Mississauga – Page 3 – Michael Eats

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

Published on December 28, 2025December 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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

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

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

Published on December 26, 2025December 26, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Published on December 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

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

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).

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

Published on December 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

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.

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

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.

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.

Baked Salted Caramel Pie at McDonald’s

Published on November 16, 2025November 16, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1500 Dundas Street East, Mississauga (inside Walmart)
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’m going to try not to spend this entire review complaining about how McDonald’s used to fry their pies, resulting in a golden, satisfyingly crispy exterior, and now bakes them instead.

Remember how good the fried pies used to taste? No, you don’t, because the switchover happened back in 1992, and you weren’t even born when it happened?? That’s extremely upsetting to me, but yeah, fair enough.

Well, the fried pies were good. And you don’t need a time machine to discover this for yourself — basically every other country in the world still serves their McDonald’s pies fried, and it’s a million times better. Why we still have to put up with gummy, tasteless crusts despite the fact that the low-fat diet craze that spawned this change has been gone for decades is a mystery that will eternally haunt me.

Oh, did I say I wasn’t going to spend this entire review complaining about the crust? Well, I lied. Otherwise, this is basically fine — it tastes like an apple pie that’s all goo, no apples, with the slight hit of salt making it a bit more interesting. But seriously: why are we all putting up with the fact that the pies at McDonald’s are terrible when they don’t have to be???