More Tasty Eats at Do West Fest

Do West Fest 2025

I found the Do West Fest to be quite enjoyable in 2024, and yeah: the 2025 version was still quite enjoyable.  It’s probably one of the better street festivals in the city, though clearly I’m not the only person who thinks that because it is packed.

Still, if you don’t mind braving the crowds, there are some tasty eats to be had.

Do West Fest 2025

I tried a couple of sandwiches from Dam Sandwiches: the chopped cheese, and the spicy chicken.  I’ve been meaning to check out Dam Sandwiches for a while; clearly I need to hurry up and visit their actual restaurant, because both of these sandwiches were very good.

Do West Fest 2025

In particular, the chopped cheese — with its tasty combo of nicely browned beef and melty cheese — was better than the version I recently had in NYC, its birthplace.  But the spicy chicken was very tasty as well, with a nice zingy flavour and a decent amount of kick.  Both were served on a sesame seed bun that was clearly fresh and well above average.

Do West Fest 2025

I also had a tahini ice cream bar from Smilk Bars, which had a very pronounced, nutty flavour from the tahini and was maybe the most tahini-ish tahini dessert that I’ve ever had.

Do West Fest 2025

The ice cream itself was a bit thin (I assumed maybe the name meant this was made entirely with milk rather than cream, but that doesn’t seem to be the case), but otherwise I quite enjoyed this.

Do West Fest 2025

Finally, I had a coconut brigadeiro from Padaria Toronto, which was filled with a generous amount of dulce de leche and had a great coconut flavour.

Quick Bites: Wish Restaurant, Nadege, Good Behaviour Ice Cream

Turkey Aussie Burger at Wish Restaurant
Turkey Aussie Burger at Wish Restaurant

My new policy with this blog is that it’s a negativity-free zone, so I’ll highlight the crispy fried potatoes that come on the side here, which are super tasty — they’re perfectly crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside — and I’ll leave it at that.  I’ll also say that my dining companions both enjoyed their meal, and that the place was packed (and always seems to be packed), so maybe I was just being a grumpy gus.

Ice Cream Bar at Nadege
Ice Cream Bar at Nadege

Again, this is a negativity-free zone, so I’ll just say that Nadege has ice cream bars now, and that  I didn’t particularly care for the one I tried; it’s probably slightly below a higher-end mass-produced product like Magnum or Haagen-Dazs in quality, but much, much more expensive at about seven bucks (!!) per bar.

Birthday Cake ice cream at Good Behaviour Ice Cream
Birthday Cake ice cream at Good Behaviour Ice Cream

And on the exact opposite end of the quality spectrum, there’s Good Behaviour Ice Cream.  I like this place more and more each time I go (and I liked it a lot right from the get-go).  This particular scoop has that classic birthday cake flavour, and the quality of the ice cream is off the charts; it’s almost absurdly creamy and rich.  Assuming we’re splitting traditional ice cream and gelato into two separate categories, I think this place and Bang Bang are neck and neck for the title of the best ice cream in the city (but if gelato is in the mix, then Nani’s pretty much has to be the king).