meat – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Unique Chinese Food at Tangritah Kabab House

Published on December 17, 2023December 17, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 900 Rathburn Road West, Mississauga
Website: None

One of the things I like about living in Toronto is that not only is pretty much every country’s cuisine available to try (which I explore in another blog, 196 Plates — I think it might be about time to bring that one back), you can actually get so much more specific than that.

This place — which specializes in Uyghur cuisine — is a great example of this. “Chinese food” tends to be put under one enormous umbrella, but China is a huge country, and its food is wildly different from region to region.

I tried a few things here, and it was all extremely delicious. First up: a dish the menu only refers to as “fried meat.” I think it was beef, though it might have been lamb (if it was, it didn’t have much of a lamby flavour). Either way, it was super tasty, with a bunch of tender meat, nicely cooked onions, and a very cumin-tinged flavour that was extremely addictive.

Next up was the Tangritah Special Langmen, which is an Uyghur dish in which hand-pulled noodles are topped with stir-fried veggies and meat. The flavour here was a bit less distinctive than the fried meat, but the noodles had a really satisfying chewiness, and the veggies and meat were perfectly cooked (again, I’m not sure what the meat was, but I’m gonna say beef).

Finally, I tried the samsa, a bun filled with a mix of lamb and onions. This looks like it might have initially been crispy on its exterior, which would have been nice, but it was either steamed or microwaved to reheat and was soft throughout. Regardless, it was quite tasty.

A Delicious Sandwich at V’s Schnitzel House

Published on January 5, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 448 Brown’s Line, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.vsschnitzelhouse.com/

I’ve heard nothing but good things about the schnitzel sandwich at V’s Schnitzel House, so that’s what I ordered. It was delicious. I wish I hadn’t ordered it.

Specifically, I ordered the pork schnitzel sandwich (chicken is also an option), which comes topped with lettuce, tomato, and “Magic dill sauce.”

It’s a top-notch sandwich — the fluffy Kaiser roll has just enough heft to hold up to the meat without overwhelming, the lettuce and tomato add a nice dose of freshness and crunch, and the Magic dill sauce is seriously delicious.

I ordered the house salad on the side. It also comes with the Magic dill sauce, and man that stuff is so good. It’s creamy, a little bit sweet, garlicky, and has a pronounced dill flavour. You can buy a bottle of this stuff for ten bucks, and I’m very tempted to go back and pick one up.

But I mentioned that I wish I hadn’t ordered the sandwich (in spite of how delicious it was), and that’s because the schnitzel itself was amazing. It was hard to tell in the context of a sandwich, but I think this might have been the best schnitzel I’ve ever had? The exterior was perfectly crispy, the seasoning was great, and the meat itself was thoroughly tender. Clearly, I need to go back and try the schnitzel on its own ASAP.

An All-Time Great Sandwich from Schwartz’s Deli

Published on November 3, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3895 Saint Laurent Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec
Website: https://schwartzsdeli.com/

It’s been over a decade since I’ve been to Schwartz’s, Montreal’s legendary purveyor of smoked meat, and I wondered: is it as amazing as I remembered? Sometimes nostalgia can turn rosy memories into an unobtainable ideal, and of course, legendary restaurants like Schwartz’s run the risk of being overhyped.

Well, it turns out that Schwartz’s isn’t quite as amazing as I remembered — it’s even better, somehow?? Their smoked meat sandwich might literally be one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

I should note that I ordered the sandwich fatty, which is clearly the way to go: the fat here is creamy and luxurious, basically melting in your mouth like unctuous meat butter. It’s so good.

The ultra-tender meat is crazy delicious; I don’t know what’s in the spicing, but it’s absolutely perfect. But then everything here is absolutely perfect: the meat is super tender, incredibly flavourful, and just the best thing ever. The absolute best. The sandwich has the perfect amount of meat, too — it’s generous, but not a comically tall pile that’s impossible to eat.

I got a side order of coleslaw, which was crunchy and zingy — the perfect counterpoint to the indulgent sandwich.

Hot tip: if you’re planning on coming here (and yes, it’s worth the drive to Montreal for this place alone), arrive early. I showed up at about 10:30 in the morning; the place was already quite busy, but I was able to get a counter seat immediately. By the time I left, the place was packed and there was a line out the door.

Above Average Patties at Phamilyeats

Published on July 10, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 858 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
Website: https://phamilyeats.ca/

Though Phamilyeats started out as one of the many delivery-only eateries that popped up during the pandemic, they now share a space with Conspiracy Pizza and Churnt Up. They specialize in meat pies — either family-sized pot pies, or individual patties — and based on the patty I tried, they’re definitely worth checking out.

I went with the spicy beef patty, which is a classic patty through and through. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but it’s really well executed, with a great beefy flavour and a decent level of spice.

I also appreciated that the beef was a bit chunkier than the norm. The meat in a lot of patties, particularly cheaper ones, is so thoroughly pulverized into a fine paste that it’s only vaguely recognizable as beef. That’s definitely not the case here.

And the pastry might just be the highlight, with a delightful flakiness that complements the beef filling perfectly.

Barbecue Meets Pizza at Conspiracy Pizza

Published on July 3, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 858 Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
Website: https://www.conspiracypizza.ca/

Though Conspiracy Pizza started out as a pop-up inside of the infamous (and defunct) Adamson Barbecue, they’ve since cut ties and have their own space (which they share with Churnt Up, an ice cream shop, and Phamily Eats, which sells patties).

They’ve still got a bit of a barbecue theme, however — their namesake pie, the Conspiracy, comes topped with “white sauce, emmental cheese, brisket, red onion, jalapeno, barbecue sauce.”

It’s an odd pizza, but it absolutely works. In particular, the chunks of brisket are shockingly good — they’re nice and tender, and they’ve got a distinctly smoky flavour. It makes me wish they served a sandwich, because it’s top-notch BBQ brisket.

But then the whole pizza is pretty great, with pops of heat from the jalapenos, a satisfying richness from the white sauce and the cheese, and with the barbecue sauce bringing it a nice zippy sweetness to cut through the meat and cheese. The crust is quite good too, with a super crispy exterior and a fluffy interior.

I also tried the Government Cheese, which comes topped with “mozza, cheddar, emmental, provolone, manchego, oregano.”

It takes a lot for me to say that a pizza is too cheesy, but… this one was too cheesy. It’s overwhelming. It also kinda reminded me of a Costco pizza (the cheddar, maybe?). It’s not bad — a huge pile of gooey cheese is never going to be all bad — but I can’t say I’d ever order it again.