Double Cheesy Melt from McDonald’s

Double Cheesy Melt from McDonald's
Location
30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Websitehttps://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I don’t think it’s possible to have too much cheese on a fast food cheeseburger.  Generally speaking, I want the beef to be the star of a hamburger, even a cheeseburger, but a fast food burger with fast-food-quality beef patties?  Sure, pile on the cheese.  The more the better.

Double Cheesy Melt from McDonald's

And McDonald’s definitely piles on the cheese with this one.  Here’s how they describe it: “Two juicy 100% Canadian beef patties with a delicious cheesy sauce,  two processed cheese slices, grilled onions, crispy onions and pickles on a warm toasted sesame seed split bun.”

I think the fact that they’re using smaller patties rather than the Quarter Pounder patties that you might expect really helps to tip the cheese-to-beef balance in favour of the cheese.  The cheese isn’t kidding around here, that’s for sure.

Double Cheesy Melt from McDonald's

I liked it.  The cheese sauce tastes exactly how you want it to taste: extremely processed, but in a satisfying way.  The grilled onions are a nice touch, and make the burger feel a bit more deluxe than your typical McDonald’s fare.  And the crispy onions, as always, are tasty and add some nice texture.

I will say that I wish there were more pickles in the burger, or some sauce other than the cheese.  The pickles do a great job of rounding things out by cutting through the richness of the cheese, but they’re not in every mouthful; the pickle-free bites feel like they’re missing something.

Quick Bites: Louf, Luca Pizza, Sidra BBQ & Grill

Hummus bil lahma from Louf
Hummus bil lahma from Louf

Louf is a Palestinian restaurant near Casa Loma (it’s probably the closest I’ve been to Casa Loma since I was a kid).  I went at brunch and tried a few things, though the only dish that really jumped out at me was the hummus bil lahma (“chickpeas, tahina, lemon, ghee, beef, spices, pine nuts”).  It’s a solid bowl of hummus, with a satisfyingly zippy, cumin-tinged flavour.  And the braised beef on top is perfectly tender.  It’s a great combo.

Cheese pizza from Luca Pizza
Cheese pizza from Luca Pizza

Luca Pizza frequently comes up in discussions of the best pizza in Mississauga, and I guess I kind of get it.  The place opened in 1975, and it looks like not much has changed in there in the intervening decades; it’s definitely got a bunch of old-school charm.  And the pizza kind of reminds me of what a place like Pizza Pizza would be serving, if Pizza Pizza weren’t terrible.  It’s cheap, cheesy, and filling.  I also liked that the crust had a nice exterior crispiness.  But I have to imagine that the people calling this the best pizza in the city are coming with a big dose of nostalgia — without that, it’s hard to fully overlook the canned-tasting sauce or the bland crust (it’s the kind of crust that makes you realize why dipping sauce with pizza became a thing).  Still, while I’m not going to rush back, it was pretty satisfying for what it was.

Lamb shawarma wrap from Sidra BBQ & Grill
Lamb shawarma wrap from Sidra BBQ & Grill

Mostly, I wanted to try Sidra — a shawarma joint in Oakville — thanks to the presence of lamb among their shawarma selections.  My understanding is that lamb shawarma is actually quite common in the Middle East, but it’s weirdly rare in the GTA (and if you do find it, it’ll likely be mixed with beef).  Sadly, I don’t think the lamb shawarma here was cooked on a vertical spit, which does kind of defeat the point (there were zero crispy bits), and the seasoning was probably a bit too aggressively applied.  Still, it was a bunch of tasty, relatively tender lamb in a wrap, so yeah, I enjoyed it.  Probably not worth going out of your way for, but if you’re in Oakville already, sure, why not?

Tasty Filipino Food at Bella’s Inasal

Bella's Inasal
Location
: 848 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.bellaslechon.ca/

I don’t go to Filipino restaurants all that often, but whenever I do, I’m like, why is this not a regular thing in my life?  Bella’s Inasal definitely gave me those thoughts.

Bella's Inasal

They have a pretty huge menu, but considering they serve a dish called “chicken inasal,” I figured that was probably the thing to order.

Bella's Inasal

The first thing that comes is a small bowl of a garlicky shrimp soup, and wow this was good — it’s got a really great shrimpy flavour, and the toasted garlic complements it perfectly.

Bella's Inasal

As for the chicken inasal, it consists of a perfectly grilled piece of chicken, a generous amount of garlic rice, and a small dish of a zippy papaya slaw called atsara.  It’s very, very good; the chicken is super flavourful and perfectly cooked, with a good amount of char from the grill.  The rice is nice and garlicky, and the atsara helps cut through the richness.  It’s a great dish.

Bella's Inasal

I also tried the pork sisig (“Crispy Pork with Onion, Chili and Calamansi”), which I think I might have liked even better than the chicken?  It comes on a sizzling hot plate, and it is absolutely crammed with porky flavour and crispy bits from the hot plate.  It’s enormously satisfying.

Lee’s Stonemill Rice Roll is a Food Court Gem

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll
Location
: 1000 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga (inside Yuan Ming Supermarket)
Website: https://www.leesriceroll.com/

Lee’s Stonemill Rice Roll is a great food court eatery that specializes in — you guessed it — rice rolls.  The rice roll plates here mostly cost seven or eight bucks, which made me think they were going to be way smaller than they were.  It’s a great deal.

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

I tried the house minced pork and egg rice roll, the beef brisket rice roll, and an order of the scallion pancakes.

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

Both rice rolls were really tasty, particularly with some chili oil drizzled on top.  The dish features thick rice noodles topped with various meats, with the noodles having a nice chewiness that complements the meaty toppings quite well (both the minced pork and the ultra-tender brisket were great).

Lee's Stonemill Rice Roll

The scallion pancakes were a bit dense, but still quite enjoyable — and at $4.25 for a decent amount, a solid deal.

Tasty Basque Cheesecake at Tea One Bakery and Cafe

Tea One Bakery and Cafe
Location
: 900 Rathburn Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/teaonebakery/

Though Tea One Bakery and Cafe has a whole bunch of tasty looking Chinese-style buns and pastries, they also have a whole display case filled with a variety of Basque cheesecake slices.  Clearly, that’s the thing to order.

Tea One Bakery and Cafe

Basque cheesecake, for the initiated, is a crustless cheesecake with a dark, caramelized top.

Tea One Bakery and Cafe

I got a slice of the original, and wow, it was good.  It had a perfect texture — nice and creamy, and just set enough.  It’s incredibly rich, but the relatively restrained sweetness and tart flavour does a great job of balancing things out.

Tea One Bakery and Cafe

I’m going to have to come back and try some of the other flavours, because it was legitimately one of the better slices of cheesecake that I’ve ever had.