fried – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Hot Ones Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings from Popeyes

Published on October 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

Things have gotten a bit better over the last few years, but generally speaking, if a fast food joint claims that they’re serving something spicy, it’s probably mild at best. But given that this is a collaboration with Hot Ones, I was excited that this would be a bit spicier than the norm.

They have a couple of Hot Ones items on the menu, but the spiciest is supposedly the Darin’ Dab Ghost Wings: “Classic wings (bone-in) dusted with a bold ghost pepper dry rub, served with a Hot Ones Last Dab Ranch dip cup.”

(You can also supposedly buy a little packet of the notoriously fiery Last Dab hot sauce, though I think this might not be available in Canada — I tried a couple of locations, and no one seemed to even know what I was talking about.)

The wings themselves are only mildly spicy, but the Last Dab Ranch dip actually does have a nice kick (and otherwise tastes like pretty standard ranch). I was kinda hoping for it to blow my face off, and it wasn’t even remotely that hot, but it was almost certainly the spiciest thing I’ve ever had from a fast food chain.

Otherwise, the wings were fine. They were maybe the teeny-tiniest wings I’ve ever had, but they were hot and fresh and had a nice crispy exterior.

Great Noodles at Gun Gun Rice Noodle

Published on September 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 565 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/gungun.noodle/

Gun Gun Rice Noodle is a seriously delightful restaurant near Yonge and Bloor that specializes in noodle soups made with, of course, rice noodles. I heard the crispy pork spicy pickle rice noodle is the thing to order, so that’s what I did.

The menu doesn’t say what the dish is, though it does mention that all the soups come with “tofu skin, tofu puff, kelp, quail egg, chives, bok choy.”

I really enjoyed this. The broth is vibrant and flavour-packed, with a noticeable spicy kick; it’s actually quite addictive. The noodles were maybe a touch on the soft side, but everything else was so tasty that it really didn’t matter.

In particular, the crispy pork that comes on top of the soup is thoroughly delicious, with a perfectly seasoned crispy exterior and nicely tender pork within. The exterior is crispy enough to hold up to the soup for quite a while, but even once it starts to sog up a bit, it absorbs that delicious broth and becomes tastier.

Amazing Breakfast Sandwiches at Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee

Published on August 2, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1473 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/dads.goodmorning

Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches opened pretty recently, and it’s already extremely popular. I tried to visit a couple of weeks ago, at just before noon on a Saturday, and it was all sold out. I don’t mean one or two sandwiches were sold out. I mean they had sold out of everything.

Clearly, going early is advisable. I showed up at around 9:00am this time, and the place was packed, so I’m guessing another sell-out was inevitable.

(An aside: the sign calls this place “Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches,” but online, it appears to be called “Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee.” Figure out a name and stick with it, guys; this isn’t that hard.)

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: Dad’s ’48 (“egg, hashbrown, cheddar, house ketchup, bacon or sausage”) and Katsu Dad (“katsu egg, caramelized onions, chili crisp, aioli”).

I was wondering if maybe this place was a bit over-hyped, but both of these sandwiches took my skepticism, loaded it into a cannon and shot it into the sun. The hype: 100 percent deserved.

The Dad’s ’48 is the more traditional of the two, but is just perfectly executed on every level. You can choose between bacon and sausage; the guy behind the counter mentioned that they make their sausage in house, so that’s what I went with.

It’s phenomenal. Perfect balance between the silky egg patty, the gooey cheese, the meaty sausage (which is nicely spiced and thoroughly delicious), and the crispy hashbrown. The ketchup and pickle slices (which the menu doesn’t mention) add more flavour and zinginess. The fluffy, slightly sweet bun is the perfect vehicle. It’s a top-tier breakfast sandwich. One of the best in the city for sure.

But as much as I liked that one, I think I might have liked the Katsu Dad even more. The idea of breading and frying an egg patty is, frankly, genius. It’s got a great level of crispiness on its exterior, but the egg patty within is just as silky and perfectly cooked at the non-fried one in the Dad’s ’48.

And the combo of the ultra-savoury, mildly spicy chili crisp and the sweet caramelized onions — not to mention the creamy aioli — is a big winner. I can’t say I’ve ever had a breakfast sandwich quite like this before, and it’s one that will live in my dreams forever.

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.

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.