Mississauga – Page 7 – Michael Eats

A Cheap, Tasty Lunch at Brandt European Food Market

Published on December 2, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1878 Mattawa Avenue, Mississauga
Website: https://brandtmeats.com/brandt-food-market/

I’ve written about hidden gems on this blog before, but it doesn’t get much more hidden than this place. It’s located along a dead-end industrial road, and unless you happen to work in the area, there is zero chance that you’d drive by the place.

(And even if you did, it’s so nondescript that you likely wouldn’t even realize that a delightful little Eastern European supermarket and restaurant can be found within.)

It’s actually a factory outlet for Brand meats, a Mississauga-based manufacturer of various Eastern European sausages and meats, and it features the aforementioned supermarket, along with a hot table with a nice spread of stuff like schnitzel and cabbage rolls.

I went with the BBQ pork chops, which features tender braised pork and mushrooms in a zippy sauce. The meal comes with two chops piled on top of a mountain of sides (you can pick two, and they are generous). I had the potatoes, which are basically like hash browns, and the sauerkraut, which is well above average.

Nothing about it particularly blew my mind, but the plate cost ten bucks and was piled high with food, so it’s a fantastic deal.

A Great Veal Sandwich at Palma’s Kitchen

Published on November 24, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3485 Semenyk Court, Mississauga
Website: https://palmapasta.com/

I found this place after typing “veal sandwich” into Google Maps while shopping (hey, sometimes you’ve gotta have a veal sandwich), but Palma’s Kitchen has quite a bit more going on than that. There’s the typical Italian hot table, along with a small but fairly extensive supermarket selection.

They have a handful of sandwiches on the menu; I went for the veal, and had it topped simply, with just hot peppers — I don’t think a good sandwich like this needs anything else, and this is definitely a good one.

It’s that sauce. It has such a delightfully rich, savoury flavour; I could eat it out of a bowl like soup.

The veal is served from a hot table, so its crispiness is long gone, but when the sauce is this tasty and it’s really soaked into the veal (which is melt-in-your-mouth tender), you don’t miss it.

The bread — clearly very fresh — suits the sandwich perfectly, with a very light exterior crispiness, and enough heft within to hold up to the saucy veal (but not so much that it feels overly dense). It’s great quality bread.

I wish the hot peppers were a bit hotter (okay, a lot hotter — they’re only mildly spicy), but this was otherwise a seriously great sandwich.

An Enjoyable Sandwich at Henry’s Fish & Chips

Published on November 12, 2024November 12, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 833 Westlock Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Henrys-Fish-Chips-100070019051515/

I’ll admit that I mostly wanted to try Henry’s Fish & Chips because I was driving by and thought, hey, that looks delightfully old-school. And yeah: it is indeed delightfully old-school. The place has been around since 1987; if you’ve been kicking around for that many decades, clearly, you’re doing something right.

Also delightfully old-school: the prices. I got the cod on a bun, which came up to about nine bucks for a fairy substantial sandwich. The chips start at about two bucks, and the small coleslaw cost 66 cents. And if you’re really looking for a deal, one of the fish options is basa — you can get basa, chips, and a can of soda for just under seven bucks.

And the fish is quite good, though I’d definitely order the classic fish and chips over the sandwich next time; the bread is a bit too crusty and substantial, and the fish is so tasty that it just isn’t necessary.

Everything is fried to order, and the fish was nice and flaky and had a crispy, but — and this is key — not overly substantial exterior.

The fries were quite good too, with a great crispy/creamy balance. I saw a few other people ordering the poutine, and yeah, I’m sure that’s tasty.

I should note that the place is pretty tiny inside, with just a couple of small counters if you want to eat in.

A Solid Sandwich at Banh Mi Tan Dinh

Published on November 11, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3415 Dixie Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/banhmitandinh/

If you’re craving a banh mi in this particular area of Mississauga, you’re all set — within a five minute drive of this place, there’s Banh Mi Saigon, Banh Mi Ba Le, Banh Mi Nguyet Minh, and Bot Chien Saigon. I’ve been to all of them at this point, and some are definitely better than others, but honestly? You can’t go wrong with any of them. There isn’t a dud in the bunch.

I ordered the same assorted cold cuts banh mi that I always get, and it’s a very good version of a classic sandwich.

The bread itself is a bit on the dry side, which holds it back from greatness somewhat, but otherwise everything is right where it should be, with a nice assortment of meaty cold cuts, creamy pate and mayo, and zippy pickled veggies.

I wish there were a bit more pate, but then I wish that of pretty much every banh mi I eat — I’m starting to wonder if most banh mi shops are being stingy with the pate, or if I just like my sandwich to be pate-heavy.

They asked if I wanted hot peppers, and yeah, of course. I could have used a few more, but the peppers that are there add some nice pops of spiciness to the sandwich.

Quick Bites: Crumbl, Tom’s Dairy Freeze, Lola’s

Published on November 10, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Chocolate chip cookie from Crumbl

Crumbl is an American cookie chain that opened in Mississauga earlier last year with a ton of hype. I actually tried to go around when they opened, and the line was so intense that I wound up skipping it altogether. Things have calmed down quite a bit (the place was empty on my recent visit), so I was finally able to try the chocolate chip cookie (they have a rotating menu of six cookies, but the chocolate chip is what made them famous). The cookie seemed like it should have been pretty decent; it’s not too sweet, and it’s clearly made with good quality chocolate. But the cookie was way, way underbaked, with a pronounced raw flour flavour and a middle that was more gummy than chewy. I’m assuming this was partially on purpose, to create a softer cookie, but they clearly went a bit too far (it probably doesn’t help that the cookie is enormous, which makes it harder to underbake without having a fully raw middle).

I should note that I originally wrote this a few months ago (I have a bit of a backlog). I recently tried Crumbl’s second location in Mississauga, around Dixie and Dundas, hoping that the first cookie was just a mistake — surely it’s not supposed to be that underbaked? I had the exact same experience. I also overheard a family in line raving about how much they love the cookies here, so clearly this place has its fans. I am not one of them.

Strawberry sundae from Tom’s Dairy Freeze

I just checked — this will be my seventh time featuring Tom’s Dairy Freeze on this blog, and you know what? I regret nothing. The place continues to serve the city’s best soft serve, so why shouldn’t I write about it on a semi-regular basis? It’s my duty. I got the strawberry sundae on this particular visit, and it was, of course, delicious. I find the sauces here tend not to be nearly as good as the ice cream itself, but this one was great — in particular, the huge chunks of strawberry complemented the creamy ice cream perfectly.

Chocolate gelato from Lola’s Gelato

Speaking of amazing ice cream, every time I check out Lola’s, I’m like “is this the best gelato in the city??” Certainly, they’re neck-and-neck with Mizzica (Nani’s used to be a contender, but my last few visits have been surprisingly poor). I got plain old chocolate on this particular visit, and while it was maybe a touch too sweet, it had a great chocolate flavour and the texture was perfect: super rich and creamy, and served at the right temperature (e.g. not as hard as a brick).