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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.

Delicious Doughnuts at Fab’s Donuts

Published on April 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1618 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fabsdonuts/

Fab’s is in the same spot where Maverick’s Donut Company used to be, which I liked a whole lot. Apparently it’s from the same owners, who decided to strike out on their own. Clearly, they know what they’re doing, because the doughnuts here are very, very good.

They are quite different, however — notably, Maverick’s specialized mostly in cake doughnuts, and as far as I can tell, this is a cake-free zone. All the doughnuts that I tried were classic raised doughnuts.

I tried four: creme brulee, pistachio heaven, Biscoff, and chocolate kunafa.

All were generously filled, and all were thoroughly delicious, though the creme brulee — with its crackly top and tasty custard filling — was probably my favourite.

But then everything was thoroughly tasty, with the doughnuts themselves having a nice chewy texture, and with the flavours being right where they should be. It’s all quite sweet, but not a sugar-bomb. They’re great doughnuts.

Creamy Chipotle Fish McWrap at McDonald’s

Published on April 15, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I’ve mentioned before that McWraps are easily the most boring thing on the McDonald’s menu. So there’s a new McWrap. It’s got chipotle in it. Who cares?

But wait! This one is available with either grilled chicken, crispy chicken, or… fish? In a McWrap?? Well, that’s exciting (small print: it takes very little to get me excited. This is not actually exciting).

Here’s how McDonald’s describes this: “Made with crispy, flaky fish topped with creamy chipotle sauce, crispy tri-colour tortilla strips, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and cucumbers. All wrapped in a soft white flour tortilla.”

This is definitely not the McWrap to change my mind about McWraps. It’s very McWrap-y, which is to say it’s a bit dry and boring; it tastes like a perfunctory stab at “healthiness” from a chain that has no business being even remotely health-adjacent.

The fish is interesting, but I guess there’s a reason why these types of wraps have chicken in them 99 percent of the time; it doesn’t quite work. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s odd. I missed the chicken (it didn’t help that the Filet-O-Fish patty had clearly been sitting out for some time; it was a bit dry).

Everything else is fine, with the veggies all being what you’d expect, and with the tortilla strips doing a decent job of adding some crunch.

The creamy chipotle sauce is the highlight. It’s creamy, zesty, a little bit smoky, and actually has a mild spicy kick. The wrap needed way more of it. Give me a little tub of it so I can use it as a dip for fries. It’s a really tasty sauce.

Solid Tacos at Azul

Published on April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/azulmexicanto/

I think the first thing I should note about Azul is: it’s not easy to find! It’s in the food court at First Canadian Place downtown, except, oh wait, apparently there’s more than one food court in First Canadian Place? I wandered around the one on the lower level for longer than I should admit, and the whole time I’m looking at Google Maps like, it should be right here, what gives?

It turns out there’s a whole other food court on the upper floor, which is not confusing at all. Totally reasonable to have two food courts within a couple of floors of each other.

Anyway, Azul. It’s a Mexican eatery that features various tacos, tortas, and bowls. I tried a couple of the tacos: chilorio (“pork shoulder – marinated and slow cooked, pickled onions”) and Baja (“fish – battered and fried, cabbage slaw, lime mayo”). You also get a little tub of salsa on the side that can be mild, medium, or hot. I went with hot.

The tacos both come on blue corn tortillas that are reasonably fresh and have a decent amount of heft to them (both tacos were crammed with stuff, and the tortillas held up nicely).

Neither knocked my socks off, but both were quite tasty — particularly the chilorio, which features a generous amount of tender, meaty pork. The fish was a bit dry, but it’s topped with so much stuff that it barely matters. For something from a food court, you could do much worse.