Tasty Eats at Lamb Soup Noodle House

Lamb Soup Noodle House
Location
: 4750 Yonge Street, Toronto (inside Emerald Park food court)
Website: none

The lamb soup at Lamb Soup Noodle House is pretty tasty, with a very clean lamby flavour.  I got the spicy version, which also had a very noticeable fiery kick.  Nothing about it blew my mind — but I’m a fan of lamb, and I’m never going to dislike anything that packed with lamb flavour.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

(The chunks of lamb are a bit tough and the fat noodles are overcooked, but I think the broth is the real reason to order this.)

I think the better thing to order here, oddly, isn’t the lamb soup — it’s the jian bing, an eggy Chinese crepe.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

I actually tried the jian bing here several years ago and quite enjoyed it.  It was called Gao’s Crepe back then, so I’m not sure if it’s the same place or another jian bing spot in the same location, but either way, it’s thoroughly delicious.

Lamb Soup Noodle House

Rather than going with the standard jian bing, I went with the one that comes stuffed with spicy noodles and cheese (!), and wow it was good.  The wrap itself was chewy and satisfying, it has a nice crunch, and the zippy noodles and melty processed cheese work surprisingly well together.  There’s also some kind of sausage in there, and yeah, that’s tasty too.  It’s all quite junky, but in a really satisfying way.

Strawberry Salad from Wendy’s

Strawberry Salad from Wendy's
Location
: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

A few years ago, pretty much every fast food chain started serving salads in a short-lived attempt to prove to everyone that they’re not just about clogging your arteries and raising your blood pressure.  But healthy eats at a fast food joint is an affront to everything that is good and pure about the world, and the salads are pretty much all gone — except at Wendy’s.

I guess people actually order the salads at Wendy’s?  Because not only are they still on the  menu, but they’re adding new ones, too.

Strawberry Salad from Wendy's

Here’s how Wendy’s website describes the Strawberry Salad: “Herb-marinated, grilled 100% Canadian grilled chicken breast topped with fire-roasted corn, sharp white cheddar, roasted pecans, greenhouse-grown strawberries and lettuce all finished with a sweet onion vinaigrette. It’s the best you’ll pick all year.”

It’s fine?  It’s a pretty generic salad.  I didn’t dislike eating it, but the guy next to me was eating a burger and I’ll admit that I was pretty jealous.

Strawberry Salad from Wendy's

It mostly all works pretty well — in particular, the balance between the salty cheese, the sweet strawberries and candied pecans, and the zippy dressing is fairly satisfying.  I was worried that the dressing might be too oniony, but it was fine.

The biggest issue here are the chicken pieces.  I was hoping they’d use freshly-cooked chicken, but instead it’s those pre-cooked chicken breast pieces that you can find in the supermarket or at Costco.  They get the job done, but they have a very processed taste and texture that I’m not crazy about.

Tasty Cold Cut Sandwiches at Bevi Birra

Bevi Birra
Location
: 3072 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://bevi-birra.com/

Though Bevi Birra seems like yet another place serving Italian cold cut sandwiches because that’s the trend, they’ve actually been around since 2020.  Props to them for doing this purely because that’s what they want to serve — not to jump on a bandwagon.

And you know what?  That level of passion makes a difference.  The sandwiches here are very, very good.

Bevi Birra

I tried a couple.  First up: the Anna Rosaria (“Prosciutto, provolone, rosemary aioli, olive tapenade, arugula”).

Bevi Birra

They make their sourdough bread in-house, and it’s absolutely fantastic.  It’s got a great crispy (but not overly crunchy) exterior, a chewy interior, and a nice sourdough flavour.  I could have just eaten the bread alone and walked away satisfied.

Bevi Birra

But everything else here was thoroughly tasty as well, with a nice hit of saltiness from the cold cuts and the tapenade, a creaminess from the aioli, and with the pepperiness of the arugula balancing it all out.

Bevi Birra

I also tried the Giovanna (“Hot sopressata, garlic ricotta, pepperoncino, honey, arugula.”

Bevi Birra

Both sandwiches were very good, but this one might have been my favourite.  In particular, the salty/sweet combo from the sopressata and the honey is kinda irresistible, and the sandwich’s spicy kick is very satisfying.  It’s seriously delicious.

Zinger Drip Sandwich from KFC

Zinger Drip Sandwich at KFC
Location
: 4559 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

KFC recently came out with a “Zinger Drip” menu, which seems to have nothing to do with the Zinger Sandwich that they currently serve, aside from the presence of spiciness.  But sure, I like spice — I’ll check that out.

There are three items to choose from: a sandwich, popcorn chicken, and hot wings, all coated in a spicy sauce.

Zinger Drip Sandwich at KFC

I went with the sandwich: “The Zinger Drip Sandwich brings bold, saucy heat to a fan-favourite classic. Our Famous Chicken sandwich fillet fully coated in KFC’s rich Zinger Drip sauce, then layered with cheddar cheese and fresh lettuce – all served on a soft potato bun. It’s a spicy, satisfying bite from top to bottom.​”

It’s tasty.  The Zinger Drip sauce has a vinegary, Frank’s-esque base, but with some mild sweetness and a bit of a garlicky punch to round things out.  It’s not particularly spicy, but there’s enough heat to give your mouth a tingle.  It’s pretty satisfying, which is good because the chicken is absolutely drenched in the stuff.

Zinger Drip Sandwich at KFC

The word “drip” in the name of this sandwich is extremely appropriate — this was one of the drippiest, messiest sandwiches I’ve eaten in quite a while.  After I was done, I had to lather up my hands like a doctor preparing for surgery just to get the stickiness off them.

As for the rest of the sandwich, it’s all pretty standard KFC stuff.  I will say that the cheese feels entirely superfluous — the Zinger Drip sauce is not subtle, and its flavour completely wipes out the cheese, which may as well not be there.

Tasty Fish and Chips at Sunnyside Provisions

Sunnyside Provisions
Location
: 287 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://sunnysideprovisions.ca/

Sunnyside Provisions is a delightful little market on Roncesvalles that sells some fancy grocery items and prepared meals, along with a handful of sandwiches and other stuff you can take out (they have a few patio tables out front, but mostly, it’s a grab-and-go joint only).

I’d heard good things about the fish and chips (“Nova Scotian beer-battered haddock, fries, tartar sauce”), so that’s what I went with.

Sunnyside Provisions

Yeah, it’s a solid dish.  In particular, the batter is great; the fish in this dish often features an overly thick, substantial exterior that overwhelms the delicate meat within, but that’s not the case here.  It’s nice and thin, but still has a good level of crispiness.  It’s very satisfying.

The fish itself was a touch on the overcooked side and a bit dry, but not enough to particularly rain on my parade.  I quite enjoyed this.

Sunnyside Provisions

The zippy tartar sauce was also quite tasty, if a bit too oniony for me, a certified raw onion hater.

As for the fries, they’re a bit thinner than you typically expect from fish and chips, but they’re crispy and tasty enough that I’m not complaining.