hot sauce – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Mogouyan Hand Pulled Noodle, Loga’s Corner, Cafe KenKaKu

Published on June 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Mogouyan classic beef noodles from Mogouyan Hand Pulled Noodle

Mogouyan Hand Pulled Noodle is a rapidly expanding chain that specializes in, as you might expect, hand-pulled noodles. Shocker, I know! I kept it simple with their namesake dish, which features a generous amount of noodles and sliced beef in a very basic chicken broth, with a decent amount of chili oil for additional flavour and spice. The noodles, sadly, were overcooked and a bit mushy, which is a shame since the chewy noodles are really the whole reason to eat this dish. Otherwise, this was totally fine — nothing about it jumped out at me, but it’s all solidly executed (aside from the aforementioned overcooked noodles) and tasty enough.

Momos from Loga’s Corner

I wanted to visit Loga’s Corner mostly because I had heard good things about their hot sauce. I actually got two, so I’m not sure which one is the one that people love (or maybe it’s both?), but both were nicely flavourful and had a nice kick. As for the momos themselves, I tried three: steamed lamb, steamed veg, and fried potato. The potato was probably the best of the three, with a satisfyingly crispy exterior and nicely creamy potato interior. The lamb was mostly quite good, but had more gristly bits than I would have liked (they were in pretty much every momo). All three definitely needed both of those sauces, particularly the veg, and had a much more muted flavour than you’d expect.

Tori Katsu Omurice from Cafe KenKaKu

Cafe KenKaKu is a delightful little Japanese place that serves a variety of sandwiches, udon, and omurice. I went with the omurice that comes with a side of katsu. I quite enjoyed it — in particular, the omelette was creamy and perfectly cooked, and the katsu was nice and crisp on its exterior and tender within. The omelette and the rice were both a bit underseasoned and bland, which was a shame (even pouring the curry sauce on top didn’t quite add as much flavour was you’d like), but it was all so well prepared that this is a minor complaint.

Satisfying Chicken Rice at Thai Nyyom

Published on May 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1419 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.thainyyom.ca/

Thai Nyyom has a delightfully focused menu. Outside of the appetizers and desserts, they serve just three things: chicken rice, khao soi, and a rotating special. The chicken rice and khao soi are both available in vegetarian versions, but that’s it. If you don’t want one of those three things? Too bad, go somewhere else.

Honestly, I wish more restaurants would do this. Just serve a handful of things and do them really, really well rather than spreading yourself thin with a huge, padded-out menu.

I went with the chicken rice, which is an abundantly simple dish, consisting entirely of poached chicken served on top of chicken-infused rice. It comes with a container of hot sauce on the side, but otherwise, this is about as simple as it gets.

It’s really good. In particular, that rice is pretty much perfect, with a really fragrant, chicken-packed flavour that’s profoundly satisfying.

I wish the chicken were a bit better — it doesn’t quite have the silky texture that you’ll find in the best versions of this dish, and has a mildly leftovery flavour — but the rice is so good that it basically didn’t matter.

Plus, any issues with the chicken basically disappear once you add some of that zingy, garlicky hot sauce. That stuff could make anything taste great.

Delicious Empanadas at La Morena

Published on April 30, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1175A Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/lamorenastclair/

If you’re looking for some very tasty empanadas, I think La Morena is where it’s at. The tiny place was doing very brisk business when I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and it’s easy enough to see why.

I tried a couple of empanadas: Colombian beef (“shredded beef and potato”) and Colombian chorizo (“homemade chorizo and potato”).

Both feature pastry made with corn flour, with a nice crispy exterior and just enough substance to hold up to the tasty fillings.

I was a bit surprised that both fillings tasted basically the same, and were a bit more muted in the flavour department than I was expecting.

But the optional hot sauce — a zingy, vibrant yellow concoction that I want to take home in a jug — brings some serious flavour. I would have enjoyed the empanadas without it, but that sauce really puts them over the top.

A Gigantic (and Delicious) Shawarma Wrap at Flaming Stove

Published on February 21, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 21 Davisville Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://flamingstove.com/

Flaming Stove is one of those places that seems to perennially come up in conversations about the best shawarma in Toronto, and having just tried it, yeah. Yeah, that’s accurate.

I got the chicken shawarma wrap, and basically everything about it was spot-on. The house-made saj bread they wrap it in is nice and fresh, with just the right amount of substance and chewiness to hold up to the very generously-stuffed wrap. And it’s nicely toasted on its exterior — a must.

The wrap features a healthy amount of meat that’s well-balanced by the various pickles/veggies; I know it looks overstuffed, but the chicken remains the star.

My only real complaint is that the meat has been shaved in advance and is slightly dryer than it should be, and has lost the delightful crispiness that makes top-tier shawarma so great. But everything else here is so good that this never seems like a huge deal.

In particular, they add several sauces to the wrap — tahini, garlic, amba, and hot sauce — and it’s an absolute taste explosion. The combination of those sauces is magic; it’s tangy, garlicky, savoury, and thoroughly delicious. You could put those sauces on basically anything, and it would be amazing.

Also: this might have been the biggest shawarma wrap I’ve ever had? It comes cut in half, with each half wrapped separately, presumably because it would be too unwieldy if they tried to wrap them together. Each half is about the size and heft of a large burrito. It’s insane.

It costs 15 bucks, which seems a bit pricey until you take a look at it and realize that it can (and should!) be shared among two people.

Frank’s RedHot Hot Honey Sauce at McDonald’s

Published on February 6, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

I recently tried the Frank’s RedHot Original McCrispy and found it to be pretty disappointing. It just didn’t particularly taste like Frank’s RedHot, which is odd, considering it’s right there in the name of the sandwich.

I figured I’d have a bit more luck with the Frank’s RedHot Hot Honey dipping sauce. Surely a Frank’s RedHot sauce would taste like Frank’s RedHot?

Yeah, about that.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “A dipping sauce with the sweet taste of honey and the heat of Frank’s RedHot® to treat your McNuggets® to a flavour they’ve never experienced before.”

The problem here is that the sauce doesn’t really taste like honey or Frank’s RedHot. It’s just a mildly spicy sweet goo. I can’t find the ingredients online, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t mostly corn syrup with a teeny-tiny bit of honey so they can legally put honey in its name. As for the Frank’s RedHot, the vinegary flavour of the hot sauce is almost completely wiped out by its intense sweetness.

If you like a very (very very) sweet dipping sauce, you might enjoy this — but I can’t say I did.