margherita pizza – Page 2

Tasty Eats at Do West Fest

Published on June 10, 2024June 8, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Do West Fest is a surprisingly massive street festival (it covers about 1.5 km, from Landsdown to Ossington) with a whole bunch of tasty eats. I tried a few things.

Heirloom’s Hot & Honey Big Crunch from Heirloom Food Truck

I was actually quite excited about this one. I tried the Szechuan fried chicken sandwich from this food truck a few years ago, and thought that it was basically fried chicken perfection. It was crazy good.

So when I saw the Heirloom truck, I figured another fried chicken sandwich was a safe bet. They have a few on the menu (though not the Szechuan, sadly), but the Hot & Honey Big Crunch caught my eye. “Crispy chicken breast, hot & honey sauce, creamy slaw, pickled cucumber, iceberg lettuce, chipotle aioli, brioche bun.”

It’s a solid fried chicken sandwich. It’s nice and crunchy, and features a good balance of sweetness and acidity (alas, very little spice). It’s tasty. But, in my sandwich at least, the chicken itself was pretty dry, as was the thick brioche bun. I still enjoyed it, but that was a bit of a bummer. Certainly, it wasn’t the mindblower that the Szechuan sandwich was.

Strawberry Rhubarb cake from Moonmilk

Moonmilk is a great little ice cream shop and bakery on Dundas. I’ve tried the ice cream on a previous visit, and it was quite tasty. They also sell a handful of cakes; I went with the strawberry rhubarb, and yeah, this place knows what they’re doing.

It’s a pretty simple cake — basically just strawberry and rhubarb layered with buttercream frosting and a fairly plain cake — but it’s thoroughly delicious. It’s kinda strawberry shortcake-esque, with a great balance between the slightly tart strawberry/rhubarb filling and the silky buttercream. The cake has a good amount of substance to it, but isn’t too dense. It’s very good.

Margherita pizza from Acute Pizzeria

Acute boasts that their pizzas are made from sourdough, and yeah, the crust does have a bit of that sourdough tang. It actually works quite well. It’s also clear that they know exactly how to bake it, as it has a nice crackly crust, a bit of char, and a fluffy interior.

I got the margherita, and it was really good for all the reasons that margherita pizzas tend to be really good — they nailed it. I’d say this place is only a teeny-tiny step below top-tier pizzas like Badiali and North of Brooklyn.

Crispy Coconut Shrimp Dumplings from FeasTO

FeasTO is a dumpling truck that’s been around a while (I last tried it in 2019), and given how good their dumplings are, it’s easy enough to see why.

I tried the crispy coconut shrimp dumplings, which feature a great balance between the crispy fried exterior and the perfectly cooked shrimp within. The sauce they put on top was a bit sweet for me (it’s pretty intense), but otherwise these were quite satisfying.

Pizza and Gelato at Eataly in Sherway Gardens

Published on November 3, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke (inside Sherway Gardens)
Website: https://www.eataly.ca/stores/eataly-sherway-gardens/

The Eataly in Sherway Gardens has just opened, and while it isn’t quite as impressive as the downtown location (it’s roughly half the size at 25,000 feet, as per Toronto Life), it’s still an absolute must-visit for anyone who’s even vaguely into Italian food.

The selection there is absolutely massive, with all kinds of pantry items, fresh pasta, cheese, meat, and prepared foods. The prices, however, are serious business — looking at the price tags on the prepared foods, in particular, is not for the faint of heart. It’s all a bit below restaurant pricing for stuff you have to bring home and heat up yourself, so I guess it’s not too crazy if the food is really good. But I will admit that paying 16 bucks for one small serving of cold lasagna just feels wrong on a very fundamental level, even if it’s delicious.

(Or maybe I’m just a cheapskate.)

I tried a couple of things. They have a decent selection of pizza slices that you can either eat in the restaurant (though there are only a handful of tables at the moment) or take out. It’s a thick crust, Roman-style pizza, which is ideal in a grab-and-go setting since it reheats quite well. I got the margherita, and while nothing about it particularly stood out (the crust, in particular, is pretty bland), it’s a solid slice of pizza.

They had eleven flavours of gelato on offer; I went with the old standby, pistachio, and it was fine. This is a thoroughly insufferable complaint, but I was recently in Italy and was eating gelato on a daily basis, and what they’re serving here is basically trash compared to that.

That’s not fair, of course, but even compared to what’s available in Toronto, the gelato here is good, but not great. The pistachio flavour was a bit off (it definitely tastes like they’re using real pistachios, but I think they might be using flavouring as well), and the texture wasn’t quite as creamy as it should be.

Quick Bites: Pizzeria Via Napoli, Ikkoi Japanese Family Cuisine, Nani’s Gelato

Published on November 17, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Margherita pizza from Pizzeria Via Napoli

I suppose you could order something from a Neapolitan pizza joint that isn’t a margherita pizza, but why would you? As I’ve mentioned before, it’s the perfect food. It’s also a great test of a restaurant’s chops, because it’s so simple that if your technique isn’t on point, and if the ingredients you’re working with aren’t great, it’s going to show. Pizzeria Via Napoli’s version absolutely hits it out of the park; the crust is flavourful, perfectly chewy, and has a good amount of char on its exterior (including the bottom of the slice). And the other ingredients are just right. Margherita test: passed!

Ramen from Ikkoi Japanese Family Cuisine

Speaking of food that’s perfect: ramen. It’s the best. I ordered the tonkotsu ramen from Ikkoi (they serve several other styles of ramen, along with sushi and other Japanese standbys), and it’s pretty decent. Is it the best bowl of ramen that I’ve ever had? No; their menu is so broad that they’re probably spreading themselves a bit thin. But there’s also absolutely nothing wrong with it. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it, but if you’re in the area and you’re craving a bowl of ramen, it’s worth a shot.

Dark Chocolate Oreo at Nani’s Gelato

Nani’s continues to be great. I don’t particularly feel the need to write about Nani’s every time I eat there, because I think it’s fairly clear by this point that I think Nani’s serves some truly stellar gelato. But I would like to note that, even though it’s not technically on the menu, Nani’s does have a kids size cup that’s pretty much the perfect amount if you’re not super hungry. It’s the same size cup as the small, but the gelato pretty much only goes to the brim instead of being mounded way up. I’m not sure why they don’t advertise this size, but I’m definitely glad I know it exists. And now you do too!

Great New York Style Slices at Pizzeria Badiali

Published on September 26, 2021October 14, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 181 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://www.pizzeriabadiali.com/

Pizzeria Badiali is a pizza joint that bills itself as “a nod to the New York classics.” And yeah, it’s quite different from the Neapolitan-style pizzas you can find all over town.

Of course, it would have to be — it’s a slice shop, and the floppier slices of a Neapolitan-style pizza aren’t exactly grab-and-go compatible.

The slices here, on the other hand, have a delightful crispiness that never feels overly crunchy, with an interior texture that balances fluffiness and chewiness quite well. It reminds me a bit of the slices they serve nearby at Superpoint, but I think this might be even better.

I got the margherita: “crushed tomato, fior di latte, pecorino and padano, basil.”

It was great — in particular, the balance between the creamy fior di latte and the sharp pecorino and padano really popped.

The place is quite popular (someone actually came out and announced a twenty minute wait for a new batch of slices shortly after I got mine), and with the combo of great quality toppings and a superlative crust, it’s easy enough to see why.

Quality Neapolitan Pizza at Sip Wine Bar

Published on May 7, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2 Broadway Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://www.sipwinebar.ca/

I wound up at Sip Wine Bar entirely because the restaurant I was supposed to be visiting turned out to be closed (RIP to the Yonge Street location of Via Mercanti), so I’ll admit that my expectations weren’t particularly high.

They went even lower once I tried the appetizer, a decent but uninspired bruschetta that basically defines the word “meh.”

But I actually quite enjoyed the pizza. I ordered the margherita, because as I’ve said before, it is the king of pizzas and one of the world’s few perfect foods. It’s also a great test of a pizza joint’s ability, because there are no fancy toppings to hide behind. If the quality of your dough and your technique aren’t on point, it’s game over.

Sip Wine Bar definitely passed that test. It’s not the best pizza I’ve ever had, but every element was right where it should be — in particular, the crust was great. It had a good amount of flavour and a great chew, and enough char to give it some personality without overwhelming. The ratio of sauce and cheese was also quite satisfying. It was a quality suh.