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Tasty Noodle Soup at Kuya Don Lomi Batangas

Published on February 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1482 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kdlb.ca/

Kuya Don Lomi Batangas is a Filipino restaurant that started in North York and has recently expanded to Mississauga. And judging by the crowds, it’s already a hit — I showed up not long after they opened at 11:00am on a Saturday, and the place was already pretty full. By the time I left, it was packed.

They have a variety of Filipino dishes on the menu, but the specialty is lomi batangas (it’s right there in the name, so obviously you’ve gotta order that).

I can’t say I’ve ever tried (or even heard of) this dish, but I’m always game to try something new. Here’s how the menu describes it: “freshly made miki with caldo, sliced fish ball, boiled egg, pork liver, kikiam, rebusado, bola-bola, and garnish.”

In case you’re as clueless about Filipino cuisine as I apparently am (I understood fish ball, boiled egg, pork liver, and garnish in that description), here’s how that breaks down. Miki is a Filipino egg noodle, caldo means broth, kikiam is a type of sausage, Google is saying rebusado is fried shrimp (there was something fried in the bowl, but it definitely wasn’t shrimp — pork, I think?), and bola-bola is a meatball (which I don’t think was in my bowl? There were crispy pork rinds, however).

Whatever was in here was quite tasty, particularly those fried chunks of pork (?), which were well seasoned, nicely crunchy on the outside, and tender on the inside.

The soup itself has a really deep savouriness that’s quite satisfying, particularly once you add a squeeze of the calamansi they have on the side — this does a great job of adding some brightness to the very rich bowl. The soup is thickened, but not in a way that feels overly goopy. It’s quite good.

My only real complaint is that while the noodles do a great job of soaking up the flavour of the soup, they’re pretty mushy. I’m not sure if that’s the way they’re supposed to be or if something went wrong, but either way, that’s probably my only complaint about an otherwise very tasty dish.

Delicious Hakka Cuisine at Chilli Chicken House

Published on January 27, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4040 Creditview Road, Mississauga
Website: https://chillichickenhouse.com/

I’ve heard people call Chilli Chicken House the best Hakka restaurant in Mississauga; I certainly haven’t tried every Hakka joint in the city, but after eating here, the claim seems extremely plausible. It’s great.

I tried a couple of things. First up is the chilli chicken, because if you go to a restaurant called Chilli Chicken House and you don’t order the chilli chicken, what are you even doing with your life?

You can get this either dry or with gravy; I went with the gravy option, which features chunks of tender fried chicken tossed in a really tasty sauce that’s a bit sweet, very savoury, and has a nice kick (particularly in the mouthfuls with the green chilis, which are delightful spice bombs).

If you want to kick things up even further, there’s a jar of tangy chili sauce on the table, along with a jar of vinegar with a whole bunch of fiery chilis floating on top. Both are very tasty.

I also tried the Hakka chow mein, which is a stellar noodle dish with a generous amount of shrimp and chicken, just the right amount of greasiness, and a really satisfying smoky flavour from the blazing hot wok.

Great Buns at Mom’s Pan Fried Bun

Published on January 26, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 780 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://momspanfriedbun.com/

Mom’s Pan Fried Bun is a popular place. The first time I tried to visit, it was packed, with a mob of people waiting for a table. I showed up a few weeks later — earlier this time, at around 10:30am on a Saturday. I got a table right away, but by the time I left, it was packed, with a mob of people waiting for a table.

I tried a couple of things, and yeah — I get it. It’s quite good.

Of course, you’ve gotta try the pan-fried buns. They have a couple of varieties on the menu: braised pork, and fresh pork. I went with the braised pork, which was really, really tasty. The pork is flavourful, the filling has a good amount of moisture without being overly soupy, and the bun itself is perfectly fluffy and fresh.

That’s not to mention the delightfully crispy bottom, which adds some great texture and contrasts nicely with the soft pastry and the tender filling.

I also tried the braised pork, a delightful Taiwanese dish in which ultra-tender chopped pork is served in a savoury sauce on top of rice. This was fatty, tender, saucy, and delicious, with the zingy pickled mustard greens on the side doing a great job of cutting through the dish’s richness.

Matty Melt Sandwich from KFC x Matty Matheson

Published on January 20, 2026January 20, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1610 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

KFC is making a pretty big deal out of their collaboration with celebrity chef Matty Matheson. At the location I went to, there was signage all over the restaurant, and even the bag was emblazoned with Matheson’s name. It’s in the news. People are excited!

And sure, it is kinda exciting. An ostensibly talented chef teaming up with a fast food joint? Yeah, I’m all over that.

There are three new items in this promotion: the Matty Melt Sandwich, the Matty Melt Slider, and the Matty Mega Melt Poutine. Hilariously, that poutine weighs in at a whopping 2390 calories (??), which seems like it’s probably too many calories? I briefly considered ordering this just for the novelty of it, but I just don’t think I’ve reached the level of self-loathing required to want to consume a 2400 calorie poutine from KFC. Sorry.

So I went with the Matty Melt Sandwich: “The Matty Melt Chicken Sandwich features our signature triple-breaded chicken fillet layered with cheese sauce, sweet caramelized onions, and creamy mayo, all stacked on a potato bun.”

I did not enjoy this sandwich. It’s that “cheese sauce,” which has zero cheese-like properties and is mostly just one-note salty in an oddly unpleasant way. If you served this to me blind, I never in a million years would have guessed that it was supposed to be a cheese sauce.

KFC doesn’t mention this in their description, but the only flavour there (aside from the vaguely off-putting amorphous saltiness) is truffle oil. I might be wrong, but there’s either truffle oil in there, or something that tasted a lot like truffle oil to me. I’m not particularly crazy about truffle oil, so can’t say I enjoyed this. Your milage may vary if you like the stuff more than I do.

The only other thing that differentiates this from a standard KFC sandwich are the caramelized onions. Some sweetness actually would have been nice, considering how salty the sandwich is, but I can’t say the onions added much.

It probably didn’t help that the chicken itself had obviously been sitting out for quite a while, and was dried out and chewy around the edges. This is partially my fault — the last time I visited this particular KFC location, I had a bad experience and someone commented that it was “the worst KFC in the GTA.” But that was a few years ago, and I had hoped things had gotten better since then. Clearly not! Oh well.

Quick Bites: Outback Steakhouse, Blondies Pizza, Insieme

Published on December 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Bloomin’ Onion at Outback Steakhouse

Remember the Outback? We had a bunch of them around the GTA, but then they abruptly closed down all their locations and, mostly, left Canada altogether. But they’ve got a couple of locations in Niagara Falls, so sure, for nostalgia’s sake, why not? I got the Bloomin’ Onion (of course) and a steak. The steak was just okay (it was mostly pretty decent, but was something like 50% gristle), but the Bloomin’ Onion was actually pretty great. This was always my favourite thing about the Outback, and yeah, it’s just as delicious as I remembered. It was nicely seasoned and perfectly fried, with the individual petals having a great exterior crispiness and tender onion within. And the zesty dipping sauce complements it perfectly. You can find knockoff Bloomin’ Onions at various carnivals and ribfests, but the version at the Outback can’t be beat.

Cheese pizza from Blondies Pizza

I’m not sure why it took me so long to check out Blondies Pizza — they’ve been around for a few years now, and have expanded to an impressive 14 locations. So clearly, they’re doing something right. I tried the plain cheese pizza, and yeah, it’s not bad. But while it’s definitely a step up from chain pizza like Dominos or Pizza Pizza or whatever, it’s not remotely on the level of any of the better pizza joints in the GTA. Most pressingly, the slice I got was fresh out of the oven (it was still hot despite the fact that it was handed straight to me without being reheated), but had a crust that was just one-note soft and chewy, with zero exterior crispiness.

Margherita pizza from Insieme

Speaking of pizza that’s not much better than okay… Insieme. They have a lunch special where you can get a pretty generous salad and a pizza for 18 bucks (or at least they did when I originally wrote this — I’m not seeing any mention of it on their website), so it’s definitely a good deal. And the pizza was mostly pretty solid, with a great amount of char on the crust and a nice exterior crispiness. It’s a bit gummy, however, and I’m not sure what kind of tomatoes they were using, but the sauce was overly acidic (it was downright sour). Still, it certainly wasn’t outright bad, and they have chili oil available by request that really jazzes it up.