviously doing something right.

Their pasta wasn’t available when I visited, so I kept it simple and ordered the jerk chicken sandwich, dubbed the Vatican.

The sandwich consists of saucy jerk chicken and coleslaw in a soft roll that’s nicely crispified thanks to a panini press. It’s quite good.

However, despite the presence of a functioning grill at the front of the restaurant, the chicken tastes more braised than grilled. It’s extremely tender, and the jerk sauce is flavour-packed and mildly spicy, but the crispy exterior and smoky flavour that you expect from jerk chicken is completely absent.

And yet it’s so tasty that it isn’t particularly an issue. The sweet coleslaw complements the savoury chicken really well, and the crispy roll is the perfect vehicle. It’s a very satisfying sandwich.

Chocolate Cream Pie at Bakerbots Baking

Published on August 19, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 205 Delaware Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://bakerbotsbaking.com/

Chocolate cream pie is one of those desserts that’s incredibly simple (it’s basically just chocolate pudding in a pie crust), but incredibly satisfying.

There’s not much to say about this; it’s exactly what you’re hoping it’ll be.

The filling is dense and rich, with a very pronounced bittersweet chocolate flavour that’s nice and intense without being overpowering.

The cream helps to cut the richness from the chocolate filling, and the little bits of chocolate on top add additional texture and flavour.

The crust is nothing to write home about, though the pie was in the “day old” section of the bakery at a discount, so it’s possible it might have been better when it was just baked. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with it, but nothing about it jumped out at me. The balance between the chocolate and the cream was so tasty, however, that it really didn’t matter.