French fries – Michael Eats

Cheesy Bacon McFlavour Fries at McDonald’s (World Menu Heist)

Published on August 21, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I mentioned before that the Stroopwafel McFlurry might be the most boring item in this year’s World Menu Heist. Well, the Cheesy Bacon McFlavour Fries — which are just fries, cheese sauce, and bacon — are a very close second.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes them: “France’s Cheesy Bacon McFlavour Fries have gone missing… and surfaced in Canada. Golden fries loaded with a creamy double cheddar cheese sauce and hickory-smoked bacon. Rich, indulgent, and easy to lose track of. Grab them before they’re ‘disparues’.”

(Does McDonald’s really think my French is advanced enough to know what “disparues” means? That’s very kind of them, but the sum total of my decade or so of French classes in school is that I can say “Je m’appell Michael.” (It means “missing,” BTW.))

This was… fine? It was food? I ate it? The cheese sauce is basically a slightly zestier version of Cheez Whiz, and the bacon and fries are what they are.

It likely would have been tasty enough if the fries and/or the bacon were more fresh (or fresh at all), but they were not. The bacon was off-puttingly jerky-like, and the fries were lukewarm, dry, and cardboardy.

(Didn’t the fries at McDonald’s used to get soggy when they were stale? Did they change the formula? Because even soggy fries likely would have been more satisfying here.)

I also got an order of the Truffle Flavoured Mayo Style Sauce from Sweden, which was okay. I’m not generally a fan of truffle oil, which this definitely tastes like, so it’s possible you’ll like this better if you enjoy that stuff.

It basically tasted like a thick, gloppy cream of mushroom soup with truffle oil. It wasn’t my favourite thing ever, but the fries were so dry, and so monotonous in their cheesy/salty flavour, that I still wound up using all of it.

Solid Tacos at Contigo Taco Bar

Published on August 15, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6465 Millcreek Drive, Mississauga
Website: https://contigos.ca/

I wanted to check out Contigo Taco Bar after reading about it in Toronto Life, and yeah, it’s good. Do you need to stop what you’re doing and check it out immediately? Probably not, but it’s a solid taco joint.

I tried a few things. First up were a couple of tacos: chorizo, and BBQ pulled pork.

These might have been the messiest tacos I’ve ever eaten; the tortillas (flour, if I’m remembering right?) are a bit on the small side, and they absolutely load them up. They definitely do their best to give you your money’s worth, that’s for sure.

I liked both, but the pulled pork, which featured a generous amount of tender pork shoulder doused in a pleasantly zesty BBQ sauce, was my favourite of the two.

The aforementioned Toronto Life article specifically mentioned the fries supreme, so I got an order of that as well. This featured a very generous amount of melted cheese, cheese sauce, sour cream, and a whole bunch of veggies on top of a bunch of relatively well-prepared frozen fries. It’s not gourmet, but it hits the spot.

Tasty Fish and Chips at Sunnyside Provisions

Published on May 3, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

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.

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.

Shake Shack x Pizzeria Badiali

Published on April 13, 2026April 13, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale)
Website: https://shakeshack.ca/

I guess Shake Shack collaborating with a local restaurant is becoming a yearly tradition, because they did it with Mimi Chinese at around this time last year, and now they’re doing it again with Badiali.

(Badiali, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is maybe the best pizza place in the city? Clearly, this is a collaboration I can get behind.)

Up first, the Spicy Vodka Chicken Parm: “Crispy, white-meat chicken breast layered over a Badiali and Shake Shack hot pepper mix, topped with Badiali’s spicy vodka rosé sauce, aged parmesan cheese, sliced mozzarella, and fresh basil on a toasted potato bun.”

This was mostly quite tasty — I mean, you can put Badiali’s rich, creamy vodka sauce on pretty much anything and it’ll taste good, so yeah, of course. The combo of that, the slightly gooey cheese, and the zippy pepper mix is a clear winner.

But the fried chicken itself was overcooked and quite dry — I was honestly having a tough time even biting through it in spots. So that was a shame.

There’s also the Pizza Fries: “Crispy crinkle cut fries dusted with Badiali pizza seasoning and aged parmesan cheese, served with Badiali’s signature housemade pepperoncini dip.”

I’m not sure if the “pizza seasoning” adds a whole lot here (and the teeny-tiny bit of parmesan definitely doesn’t add anything), but the fries are tasty and the pepperoncini dip is zippy and creamy (if a bit more muted in flavour than the version I had at Badiali a couple of years ago).

Finally, there’s the Brio Chinotto Shake: “Vanilla frozen custard blended with Brio’s classic bittersweet Chinotto flavour.”

This was a bit thin (the texture was more like very rich chocolate milk), but the taste was really nice; it has an interesting, almost gingerbread-like flavour and a mild bitterness that helps to round out the sweetness.

Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s

Published on July 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

The Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich is the type of fast food novelty item nuttiness that I love, though I’ll admit that it’s probably more fun to look at / think about than to actually eat.

Here’s how Wendy’s describes it: “Our iconic spicy chicken fillet topped with chopped Takis Fuego® Chips, with cheddar cheese sauce, a creamy corn spread, and chili lime sauce. Get fired up because, well, you’re gonna get fired up.”

I certainly did not dislike eating this, but the spicy lime sauce wallops all the other flavours in the sandwich. It’s tasty enough — it certainly captures the zippy/spicy flavour of Takis Fuego, and has a mild kick — but the intense acidity is overwhelming.

There are other flavours here that should theoretically complement and/or tone down that in-your-face flavour, but everything else is thoroughly wiped out by the Takis flavour. What did the cheese sauce or the “creamy corn spread” taste like? Don’t ask me!

Still, the chicken itself was solid, and the additional texture you get from the chips is nice. The sandwich is not unpleasant, but it’s not something I’m going to run out to get again. But if you’re a Takis Fuego superfan? Run, don’t walk to try this sandwich. You’re going to love it.

I also got an order of the Fuego Fries (“Our always hot and crispy fries made even hotter by getting shaken in a chili lime seasoning, inspired by Takis®. The shake will leave you shook”), which was extremely unnecessary — it’s the exact same flavour, just on fries instead of in a sandwich. It’s a lot.