ice cream – Page 11 – Michael Eats

Popular (and Delicious) Ice Cream at Ruru Baked

Published on July 4, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 659 Landsdowne Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.rurubaked.com/

Ruru Baked have been doing pop ups and selling pints since 2017, but they’ve only just opened their own place. Apparently their pints sell out in minutes, and clearly their new shop is just as popular because the line was quite substantial on a recent Saturday afternoon.

They specialize in custard-based ice cream, and serve from a rotating selection of flavours — when I went, some of the choices included banoffee pie, Milo, and miso butterscotch, but you can see what they’re currently serving on their website.

I went with Honeycomb cereal milk, which features a Honeycomb-infused flavour and swirls of a very rich caramel sauce. It tastes pretty much exactly how you want it to taste — the Honeycomb flavour is quite pronounced, and the caramel swirls have an intense, almost bitter flavour that does a great job of balancing out the sweetness of the ice cream.

As for the ice cream itself, it’s rich and creamy — it’s definitely above average.

Quick Bites: Chodang Soon Tofu, Khau Gully, La Paloma

Published on May 16, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Kimchee soon tofu bowl at Chodang Soon Tofu

I’ve written about this place a couple of times before, both for this blog and another one, which is why I’m not bothering with a full post for this particular meal. But I feel obligated to point out that Chodang Soon Tofu is still great; their namesake dish, a seriously delicious and hearty bowl of stew crammed with creamy tofu, is as vibrant and amazing as ever. If you’re even remotely in the area, don’t miss this place; it’s a gem.

Various dishes at Khau Gully

I tried a handful of dishes at Khau Gully, a delightful Indian restaurant just south of Yonge and Eglinton. Nothing particularly knocked my socks off, but everything was solid. In particular, the nimbu dhaniya murg featured tender chunks of chicken in a deliciously zippy sauce, and the awadhi subzi featured nicely cooked veggies in a very creamy, tasty sauce. The kulfi is also worth checking out. If you’ve never had kulfi before, it has a unique richness that makes it feel pretty distinct from traditional ice cream.

Zuppa Inglese at La Paloma

If I’m trying a gelato place for the first time, I’m probably going to pick a simple flavour like pistachio or stracciatella to gauge the quality of the ice cream. But if it’s a place I’m familiar with, all bets are off; I’m instantly drawn to odder flavours I might not have tried before. And I can’t say I’ve ever had a gelato flavour quite like the Zuppa Inglese at La Paloma: “English trifle with layers of cranberries, orange zest and our homemade sponge cake.” It absolutely nails the trifle flavour, with the fruity/cakey/custardy taste shining through. It’s also got that in-your-face booziness that you’ll often find in Italian desserts; this is a bit of an acquired taste (and it’s not my favourite thing in the world), but I don’t mind it. The gelato itself was a bit icy, but this was otherwise a top-notch flavour.

Quick Bites: Nani’s Gelato, Fishman Lobster Clubhouse, and Bakerbots Baking

Published on March 3, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate gelato from Nani’s Gelato

I’ve written about Nani’s Gelato a couple of times for this blog, and it continues to be fantastic. Both flavours were top-notch, and the gelato itself is as rich and creamy as ever. Alas, they’re currently closed for the season; apparently a permanent location might be in the cards, so fingers crossed that they’re able to make this happen. Clearly, gelato of this calibre needs to available all year round.

Lobster mountain at Fishman Lobster Clubhouse

I don’t have much to add about this place since I wrote about it last — but come on. Look at that thing. That’s a photo you have to share. And that’s the impressive thing about this place: it seems like it’s expressly designed to impress on social media (and yeah, it clearly is), but it’s also surprisingly delicious. It’s meaty and perfectly cooked, and the way they fry it makes it a bit more interesting than standard boiled/steamed lobster, but still allows the meat be the star of the show (it’s fried in the shell, so the majority of the meat isn’t battered). It’s so good.

Orange Cardamom ice cream from Bakerbots Baking

Hot tip: Bakerbots Baking serves a decent assortment of Bang Bang ice cream flavours, so if you ever feel like a scoop of Bang Bang without the line, head to Bakerbots. And the orange cardamom was exactly what I was hoping it would be: creamy and orangey like the best creamsicle you’ve ever had, but with a nice hit of cardamom flavour. It’s a quality scoop of ice cream.

A Disappointing Meal at Dreyfus

Published on February 13, 2020 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 96 Harbord Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Dreyfus-Toronto-382976892314156/

Dreyfus’ main claim to fame is that it was opened by an alumnus of Joe Beef, a seriously acclaimed Montreal bistro (among many, many accolades, it was recently called Canada’s second best restaurant). I’ve never tried that place, so this seemed like the next best thing.

The menu consists of various small, shareable plates with big price tags; cheap eats this isn’t, but then every now and then you need to break the bank and try some top-notch food. Or at least, that was the idea.

The menu is entirely French, which means that effectively, there is no menu — the waiter tells you about every dish, and then you have to remember it all; not ideal for a place that requires you to order multiple dishes. That whole conceit is a bit overly precious, but if the food is great, who cares?

Yeah, about that.

Nothing is outright bad, I’ll give it that, but for what they’re charging, the food is very much a mixed bag.

There were some highlights, however. There was a dish that featured endives topped with tender roast pork shoulder that was particularly delicious. The endive was doused in a tasty, Russian-style dressing and was basically a variation on a wedge salad, and the thickly-sliced pork was meaty and tender.

The croque cubano — essentially an open-faced Cubano that you can eat in a couple of bites — was crispy, meaty, zesty, and satisfying.

And the ice cream sandwich featured top-notch ice cream sandwiched between two chewy, delicious cookies.

Everything else was a bit iffy. The steak tartare was fine, but it was way overseasoned and had zero beefy flavour.

I can’t remember what the croquette was even supposed to be; the vaguely yogurty interior was basically just a thick, tasteless sludge.

This squash dish topped with Jersey Royal cheese should have been tasty, but the cheese was haphazardly applied, and most of the squash was undercooked and crunchy.

The mackerel seemed okay, but it was absolutely doused in an overly vinegary sauce that completely overwhelmed the fish.

The madelines were basically tasty, but they were overcooked and dry, and the sauce that comes on the side was overly sweet (the sugar that was haphazardly dumped into the container probably didn’t help).

Quick Bites: Sweet Jesus, Parka Food Co., and Bakerbots Baking

Published on February 5, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Apple Fritter Crisp from Sweet Jesus

This was actually pretty tasty. Here’s how Sweet Jesus describes the Apple Fritter Crisp: “Vanilla soft serve, Apple pie sauce, Apple fritter pieces, Apple fritter crumb, Caramel sauce.” I enjoyed it, mostly — it pretty much nails the apple pie/crumble element, with a cinnamon-infused flavour, and a nice hit of caramel and apples. But the “apple fritter crumb” it’s rolled in was more chewy than crispy (there was a disconcerting lack of crispiness for something with “crisp” in its name), and the apple fritter pieces were entirely absent. Still, the creamy vanilla ice cream and the apple-crumble-infused flavour are a tasty combo.

Caesar Salad at Parka Food Co.

I recently found myself back at Parka Food Co., a place that specializes in vegan eats; on my first visit I had a sandwich and found the bun to be fairly horrifying, so I skipped the sandwiches and went with a Caesar salad instead. It was fine, I guess? Caesar dressing traditionally features very non-vegan ingredients like anchovies, egg yolks, and cheese; whatever vegan alternatives they used here were decent enough. But the dressing was overly vinegary, and the pickled onions on top are a bizarre choice — they only amplify the puckery vinegar flavour.

Lemon Tart and Raspberry Rosewater Tart from Bakerbots Baking

Both of these tarts were absolutely fantastic, particularly the Raspberry Rosewater tart, which featured an ultra-rich custard with a pronounced rosewater flavour that complimented the tart raspberries on top perfectly. And unlike the last pie I had at this place, the crust was superlative; it was crispy, buttery, and perfect.