meat – Michael Eats

Decent Wraps at Shawarma Kingdom

Published on January 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 377 Burnhamthorpe Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.shawarmakingdom.ca/

Shawarma Kingdom is totally fine. It’s fine! It’s shawarma. It’s good. You don’t need to go out of your way for it, but it’s acceptably tasty.

I mostly wanted to check this place out because they have beef and lamb on the menu. I’m of the opinion that lamb shawarma is the best shawarma — and yet it’s almost impossible to find in the GTA. When you do see it, it’s mixed with beef like it is here (and in most cases, the mix leans much more towards beef than lamb). It’s a shame.

You can get the wrap either in a pita or saj (for a few bucks more). I went with saj and stuck with the default toppings, which are tahini sauce, tomato, onion, parsley and pickles (okay fine, I lied — I skipped the onion, as I tend to do).

They definitely don’t skimp on the meat; the wrap is absolutely crammed. They don’t skimp on the sauce, either, making this a bit of a mess. The saj was over-toasted, which meant that the wrap was very brittle, with its structural integrity being extremely questionable; it basically exploded, and I had to eat most of it with a fork and knife.

It’s a satisfying enough wrap, with the meat being fairly tender and flavourful, and with the generous amount of parsley giving it an interesting herby kick. I wish the tahini sauce were a bit zippier, and I wish the meat had more of the crispy bits you’re looking from shawarma, but it’s a solid wrap (figuratively, not literally — again, it fell apart basically instantly).

Pho Ngoc Yen Continues to be Great

Published on August 3, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1596 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://sites.google.com/orderup.ai/ngocyenrestaurant/home

I went to the original location of Pho Ngoc Yen a few years ago and called it a hidden gem. It’s in an industrial area of Mississauga, and you really have to be looking for it to find it. You’re not going to stumble onto it.

Their second location, on a busy stretch of the Queensway in Etobicoke, is very much the opposite. But it’s still a gem.

I ordered the pho last time, which was extremely delicious, so I figured another noodle soup was a safe bet. I went with the bun bo hue: “beef, pork with vermicelli in spicy lemongrass soup.”

It’s a great noodle soup. Though it’s not particularly spicy, the broth is zippy and flavour-packed, with a meaty and slightly seafoody flavour that’s really satisfying.

It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it’s absolutely crammed with meat. There’s a whole bunch of tender sliced beef, a couple of fairly substantial pieces of tasty pork sausage, and some blood cakes.

The dish cost about 20 bucks, which certainly isn’t cheap, but considering the quantity and quality of stuff in this bowl, it’s hard to say it’s not worth it.

Tasty Burritos at Bolets Burrito

Published on March 30, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 134 Lower Sherbourne Street, Toronto
Website: https://boletsburrito.square.site/

Pretty much any time the topic of the best burrito in Toronto comes up on the Toronto food subreddit, Bolets is mentioned. I finally got around to it recently, and yeah: it’s quite good.

They have a handful of meat options (including some esoteric choices like Buffalo chicken and sweet spicy Thai), but the steak seems t o be the one they’re most known for, so that’s what I got.

The burrito comes crammed with steak, along with the usual assortment of rice, beans, and veggies.

The steak is tender, plentiful, and very well seasoned, and the proportion of meat to veggies to sauce is spot on. I asked for it hot, and while it’s not exactly going to blow your head off, it’s got a good kick. There were a couple of inedible gristly bits in the steak, which was unfortunate, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

Is it the best burrito in the city? I don’t know, but it’s probably a contender.

Amazing Gyros at Souv Like

Published on March 22, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 708 Pape Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://souvlike.ca/

Souv Like has a reputation for serving some of the best gyros in the GTA. All it took was one bite to confirm this to be true. Heck, I knew it was probably true just by looking at it, with all those gloriously brown crispy bits.

They have a handful of things on the menu, but I think the pork or chicken gyros are where it’s at.

I went with the pork, which is a pretty no-frills wrap, coming stuffed with meat, tomatoes, onions (which I skipped), fries, and secret sauce. I should also note that the grizzled man behind the counter assembled this thing with remarkable speed; I think he shaved the meat off the spit and put the wrap together in something like thirty seconds. And yet nothing about it felt haphazard, with a good proportion of meat to toppings to sauce. The guy’s clearly been doing this a while.

It’s an amazing wrap. The pork is pretty much exactly where you want it to be, with an abundance of crispy bits, a nice tender texture, and a great flavour. It’s maybe a touch on the salty side, but that’s balanced out nicely by the slightly sweet secret sauce. The perfectly cooked fries are a good addition, and the fresh, slightly chewy pita works well.

I also like that the wrap is heavy on meat, and light on everything else. A lot wraps like this are so overloaded with veggies that the meat almost feels like an afterthought. Clearly, that’s not the case here.

Tasty Subs at Lambo’s Deli

Published on January 12, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 176 Bellwoods Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.lambosdeli.ca/

Lambo’s is one of those places that’s pretty much always busy, no matter when you go. Though it’s certainly possible for a place like this to be overhyped, generally speaking, if you’re doing that well, you’re probably doing something right.

And indeed, Lambo’s is doing something right. They’re a sub shop, with nine classic deli subs on the menu. I went with the Italian Trio: “Soppressata, mortadella, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, pickled red onion, arugula, pesto, Calabrian chili spread.”

It’s a very tasty sandwich, with a great balance between the salty meats, rich cheese, zingy pickled onions, and flavour-packed pesto and Calabrian chili.

It seems a bit pricey at $16, until you get it and realize that each overstuffed sandwich is easily big enough to feed two.

I also tried the Caprese: “Fresh mozzarella, tomato, balsamic glaze, arugula, breadcrumb gremolata, pesto.”

I will admit that I missed the meat in this one, but it was still quite satisfying — in particular, the addition of the breadcrumb gremolata is actually quite ingenious. I wouldn’t have thought to put breadcrumbs in a sandwich, but it brings a nice crispiness that works well with the soft cheese and tomato.