Tag: GTA

Danish Cinnamon Rolls at Brod

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

BrodLocation: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://shopsquareone.com/brod

If the only cinnamon rolls you’re familiar with are the doughy and diabetes-inducing ones they serve at Cinnabon, Danish-style cinnamon rolls (a.k.a. kanelsnegl) are going to come as something of a shock.  It’s like comparing “Macho Man” Randy Savage to Daniel Day Lewis.  They’re both entertainers, but that’s about where the similarities end.

Brod

The kanelsnegl at Brod is solid.  The pastry is quite nice — it’s flaky and a bit buttery, with crispy outer ring that eventually gives way to a softer, sweeter interior.

It’s a little bit bland, however; the pastry itself doesn’t have a ton of flavour, and the cinnamon/sugar level is probably a notch or two more restrained than it needs to be.

Brod

I know it’s not fair, but I couldn’t help but compare it to the kanelsnegls I had on a recent trip to Copenhagen, and there’s no contest.  Those ones featured a much better balance of sweetness, with the pastry itself being downright magical.

Still, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what they’re serving at Brod.  It’s not amazing, but it’s very good.

Great Tex-Mex Tacos at Hotmess Tex Mex

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hotmess Tex MexLocation: 615 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.hotmesstexmex.com/

Hotmess was selling tacos at the recent Taste of Little Italy festival; having heard nothing but good things about their Tex-Mex grub, tying it out was a no-brainer.

They were doing beef, chicken, and corn tacos; I went with beef.  It was quite good.

It’s very simple: spiced beef, diced tomato, shredded lettuce, and cheddar cheese served in a hard shell tortilla.

Hotmess Tex Mex

It’s basically Taco Bell if Taco Bell were really, really good.

The beef was nicely spiced, and unlike Taco Bell, it actually has the taste and texture of beef.  How about that!  The lettuce and tomato are fresh and crunchy, and the cheese adds a nice salty bite.

The shell is probably the highlight, oddly enough.  It’s obviously freshly fried, and it’s glorious — the level of crunch is profound.  It’s ridiculously satisfying.

Beyond Sausage Egg and Cheese from Tim Hortons

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Beyond Sausage Egg and Cheese from Tim HortonsLocation: 2960 South Sheridan Way, Oakville
Website: https://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/index.php

The fake meat gold rush continues; I think it’s safe to say that, before long, all of the fast food chains will have imitation meats from places like Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods on their menus.

Tim Hortons is the latest, with three new breakfast sandwiches featuring sausage that looks and tastes like sausage — but isn’t.

I tried the Beyond Meat burger from A&W last summer, and I thought it vaguely approximated real meat, but wasn’t going to fool anyone.

The Beyond Sausage at Tim Hortons is much more convincing.

I got the Egg and Cheese, which features a Beyond Sausage patty, an omelette patty, and processed cheese on an English muffin.

Beyond Sausage Egg and Cheese from Tim Hortons

The sausage certainly isn’t great, but it convincingly tastes like an actual sausage — a mediocre sausage, mind you, but if I hadn’t known it was fake meat, I wouldn’t have guessed.  That’s impressive.

(Of course, emulating a lousy, ultra-processed sausage is much, much easier than emulating one that actually tastes good, but one step at a time, I guess?)

There was something about the spicing that I found vaguely unappealing, and the flavour was particularly aggressive, presumably to cover up the lack of a meaty flavour.  But for the most part, it’s decent enough.

The texture is dead-on.  Unlike the Beyond Meat burger I had at A&W, it’s not mushy at all.  It’s a bit dry, and no one’s going to confuse it for a decent quality sausage, but the texture is basically identical to the type of mediocre sausage you’ll find at a place like Tim Hortons.  I was surprised at how close it got.

Otherwise, the sandwich was typical Tim Hortons, which is to say it was pretty lousy — the cheese was barely melted, the omelette was rubbery, and the English muffin was dense and dry.

Horcha-ta-ta at Bang Bang

Published on by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Horcha-ta-ta at Bang BangLocation: 93a Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://bangbangicecream.com/

Oh hey, another super delicious scoop of ice cream from Bang Bang.  Are you surprised?  Because I’m definitely not.  They’ve been around for five years now, and they’re still serving up what is hands-down the best ice cream in the city.  It’s not even close.

This particular flavour was called Horcha-ta-ta and is inspired by horchata, a sweet, creamy drink made from rice.

The ice cream itself has a really rich flavour, and is imbued with cinnamon and other spices (nutmeg I think?  Some other stuff, probably?).  It’s topped with sweet sticky rice, condensed milk, and a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

It’s delicious.  It actually reminds me quite a bit of rice pudding, but with the cinnamon and other spices giving it a really interesting flavour.  And of course, the quality of the ice cream is just as great as ever.  It’s so good.

Roast Beef Perfection at Donna’s

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Donna'sLocation: 827 Landsdowne Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://donnas.ca/

Yep, another sandwich from Toronto Life’s top 25.  Another damn good one, too, so clearly this list is not to be trifled with.  These sandwiches aren’t kidding around.

Donna’s serves a roast beef sandwich that’s topped with parsnip, horseradish sauce, crispy fried onions (or shallots?), and watercress.  As per Toronto Life, the meat is marinated in beef fat and honey.  It’s superb.

Donna's

The sandwich is awash with flavour, but everything works so well together — it never feels too assertive or busy.  First and foremost is the very healthy pile of thinly-sliced roast beef.  It’s beefy, tender, and just a little bit sweet from the honey.  It’s great.

Donna's

The horseradish sauce is creamy and zingy, with a nice even burn that makes its presence known, but doesn’t overwhelm.  The parsnip is kind of ingenious.  It’s thinly sliced, and on first glance it looks like cheese.  But it’s soft and creamy, and adds a bit of a starchy heft.

Donna's

It’s all on a soft, fresh, slightly chewy roll that compliments it perfectly.  Toronto Life calls it the fifth best sandwich in the city; that sounds about right to me.  It’s really, really good.