mushrooms – Michael Eats

A Tasty Breakfast at Kitchen on Sixth

Published on October 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2976 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.kitchenonsixth.com/

Kitchen on Sixth is a delightful little restaurant in Etobicoke that specializes in British eats. I came during brunch on a Saturday; there was a lot of tasty looking stuff on the menu, but the full English breakfast was calling my name.

The full English: “Sunny eggs, British bangers, peameal, black pudding, white pudding, baked beans, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, house cut fries, toast.”

Pretty much every component here is quite tasty, from the snappy sausage (which I think is fried, giving it additional texture), to the savoury black and white puddings, to the zingy beans.

I say “pretty much” because fries both do not belong on a full English and weren’t particularly good (they were a bit chalky and dense in the middle), but everything else is tasty enough that I can easily overlook this.

One more tiny complaint: this is the nitpickiest of nitpicks, but the beans should absolutely not be in their own little container. For me, the joy of a full breakfast is trying to get a little bit of everything into each bite — the ramekin both segregates the beans and creates a barrier in the middle of the plate, making it unnecessarily difficult to get a mouthful with everything. However, dumping the beans onto the plate solves this, and is something you should absolutely do.

Nitpicks aside, this was a tasty breakfast and one I’d happily order again.

A Tasty Slice at Big Trouble Pizza

Published on April 14, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 191 Geary Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://bigtroublepizza.com/

I tried the very odd Butter Jam Jam pizza at Big Trouble years ago, when they were still on Spadina, and liked it quite a bit. They’ve since moved to Geary (which has become a bit of a food hotspot), and now serve burgers as well as pizza.

I stuck with the pizza, and tried a slice of the King Fungi: “Cremini Mushrooms, Beech Mushrooms, Mozzarella, Sauteed Onions, Chives, Truffle Oil and Tangy Chilli Jelly.”

I mostly got this after being intrigued by the sight of several bright red cubes of chilli jelly on the pizza, and yeah, that stuff works. It’s a very savoury pizza, with a nice umami punch from the two types of mushrooms, and the sweet and spicy jelly does a fantastic job of balancing that out.

I was a bit worried about the presence of truffle oil, which I don’t particularly care for, but it wasn’t applied too heavily, and was only mildly offensive (rather than ruining the pizza outright, which it would have if they had used too much of it).

And the crust was great — it’s thicker and breadier than the New York style you might be expecting, with an almost focaccia-like heft and nice external crispiness that holds up nicely to the heavily-topped pizza.

Garlic Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy’s

Published on November 20, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

Wendy’s is on a roll — the last burger I tried here, the French Onion Cheeseburger, was easily a top-tier fast food hamburger. This one? Not on that level, but still quite tasty!

The Garlic Mushroom Bacon Cheeseburger, as per their website: “A quarter pound of fresh, never-frozen Canadian beef, roasted mushrooms, 3 strips of Applewood smoked bacon, muenster cheese, and Renée’s Gourmet Creamy Garlic Spread. Literally oozing with umami.”

Muenster cheese! On a fast food cheeseburger! Ooh la la.

Also, normally I’d mock the line “literally oozing with umami,” but you know what? It kinda is. It’s savoury AF, and is definitely more umami-packed than your typical fast food fare.

Maybe too umami-packed? On top of being incredibly savoury, it’s a bit of a salt bomb. Something with a little sweetness and/or acidity to cut through the salty richness would be nice.

Still, I can’t deny that it’s tasty. The very rich, garlicky sauce pairs nicely with the mushrooms and the bacon, and the slice of muenster cheese definitely sets it apart from its American-cheese-topped fast food brethren.

Seriously though, throw some pickles on there or something? It’s a lot.

Delicious Pizza at Gatto Wood Oven Pizza

Published on July 15, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 2312 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://gattopizza.ca/

Gatto Wood Oven Pizza is one of those nondescript neighbourhood joints that’s quietly putting out great food while getting basically zero buzz online. It’s tough out there for restaurants that don’t have a gimmick (or an influencer budget) to get people talking.

Gatto’s menu consists mostly of pizza and pasta; I stuck to the pizza side of things, and based on the two that I tried, I think they deserve to be more than just a neighbourhood place. It’s worth going out of your way for.

The place has “wood oven” right in the name of their restaurant, and yeah, they clearly know their way around that oven. Both pizzas were perfectly cooked, with a lightly crispy exterior, a chewy interior, and just enough char to give the crust flavour without overwhelming.

I know a lot of people feel like the crust on a pizza is just a vehicle for cheese, sauce, and toppings, but for me, the crust is the pizza. The other stuff is just there to complement it. So it needs to be really good, and the crust here is really good.

I tried the Regina Margherita (“San Marzano, Fior Di Latte, Parmigiano, Evoo”) and the 2312 Bloor St. West (“Italian Prosciutto, Forest Mushrooms, Fior Di Latte, Basil, Truffle Ricotta”). Both were delicious, but the margherita is the clear winner, even if they kinda cheated by adding grated parmesan (it’s a tasty addition, so I’ll allow it).

The 2312 Bloor St. West was very tasty (the salty prosciutto and earthy mushrooms are a great combo), but it’s almost sunk by the truffle ricotta, which tastes very, very strongly of truffle oil. I think truffle oil is gross and is generally unfit for human consumption (and almost never has even a hint of real truffles in it, making it disgusting and a sham), so the fact that I still managed to enjoy this pizza as much as I did shows you how tasty it was otherwise.

More Delicious Pasta at Shiso Tree Cafe

Published on October 3, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3160 Steeles Avenue East, Markham
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ShisoTree/

I mentioned recently that I generally prefer checking out restaurants I haven’t tried over revisiting ones I have. There are, however, exceptions to that rule, such as: Shiso Tree Cafe, a restaurant that fuses Japanese and Italian cuisine with some seriously delicious results.

On this visit I had the shoyu mushroom spaghetti: “shimeji, enoki, king oyster mushrooms in mentsuyu butter sauce.”

It’s so good. It looks a little bit dry in the photo; a lot of the sauce is at the bottom of the bowl, but once you mix it up, it becomes creamy and amazing (and the sauce is rich enough to cling perfectly to the pasta — there wasn’t any left in the bowl when the spaghetti was done).

It has an incredibly satisfying buttery/savoury flavour, and the various types of mushrooms add a nice variety of textures and flavours. It’s a top-notch bowl of pasta.

It’s also an incredible deal; every pasta on their lunch menu costs twelve bucks and comes with a salad, soup, and a slice of garlic bread. The salad looks a little sad, but features a sesame-infused dressing that’s a cut above the standard Japanese-inspired salad dressing you’re expecting. The creamy seafood soup is rich, flavourful, and packed with tasty chunks of seafood — it’s way better than a free soup has any right to be. The garlic bread is quite tasty, too.