nuts – Michael Eats

Tasty Cheesecake in a Jar at Laila’s Cheesecake Co.

Published on February 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 855 Browns Line, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lailascheesecake.com/

It’s hard to go wrong with cheesecake, and Laila’s definitely makes a tasty one. Which is good, because it’s literally all they serve.

You can get whole cheesecakes, slices, or individual jars of cheesecake, which seems to be their specialty. The jars come in two sizes: four ounce or eight ounce. I found the four ounce serving to be a perfect amount, but eight is there if you really want to cheesecake it up (or if you’re sharing).

They have a variety of flavours like salted caramel, blueberry, and cherry; I went with caramel chocolate pecan.

It’s really good. It’s sweet but not too sweet, with a nice balance of flavours between the chocolate, caramel, and tart cheesecake (with another nice dose of texture and flavour from the graham cracker crust at the bottom). The NY-style cheesecake base is just the right amount of dense and creamy. It’s a satisfying dessert.

Good Quality Gelato at Il Gelato Di Carlotta

Published on December 27, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 17 Lock Street, St. Catharines
Website: https://www.gelatodicarlotta.com/

Il Gelato Di Carlotta is a delightful gelato shop that started out in Niagara on the Lake, but has since expanded, with several locations in the area (apparently they used to have one in Vaughan Mills, but currently, the closest one to the GTA would be in Oakville).

The flavours pretty much just stick to the classics (stuff like pistachio, stracciatella, hazelnut, etc.) — this isn’t the most exciting thing ever, but hey, they’re classics for a reason.

I went with gianduia (chocolate and hazelnuts — Nutella, basically), and yeah, they know what they’re doing. The gelato is incredibly smooth and creamy, and I don’t think I need to tell you that the combo of chocolate and hazelnuts is a winner. I wish the sweetness were dialed back a notch or two, but it’s otherwise so delicious that it’s easy enough to overlook.

I should note that I checked out the Oakville location a couple of months after this visit and tried the pistachio gelato bar, and was somewhat less impressed — most pressingly, the pistachio gelato had very little pistachio flavour, and was completely overwhelmed by the chocolate exterior.

Quick Bites: Slow Jams, Emmer, Mascot Brewery

Published on January 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Fried chicken sandwich from Slow Jams

Slow Jams is a pop-up that specializes in Filipino BBQ and fried chicken; I tried their fried chicken sandwich (“coconut & lemongrass brine, spicy banana ketchup & soy pickled cucumbers”) at last year’s Taste of Little Italy street festival, and it was quite tasty. The bright red sauce its slathered in kinda tastes like the stuff you’ll find on sweet and sour chicken balls; it’s a bit overly sweet, but the pickles do a pretty good job of balancing things out. Otherwise, it’s nice and crunchy, and the dark meat within is pleasantly juicy. It didn’t rock my world, but it’s a solid fried chicken sandwich.

Pistachio Croissant from Emmer

The pistachio croissant is probably the thing that Emmer is the most well known for, but every time I’ve gone, it’s been sold out. They had just put out a fresh tray of them on my most recent visit, and yeah, of course I got one. It’s good! And it certainly looks impressive, with the generous layer of crushed pistachios on top. The croissant was maybe a bit overbaked (it was slightly dry) and I think inherently, a pistachio croissant will never be as good as an almond croissant. But I still quite enjoyed this; it’s got a nice pistachio flavour, a good balance between the croissant and the filling, and its sweetness was very well balanced.

Buffalo Wings from Mascot Brewery

Mascot Brewery, nestled away in an industrial area of Etobicoke, is a definite hidden gem. They’ve got a nice patio, a decent selection of sharable snacks and sandwiches, and — as you’d expect from a brewpub — a bunch of interesting beer on tap. I had the Buffalo wings (“Honey Buffalo Sauce, Buttermilk Ranch”), and they were quite tasty. I didn’t particularly notice any sweetness (they tasted like pretty standard Buffalo wings to me), but these were otherwise quite tasty, and the buttermilk ranch was a definite upgrade over the standard jarred stuff.

Quick Bites: Tarboosh Restaurant, Maji Curry, The Night Baker

Published on September 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Shawarma and falafel plate at Tarboosh Restaurant

I ordered the Tarboosh combination plate here (because you should always order a dish with the name of the restaurant in it), which comes with chicken shawarma (beef is also an option), falafel, and two sides (I went with hummus and tabouleh). It didn’t rock my world, but it was all tasty enough. The chicken tasted more like baked chicken breast than like shawarma; it was nicely seasoned, but I wish it had been a bit juicier. The falafel was actually quite unique — it was easily the lightest, fluffiest falafel I’ve ever had, and the flavour reminded me more of a hush puppy than typical falafel. And the two sides were pretty solid, particularly the hummus, which was a bit heavier on the tahini than I generally prefer, but super creamy and luxurious.

Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese from Maji Curry

Maji Curry is a Japanese curry chain that recently opened in Toronto. I’m a big fan of Japanese curry (what’s not to love?), so yeah, I checked it out. I ordered the pork cutlet curry with cheese, which is one of their signature dishes. It’s odd; I figured the pork cutlet would be panko-breaded tonkatsu, but it looked and tasted more battered than breaded (and the pork itself was a bit on the dry side). The “cheese” seemed to be more decorative than anything else, as it had a milky texture and not much flavour. As for the star of the show — the curry — it was perfectly tasty (I certainly didn’t dislike eating it), but it wasn’t substantially better than the Japanese curry bricks you can get at Asian supermarkets.

Classic chocolate chunk cookie from The Night Baker

I actually assumed I had already blogged about this place, which is why I only took one quick photo and then scarfed the cookie down. Apparently I haven’t! Oh well, next time I guess. And there will definitely be a next time: the classic chocolate chunk cookie here (which also has walnuts and sea salt) is top notch. It’s nicely chewy with a crisp exterior, the flavours are all where they should be, and the walnuts do a great job of adding a mild crunch and tempering the sweetness of the cookie a bit.

Tasty Korean Pastries at Hodo Kwaja

Published on June 17, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 656 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: http://hodokwaja.ca/

Hodo Kwaja is a delightful Korean bakery that specializes in walnut cakes, which are bite-sized walnut-shaped cakes that are traditionally filled with sweet red bean paste.

They have three flavours here: red bean with walnuts, mashed potato with walnuts, and mashed potato with almonds. An order of six is delightfully cheap at $3.75, and if you want you can try all three flavours, which is what I did.

They’re all very tasty, though the traditional red bean was my favourite of the three. The mashed potato is interesting; it actually has a similar texture to the red bean, but a milder flavour. All three have a restrained sweetness that works quite well.

As for the pancake-like pastry, it complements the soft filling very well. If you’ve ever tried taiyaki, it’s similar to that, but without the exterior crispiness. It’s a top-notch dessert.