fusion – Michael Eats

General Tao Pizza at Martino Pizza & Asian Kitchen

Published on November 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 178 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://martinokitchen.com/

General Tao pizza. I’m going to say that again, just for emphasis. General Tao Pizza. If you can hear that combination of words and not immediately want to try that pizza, you and I are very different people.

Martino Pizza & Asian Kitchen is the unlikely combo of pizza joint and Chinese restaurant, which makes them uniquely equipped to serve the aforementioned fusion concoction.

The pizza comes topped with green peppers, red peppers, onions (which I skipped on my half of the pizza), and — of course — General Tao chicken (more commonly spelled “General Tso’s chicken”).

It’s… pretty good? The pizza itself is nothing special (it’s slightly better than Pizza Pizza, but it’s definitely along the lines of chain pizza in that vein), but the very generous amount of chicken on top is as delightful as you’d hope.

The General Tao chicken is fresh, with a nice crunchy exterior and tender chicken within. The sauce is very, very, very sweet, but of course, that’s what General Tao chicken is supposed to be. The contrast between the salty pizza and the sweet, tangy chicken actually works quite well.

Would I get this again? Probably not! But it’s fun, and I’m glad that I tried it.

Shawarma/Calzone Fusion at Keko Shawarma

Published on November 16, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3128 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://kekoshawarmaon.com/

As soon as I found out that Keko Shawarma sells a shawarma calzone, I was sold. I had zero follow-up questions. Shawarma calzone? Yes please.

It’s actually pretty basic. It’s filled with beef or chicken shawarma, a whole bunch of gooey cheese, and… that’s it. It comes with a salad on the side, along with a couple of little cups of hot sauce and garlic sauce.

I went with the chicken shawarma, which is definitely above average. It’s a tiny bit on the dry side, but it’s got a bunch of the crispy bits you’re looking for and is nicely spiced. It’s quite tasty.

The calzone was made to order and was hot and fresh, with a generous amount of chicken shawarma and melty cheese, and a thin crust that was mostly just a vehicle for the chicken and cheese.

The hot sauce could have been hotter (it was barely spicy at all), but the creamy garlic sauce was seriously tasty and quite addictive.

I’m glad I tried it, but I think I’d get the normal shawarma wrap if I found myself back here. Shawarma + calzone is a fun combo, but I think there’s a reason it’s not really a thing. The calzone wasn’t really better than the bread you’d normally get in a shawarma wrap, and the abundant cheese — while tasty — makes this taste more like a novelty than something you’d want to eat on the regular.

Tasty Korean Fusion at Oddseoul

Published on August 25, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 90 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/90oddseoul/

I know some people are down on the whole small plates format, but I like it. It’s always nice to try a variety of stuff. I guess the main complaint is that you wind up paying more for less food, but that’s not an issue here; with a couple of exceptions, pretty much everything on the menu is in the low- to mid-teens, and the portions are surprisingly generous.

I tried a few things. First up is the spicy scallion and avocado slaw: “mixed greens, cabbage, pickled chilies, bell peppers, crispy shallots, sweet and spicy sesame dressing.” This was a fantastic salad — it’s got a great variety of textures (crispy, crunchy, and creamy) a zippy dressing, and nice pops of acidity from the pickled chilies.

Up next was the squash poutine: “tempura squash, cheese curds, curried gravy, roasted kimchi, pickled onions.” This has very few poutine-like properties (the gooey cheese is fully liquefied, the gravy — while delicious — tastes nothing like a traditional gravy, and the squash can’t really be compared to fries), but whatever it is, it’s very tasty. I wish the squash were a bit crispier, but I’d happily order this again.

The loosey (“Korean Big Mac, served on Texas toast”) was the closest thing to a miss, and even it was tasty enough. The beef was too tightly packed and a bit tough, and none of the flavours struck me as particularly Korean or McDonald’s-esque. Still, it’s a decent enough burger.

Last but not least was the bulgogi cheesesteak (“sliced marinated steak, American cheese, sambal mayo, toasted baguette”). Crossing bulgogi and a Philly cheesesteak is actually kind of ingenious, and the bulgogi here is super tasty. I wish it had been a bit cheesier (it had one thin slice of partially melted American), but it’s still a great sandwich.

Quick Bites: Union Chicken, Poke Poke, Bake Code

Published on June 16, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Nashville Lightning Hot sandwich from Union Chicken

I had the Buffalo chicken sandwich from Union back in 2019 and found it to be absolutely delightful; well, I recently tried the Nashville hot chicken sandwich, and yeah, it’s very, very good. It’s got that same addictive combo of exterior crunchiness and interior juiciness, and it’s really tasty, with a nice zippy flavour that cuts through the richness of the chicken. The toasted bread it comes on was a bit dry/boring, and I wish the sandwich were spicier (it’s barely hotter than mild), but overall it’s a superlative fried chicken sandwich.

Poke from Poke Poke

Poke Poke is thoroughly okay. I had the O.G. bowl (“classic salmon, seaweed salad,
avocado, corn, edamame, masago”) on white rice (brown rice, cauliflower rice, greens, and noodles are also choices), and it was perfectly tasty. Nothing about it particularly blew me away (it’s a bit overstuffed with toppings and understuffed with salmon — given that it came up to just over twenty bucks with tax, a more generous helping of fish would have been nice), but I’m not mad I ate it.

Salted Egg Yolk Croissant from Bake Code

I tried the PB&J croissant from Bake Code a few years ago and enjoyed it, though I found the croissant itself to be just okay. I have very similar thoughts about the salted egg yolk croissant, which features a generous amount of tasty, custardy filling, but is otherwise nothing too mind-blowing. I’m also not convinced that a croissant is a better vehicle for this particular filling than a more traditional bun, but I can’t deny that it’s tasty.

Fun Fusion Brunch at Curryish Tavern

Published on March 24, 2024March 24, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 783 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://curryishtavern.ca/

As you might guess from the name, Curryish Tavern is a fusion restaurant that mixes Indian flavours with pub classics like burgers and fries. The brunch menu, which I tried, features a bunch of brunch standbys with an Indian twist.

I had the samosa eggs benny, which finds a couple of samosas topped with poached eggs and ghee hollandaise, served with ultra-crispy home fries and a slice of “mirch maple pork belly.”

It’s a tasty dish. The samosas themselves are a bit middle-of-the-road, but the combo of the samosas, the perfectly poached eggs, and the zippy ghee hollandaise — not to mention the sweet, tender pork belly — is a winner. My biggest complaint here is that the pork is off to the side instead of on top of the samosas as you’d expect, which feels like an excuse to give you less of it (which is odd considering that the dish isn’t exactly cheap at 21 bucks).

(I should also note that since I wrote this (I’ve got a bit of a backlog) the menu has been changed slightly; the benedict now costs $18, and the pork is a $5 upcharge.)

The potatoes are great; they’re perfectly cooked, with a delightfully crispy exterior and a fluffy interior.