ice cream – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Barbershop Patisserie, Bloom Cafe, Bang Bang

Published on December 9, 2023October 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Raspberry almond bread budding from Barbershop Patisserie

I’m a big fan of Barbershop Patisserie; I’m also a big fan of bread pudding, but alas, the bread pudding at Barbershop isn’t quite as amazing as you’d hope. It’s perfectly tasty (I don’t think Barbershop is capable of making something that’s outright bad), but it has basically no custard flavour, and the level of sweetness is so restrained that it borders on bland. Still, the combo of the almonds and the tart raspberry is a big winner, and it certainly wasn’t unpleasant to eat.

Vanilla Cream Puff from Bloom Cafe

I recently mentioned that the delightful Choux Lab actually reminded me quite a bit of Beard Papa, a Japanese cream puff chain that left the GTA a few years ago, taking a little piece of my heart with it. Well Bloom Cafe is even more Beard Papa-esque; they specialize in the exact type of Japanese cream puffs they used to sell at Beard Papa. Alas, I’ll have to stick with Choux Lab to fill the Beard-Papa-sized hole in my heart (and stomach) — the cream puff here could have been tasty, but it was obviously filled way too far in advance, and was pretty soggy. It didn’t help that it was filled with what tasted like plain sweetened whipped cream instead of delicious custardy cream like BP.

Pumpkin / Cookie Butter from Bang Bang

Let’s end things on a more positive note. I’ve written about Bang Bang many, many times on this blog, so I’ll keep this brief. Bang Bang: still great! The flavour I recently had, which combines pumpkin and Biscoff cookie butter, is legitimately among the best scoops of ice cream that I’ve ever had. The two flavours work so well together, and the ice cream itself is amazingly rich and creamy.

Quick Bites: Chica’s Chicken, SumiLicious, Honey’s

Published on November 1, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

The O.G. Sandwich from Chica’s Chicken

The Nashville hot chicken sandwich at Chica’s is very different than it used to be. I should note that it’s still juicy, crispy, and abundantly flavourful. It’s easily one of the best fried chicken sandwiches in the city. But it used to be among the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and it’s not quite there at the moment. It’s also noticeably smaller than it used to be — I’m going to guess that it’s about one third of the size? If you look at a photo of what it used to look like, and then compare it to the photo above, the difference is stark. Chica’s used to sell a smaller sandwich called the “Small Fry,” which they clearly got rid of because it is not possible to sell a sandwich smaller than what they’re currently serving. I also ordered it at the max level of heat, “hot AF,” and while it was quite spicy, it’s not at the blow-your-head-off level of heat that it used to be. Still! I need to reiterate that it’s very, very good. A step down from the best fried chicken I’ve ever had is still pretty damn good.

Smoked meat sandwich at SumiLicious

I haven’t been back to SumiLicious since it opened in 2018; it’s since been recognized by no less than the Michelin guide, and I was curious to see how it’s held up. Well, it was glorious then, and it’s just as glorious now. I mean, just look at the photo. Look at it. It’s easily the best smoked meat in the city. I actually had Schwartz’s in Montreal relatively recently, and while I think that place is still the king (the spicing there is a bit more satisfying), SumiLicious is pretty close.

Chocolate matzo toffee crunch ice cream from Honey’s

I’ve written about Honey’s before, and how shocked I was that a place that serves entirely vegan scoops of ice cream could be so thoroughly delicious. Well, it’s still mystifyingly good. Seriously, how can vegan ice cream be this creamy?? I will say that the more you eat it, the more you notice the absence of the expected dairy/creamy flavour, but aside from that, the texture and flavour is dead on. I’m pretty positive that if you went out and did a blind taste test, 99 percent of people would have no idea that what they’re serving here is vegan. As for this particular flavour, it was quite good — the matzo has a mild crunch from the toffee, and a nice restrained sweetness that works very well with the chocolate.

Decent Ice Cream Sandwiches at Ernie’s Icebox

Published on October 27, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 403 Jane Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.erniesicebox.com/

Fact: there is no such thing as a bad ice cream sandwich. Cookies + ice cream = delicious. That’s just science.

Which is to say that Ernie’s Icebox specializes in ice cream sandwiches, and they are, of course, good.

Unlike a place like Bang Bang that makes everything to order, the sandwiches are pre-made and kept frozen. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but holy moly do they ever freeze the hell out of these things. When they serve it to you, it’s the most frozen thing you’ve ever seen. It’s an impenetrable brick; basically impossible to eat.

I let it stand for about 15 minutes, and it was still rock hard. So I waited yet another 15 minutes, which was probably five to ten minutes too long; it was a bit drippy.

I ordered the peanut butter and jam, which features raspberry (I think?) jam-infused ice cream with chewy peanut butter cookies.

And again, it was good — scientifically, it was an inevitability — but I can’t say anything about it jumped out at me. The ice cream was a bit thin, and nothing about the PB and J combo particularly popped. It was tasty, but both the peanut butter and jam flavours were a bit too muted.

Decent Gelato at Hotel Gelato

Published on April 2, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 532 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto
Website: http://www.hotelgelato.com/

Hotel Gelato is pretty good. I’ve had worse gelato in the city, and I’ve had better. Can that be the whole post? It’s gelato! It’s good! I don’t know.

I should write a bit more? Okay, fine.

Despite the name, Hotel Gelato is actually not just a gelato shop, but a full cafe with a menu featuring salads, sandwiches, and brunch classics. If you walk to the back of the restaurant, however, you’ll find their namesake gelato.

I tried a couple of flavours: peanut butter and vanilla sponge toffee. They were both perfectly tasty; they could have been richer and creamier, and neither of the flavours particularly blew me away, but it wasn’t exactly a chore to eat. Again: it’s gelato. It’s good. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but if you’re in the area, I don’t think you’ll be mad that you checked the place out.

Quick Bites: Street vendor hot dog, Bao Bar, Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on March 30, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hot dog from street vendor at King and John

Street vendor hot dogs have mostly disappeared from the city, which is too bad; they’re certainly not gourmet, but when you need a quick bite, they’re pretty tasty. I actually made a short film about street vendor hot dogs back in 2007, so yeah, I like them. This particular one wasn’t the best I’ve had (the secret of a good street vendor dog is to grill it until it’s got a crispy exterior and a smoky, charred flavour, and that didn’t happen here), but for five bucks for a quick meal, it’s hard to complain.

Great Chicken and Crackle Belly baos from Bao Bar

I think part of the reason I don’t want to dwell on negativity on this blog is that it’s very possible to catch an otherwise good restaurant on a bad day. So rather than trash a place that doesn’t deserve it, I feel like it’s a better idea to just focus on the places I like. That being said, I tried a couple of the baos at this place, and nothing about them — not the bread, the meats, or the sauces — was even remotely good (I should note that “great chicken” is the name of the dish, and certainly not my description of it). But then Bao Bar is generally fairly well regarded online, so maybe it was just a bad day.

Pumpkin and sweet cream from Ed’s Real Scoop

I have a love/hate relationship with Ed’s Real Scoop (well, love/hate is a bit strong… love/like I guess?); when it’s good, it’s very good. But I find it to be the most inconsistent of the better ice cream shops in the GTA. But here’s them at their best: on this particular visit I had pumpkin and sweet cream, and both were fantastic. The pumpkin had a really satisfying pumpkin pie flavour, and the sweet cream (which is reliably the best flavour here) was as delicious as usual. Having them together is basically like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. It’s a boffo combination.