mango – Michael Eats

An Amazing Sandwich at Elsa’s Food & Bakery

Published on June 19, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Baywood Road, Unit 15, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Elsas-bakery-1905919683049150/

Elsa’s is a delightful hole-in-the-wall Iraqi bakery that specializes in a pita-esque flatbread called samoon; you can get it on its own (you should do this) or stuffed with shawarma or falafel (you should do this too).

This is the latest hidden gem I’ve discovered thanks to the inimitable Suresh Doss, and like basically everything he writes about, it’s great.

It’s that bread. It’s chewy, fluffy, flavourful, and amazing. It’s tasty as part of a sandwich, but it’s also pretty damn good on its own.

I got the falafel sandwich, which comes with the usual toppings, along with the delightful addition of eggplant and fries. The last time I had eggplant in a falafel sandwich was at L’As du Fallafel in Paris, and I’m starting to seriously wonder why every falafel sandwich doesn’t have eggplant in it. It’s a fantastic addition.

The other thing that stands out is the sauce they top it with, called amba — it’s a mango-based sauce, and it’s sweet, sour, tangy, and delicious, with a mildly curry-tinged flavour. It’s not a subtle sauce; its intense zippiness completely dominated the other flavours in the sandwich, but it’s so tasty that this barely felt like an issue.

Quick Bites: Tom’s Dairy Freeze, Soma Chocolatemaker, Nani’s Gelato

Published on August 15, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Cherry Sundae at Tom’s Dairy Freeze

I mean, come on: if you go the whole summer without going to Tom’s Dairy Freeze at least once, was it really the summer? I submit that it was not. It’s certainly not the most exciting ice cream joint in the city, but they’ve been pumping out consistently great no-frills soft serve for decades, and it’s a million times better than the stuff you’ll find at chains like Dairy Queen or McDonald’s. On this particular visit I got a sundae with chocolate ice cream and cherry sauce, and yeah, that’s a great combo. The sauce is excessively sweet (it tastes like maraschino cherries in a thick syrup), but then that’s kind of the charm of a place like this.

Roasted Almond and Sicilian Pistachio at Soma Chocolatemaker

I’ve mentioned before that Soma serves some of the best gelato in the city, and yeah, it’s still top notch. I recently tried roasted almond and Sicilian pistachio, and both flavours were rich, creamy, and deeply flavourful.

Malai Kulfi and Mango Chocolate Chip at Nani’s

I don’t think I need to spend more time on this blog on the greatness of Nani’s Gelato. I’ve thoroughly covered that. So I’ll just say that on a recent visit I tried malai kulfi and mango chocolate chip, and both flavours were unsurprisingly fantastic. Malai kulfi, in particular, had that perfect Nani’s balance of a unique flavour and amazingly creamy gelato. As for mango chocolate chip, I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical about the combo of mango and chocolate, and… to be honest, I’m still skeptical. But the mango ice cream was so delicious that I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the flavours not working particularly well together.

Empty Instagram Bait at Taiyaki NYC

Published on November 19, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 128 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://taiyakinyc.com/

Taiyaki NYC is basically the same concept as Sukoi Desserts, in which a taiyaki (a Japanese waffle-like dessert in the shape of a fish) is filled with ice cream and other toppings.

It’s a dessert that’s tailor-made for Instagram; in fact, Taiyaki NYC even has a portion of their wall made entirely of flowers to make your photo really pop. I just wish they put in half as much effort to make the food pop.

It’s a dessert I should love. Ice cream is great. Taiyaki is great. Cramming those two things together should be a home run. And yet…

I went with the Mangonificient, which is supposedly one of their most popular flavours — it features a mango/vanilla swirl inside a custard taiyaki.

The ice cream is the biggest issue. It’s not good — it has a decent mango flavour, but it’s icy and thin. It’s topped with a cookie and a few tiny cubes of tasteless mochi on a stick. It looks impressive, but the taste is another story.

I will say, however, that the taiyaki itself is actually quite good. It’s nice and fresh, with a crispy exterior and a perfectly cakey/fluffy interior. They sell them on their own, which is clearly the thing to order. It probably won’t be much of a hit on social media, though, so what’s the point, right?

Fried Chicken and Spaghetti at Jollibee

Published on August 27, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

Jollibee opened locations in Scarborough and Mississauga in the last couple of years, and they were both immediately swamped. People love Jollibee with a passion that’s unusual in the world of fast food.

I tried visiting the Mississauga location a couple of times when it first opened, and both times the line was way too intense. But I figured it was safe enough to give it another shot, and yeah, the extreme crowds have died down. I showed up at around 11:20 AM on a Friday and was able to order immediately, though by the time I left a line had already formed.

I ordered the Crispy Chicken Perfect Pair, which comes with a piece of fried chicken, Jolly Spaghetti, and a drink.

I assumed I’d like the fried chicken (and I did), but the spaghetti was a bit more of a question mark. It’s topped with meat sauce with chunks of hot dog mixed in, and it’s notorious for being quite sweet. I was expecting something in line with Chef Boyardee.

It’s interesting; the sauce is, as advertised, quite sweet. But it’s also tangy, and kind of reminded me of a cross between a traditional tomato sauce and barbecue sauce. It feels like it shouldn’t work, but it kinda does. The salty hot dog slices help to round out the sweetness, as does the cheese on top.

The spaghetti itself isn’t exactly al dente, but it’s not mushy, either. The whole thing is oddly compelling. I liked it.

The fried chicken is more straightforward. It basically tastes like KFC original recipe, but with a slightly more subtle flavour. The chicken was nicely crispy on its exterior and very juicy inside. It’s a quality piece of fried chicken.

Even the gravy is a bit more unique than you might think; it’s definitely not the typical brown gravy you’ll find at a fast food joint. It’s a little bit sweet, and there’s a spice in there I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It works really well with the fried chicken.

I ordered the peach mango pie for dessert, which is crispy and fried, as it should be. The filling is basically a fruit-flavoured goo (there were maybe like two or three tiny bits of fruit in there), but it’s still quite tasty. It’s basically impossible to go wrong with a deep fried pie.

Okay: I get it. I get the lines. It’s certainly not the best thing ever, but I can see why people who grew up with Jollibee have a deep fondness for the place. It’s pretty unique.

On Hiatus (and a few quick reviews)

Published on January 11, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

I’m traveling, so this site is going into hibernation for a while. Feel free to follow my travels at Up in the Nusair (or don’t, I can’t force you… or can I?? No, I can’t… yet).

But first, here’s a few very quick reviews of places I didn’t get a chance to write full posts for before I left.

Cafe Landwer

I actually visited this place a couple of times recently. The first time I had the shakshuka, which was quite tasty and comes with an almost absurd amount of food. It’s a little bit bland, but it comes with an ample amount of fresh bread for dipping, and the tahini sauce helps amp things up.

The second time I had the Sinia Kebab, which features beef kebabs and some grilled veggies on top of freshly baked flatbread, topped with a tahini sauce. This was quite tasty, though it really needs something acidic to cut through the richness. I eventually wound up spooning in some of the salad that comes on the side. I’m not sure if that’s the intent, but it helped.

Jelly Roll from Tim Hortons

It’s a jelly roll from Tim Hortons; it tastes exactly how you think it’s going to taste. It’s basically a very minor upgrade over Little Debbie. It’s pretty junky, but I enjoyed it.

Pho from I Love Pho 2

I already wrote about the surprisingly great I Love Pho 2, and the pho confirms it: this is a place that knows their stuff. The broth has a really great flavour, and the variety of meats they mix in are all perfectly cooked and tasty.

SoSo Food Club

I tried a handful of dishes at SoSo Food Club. Everything was tasty, but the highlight was the addictively cumin-tinged lamb biang biang noodles. The strong cumin flavour, the tender lamb, and the extra-broad noodles all work very well together. The mapo tofu, with its numbing heat and silky tofu, was another highlight.

The Drake Commissary

The bread here is amazing. Like at Terroni, you have to pay for it, but unlike at that place, it wasn’t infuriating. It was well worth paying for. I came here at brunch and had the trapper beans, which had a lot going on, but everything worked perfectly together. In particular, the beans had a savoury richness (and a complete lack of sweetness) that made them quite unlike any baked beans I’ve had before.

Mango Pancakes from HK Sweets

This was fine, I guess. I actually had mango pancakes in Hong Kong, and they were ridiculously good. I was hoping these would recapture that, even slightly, but no such luck. Aside from the fact that they’re not actually pancakes (they’re crepes), the mango was underripe and crunchy, and I think the cream was actually Cool Whip or something similar. Still, it was decent enough for what it was.

Chicken Shawarma from Ghadir Meat & Restaurant

Oh man, this shawarma. I actually visited this place based on a tweet from Suresh Doss — he called it the best shawarma in the GTA, which should really tell you all you need to know. The man knows his food, and he’s certainly not wrong about Ghadir. It’s amazing. It’s got the perfect blend of tender meat with lots of crispy bits, tasty sauces, and fresh veggies. If it’s not the best shawarma in the GTA, it’s certainly a very strong contender for that crown.