GTA – Page 30 – Michael Eats

KATSYE Special KBBQ Chicken Sandwich from Jollibee

Published on September 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Website: http://jollibeecanada.com/

I’m going to admit that I’ve never heard of KATSYE, which is apparently a Kpop-influenced “global girl group” that was formed through a reality show (every word of that sentence makes me feel like an old man who is about to crumble into dust).

So I can’t say I particularly care that KATSYE had something to do with this sandwich (or at least agreed to put their name on it), but Korean fried chicken? Yeah, that I can get on board with.

Here’s how Jollibee describes this sandwich: “Our crispy, juicy, hand-breaded chicken breast fillet hand-dipped in a sweet soy glaze with a bold kick of heat, topped with fresh cilantro, red onion, and cucumber slices, served on a toasted brioche bun.”

This was… fine? The sweet, savoury, and slightly spicy Korean-style sauce was certainly tasty enough, and the sandwich has a nice exterior crunch that’s satisfying. I don’t think I’ve ever had cilantro on a fried chicken sandwich (certainly not at a fast food joint); it’s a nice touch, though it’s mostly overwhelmed by the flavourful sauce.

The biggest issues here were that the piece of fried chicken breast wasn’t particularly fresh, with the chicken itself being pretty dry, and more pressingly: that enormous, cold, dry brioche bun. I’m not sure if it was too dense by design or was just stale (or both), but it overwhelmed the chicken and was a bit of a bummer to eat.

I like the fried chicken pieces at Jollibee, but this was my first time trying a sandwich. I’ll stick with the pieces.

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.

Tasty (and Unique) Ice Cream at Good Gang Ice Cream

Published on September 20, 2025September 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 656 Annette Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.goodgangicecream.com/

Good Gang’s been scooping up ice cream for a few years now, though they’ve only just moved to their new location on the west end in the last few months. Judging by the pretty serious line when I showed up on a recent Sunday afternoon, it’s a hit.

I should note that their hours are currently a bit odd (they’re open from Friday to Sunday, 3:00pm to 8:00pm), but they’ll presumably be expanding a bit in the coming weeks and months.

When I visited, they had an assortment of 19 flavours — most of it interesting, oddball stuff like black currant leaf, majicha brownie, and salted yuzu.

(I should also note that the format of the menu is quite similar to the one at Bang Bang, which makes me wonder if maybe the owners here used to work there? I will very strongly advise you to not try to look into this by googling “Good Gang Bang Bang,” however. No ice cream facts to be found there, that’s for sure.)

I got a scoop of the toast flavour (“sourdough bread base, haskap jam”), and I enjoyed it quite a lot.

They’re clearly starting with very good quality ice cream — it’s thoroughly rich and creamy, and based on this one scoop, seems to be up there with the best stuff in the city.

And the flavour is quite satisfying. I don’t know if there’s any particular sourdough flavour, but the bread — broken down into soft, fine crumbs — adds a pretty distinct personality to the scoop, and the jam adds a nice fruity sweetness (without being overly sweet). It’s really tasty.

Seriously Good Sandwiches at Alfie’s Sandwiches & Market

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 36 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.alfies.ca/

Alfie’s is part of the recent wave of Italian sandwich shops sweeping the city. And hey, if all the sandwich shops can be this good, sure — open a million of them.

It’s hard to pick here. The menu is split into two halves (“classic” and “signature”) with 10 sandwiches each. And they all sound extremely tasty.

After some deliberation, I went with the Parma Classico: “24 Month Prosciutto Di Parma, Lemon basil Pesto, Artichoke in Oil, Truffle Aioli.”

Wow, it’s good. I mean, if you put a decent amount of high-quality prosciutto in pretty much any sandwich, it’s going to be tasty. And yeah, the prosciutto here is pretty fantastic.

But everything else in the sandwich complements it so well, from the zippy pesto to the generous amount of tender artichoke to the creamy aioli. I’m not really a fan of truffle oil, but it’s used sparingly enough that I didn’t find it particularly objectionable. Everything here just works.

It’s all served on some pretty great quality sourdough flatbread (“Alfie,” in this case, is the name of their sourdough starter). It’s crispy, chewy, and flavourful, and stands up quite well to the generously filled sandwich.

On another visit, I tried the Alfie’s Roast Beef (“House-smoked Roast beef, Sliced tomato, Chilli oil, Roasted Pepper, Baby Arugula, Rosemary and Roasted Aioli”), and it was just as good; the chili oil, in particular, really makes the roast beef sing.

Spicy McVeggie at McDonald’s

Published on September 18, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I tried — and enjoyed! — the McVeggie a few months ago, when McDonald’s was testing it at a few locations in Ontario. Now that it’s on the menu for realsies, I figured I may as well try the spicy version.

The Spicy McVeggie, per the McDonald’s website: “A breaded veggie patty made with a blend of vegetables (including carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, soybeans, broccoli and corn) and seasoning, topped with shredded lettuce and creamy Habanero sauce, served on a toasted sesame bun.”

It’s the exact same sandwich, just with a spicy sauce. And it’s pretty much as I remember it: it’s not super flavourful, but there’s a nice contrast between the crunchy exterior and softer interior. It’s satisfying.

I think the spicy version is the way to go, with the habanero sauce adding some nice zippiness and a mild kick. It’s nothing too mind-blowing, but I could see myself ordering this again.