meatballs – Michael Eats

Delicious Sandwiches at Sammie’s

Published on October 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 594 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.alwaystastysandwiches.com/

What’s this? A new sandwich shop in Toronto that isn’t selling Italian cold cut sandwiches on some kind of focaccia-type bread? Is that even allowed??

(They actually do have a few cold cut sandwiches, but it’s all served on hoagie rolls, so it feels a bit different from the many Italian sandwich joints that have sprung up in the last several months.)

I tried a couple of sandwiches. First up: the Brisket Philly Cheese (“chopped Brisket in gravy with melted cheese and sautéed onions; our take on the famous sandwich”).

I think calling this a Philly cheesesteak is a bit of a stretch. The sandwich contains beef and cheese, and… the similarities end there. But you know what? If you’re serving something this delicious, you can call it whatever the hell you want.

The combo between the ultra-tender brisket, the gooey cheese, and the silky caramelized onions just works. I know this sounds vaguely like a Philly cheesesteak, but the gravy-soaked slow-cooked brisket has a very, very different (but no less delicious!) personality from the griddle-cooked beef in a cheesesteak.

The menu doesn’t mention that the brisket is smoked, but there’s a distinct smoky flavour here that makes me think that it might be.

I also tried the Meatball (“Beef meatballs/Tomato sauce/shredded cheese/and diced jalapeños”).

This was just as tasty as the brisket, with a generous amount of tender, flavour-packed meatballs, more gooey cheese, and hot peppers for some nice pops of spice.

Not much more to say about this one. It’s everything you want a meatball sandwich to be: great quality meatballs, rich tomato sauce, melty cheese.

And the bread is quite nice; it’s fresh and fluffy, and it holds up well to the very saucy sandwiches. It doesn’t have a ton of personality, and is really just there to highlight the various fillings; I like a nice tangy sourdough as much as the next guy, but sometimes you want the bread to just get out of the way and be a vehicle for some tasty, meaty stuff.

Tasty Pizza at The Fourth Man in the Fire

Published on June 30, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 832 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://thefourthmaninthefirepizzeria.com/

The Fourth Man in the Fire was started by Shant Mardirosian of Burger’s Priest fame, and while it probably isn’t quite as great as the Burger’s Priest was when it first opened, they still serve some tasty pizza.

I tried the Meatball and Peppers Pizza: “Tomato Sauce, Whole Milk Mozzarella Blend, Fresh Mozzarella, Homemade Meatball, Fresh Peppers.”

The pizza they serve here is similar in style to places like North of Brooklyn and Badiali, though with a lighter, airier crust. The crust is slightly lacking in substance, but it’s got a nice char and a light crispiness that’s quite delightful.

As for the toppings, it’s kind of like a meatball sandwich in pizza form, and all of the components are quite good. I wish the peppers had been cooked a bit more; I think they put them on the pizza uncooked, so they’re still quite crisp. This kills the meatball sub vibe a bit, as I don’t think I’ve ever had a sandwich like that with raw peppers. Still, it mostly works.

Outstanding Greek Food at Mamakas Taverna

Published on March 25, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 80 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://mamakas.ca/

I had an idea that Mamakas Taverna was probably something special when I tried their pork souvlaki at the recent OssFest street festival and was completely blown away. I was finally able to visit the restaurant itself, and yeah. Yeah. That souvlaki wasn’t a fluke. Everything is so good.

It’s the type of place where you order a bunch of stuff and share, which works out well because everything is so incredibly delicious that you want to try the whole menu.

There’s the spanakopita, which is basically the platonic ideal of that dish, with a crispy, buttery exterior and an intensely flavourful spinach filling. The filling was actually quite unique, with a mildly sweet, citrusy tang that does a great job of balancing out the richness of the dish.

There were these keftedes — perfectly-spiced beef and pork meatballs with a delightfully crispy exterior from the fryer.

This looks like a pretty standard salad, but the meaty lentils combined with the fresh herbs and the nice pops of sweetness and crunch from the pomegranate — not to mention a dressing that complements it perfectly and isn’t over-applied — made it just as memorable as any of the other dishes.

The octopus was probably the simplest dish I tried, and proof that if you’re working with great quality ingredients and preparing them well, further ornamentation is unnecessary. The meat had a great amount of char from the grill, with a mild sweetness and nice meaty bite. If you’re queasy about eating octopus, you need to get over yourself; you don’t know what you’re missing. Bad octopus can be rubbery and horrible, but good octopus is like the delicious love-child between a scallop and a pork chop.

My favourite dish of the night was also easily the least photogenic. No, this braised short rib doesn’t look like much, but holy moly it was ridiculously good. Insanely tender (but not mushy) with just the right amount of perfectly creamy fat and an intensely beefy flavour, it was basically like the best pot roast you’ve ever had.

The dessert — a walnut spice cake with yogurt mousse — was just as delicious as everything else, because of course it was. The cake was nutty and rich, and the tartness of the creamy mousse complemented it perfectly.

Ultra-Chewy Noodles at Potato Noodle Soup of Bai

Published on October 1, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4350 Steeles Avenue East, Markham
Website: None

I’ve had a lot of noodles over the course of my life, but — until now — I don’t think I’d ever tried potato noodles.

As the name implies, potato noodles are made with potato starch, which gives them a much, much chewier consistency than the norm.

Though I’ve heard good things about the cold noodles Potato Noodle Soup of Bai, I decided to go with the noodle soup — mostly because “noodle soup” is right there in the name.

I got the plain potato noodle soup, which comes with noodles, meatballs, fish balls, half an egg, and various odds and ends in a fiery broth.

The noodles are really interesting. There’s a Korean dish called jjolmyeon that features noodles that are so incredibly chewy you have to cut them with scissors before you start eating. These kind of reminded me of a thicker, slightly less chewy version of those.

The broth was a bit saltier than I’d like, but it was otherwise quite tasty, with a spicy kick and an almost creamy richness that you only get from a stock that’s been simmered for a long, long time.

The whole thing was fairly tasty, though with Sun’s Kitchen just a few steps away, I don’t know that I’d ever eat here again.

Average Meatball Sandwich at Little DaiLo

Published on July 2, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 111 Richmond Street West, Toronto (in the Assembly Chef’s Hall)
Website: https://chefs-hall.squarespace.com/

Little DaiLo in the Assembly Chef’s Hall currently has a garlic sambal meatball sandwich on their menu. I just tried it; it was a meatball sandwich. The End.

I should write a few more words, I suppose. But there’s not all that much to say about it — despite the presence of napa slaw and garlic sambal, it’s a super run-of-the-mill meatball sandwich. It’s perfectly tasty, but there isn’t anything about it that stands out.

Well, that’s not strictly true: though it doesn’t add all that much flavour, the sambal has a pleasant kick that makes the sandwich a bit more fiery than the norm.

The other thing that should set it apart is the napa slaw, but aside from a mild crunch, you can’t even tell it’s there.

Other than that, the beef meatballs and the sauce were standard-issue (though the meatballs in a meatball sandwich can sometimes be a bit mushy and these had a nice texture, so I appreciated that). The sandwich is ostensibly Asian-inspired, but it tastes like what you’ll find at any number of Italian sandwich joints around town. It’s good, but nothing about it stands out.

My only real issue here is with the bread. It was cold and clammy. I wish it had been even lightly toasted (or at least warmed up somehow), but it was otherwise fine.