nuts – Page 2 – Michael Eats

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.

Weird (and Delicious!) Gelato at Mizzica Gelateria & Cafe

Published on December 11, 2022November 16, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 307 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/mizzicagelato/

Mizzica recently opened a second location at Queen and John, and clearly they haven’t missed a step because the gelato I just tried was absolutely fantastic.

Actually, I think this flavour perfectly encapsulates Mizzica’s greatness. It’s a bit of an odd one, and almost certainly wouldn’t have been much more than an interesting novelty at any other gelato shop. Here, on the other hand, it was surprisingly delicious.

That flavour? Gorgonzola, mascarpone, and pistachio. Yes, that gorgonzola, the famous Italian blue cheese.

It’s honestly shocking how delicious it is. The gorgonzola flavour is actually quite pronounced, and yet it totally works as part of this sweet scoop of gelato. I couldn’t even tell you why or how. It shouldn’t. But it does.

The sweet pistachio paste that they top it with complements it perfectly, and the whole thing is luxuriously creamy and so much better than you’d imagine. With a lot of weird flavours like this, even when I like them, I think, well, I never need to have that again. But this was legitimately delicious. I could eat a million scoops of it.

Delicious Pastries at Choux Lab

Published on October 25, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 386 Royal York Road, Toronto
Website: None

Remember Beard Papa? Because I certainly do! That was (and still is, though their only Canadian locations are in Vancouver) a delightful Japanese chain that specialized in delicious cream puffs. They used to have a location in the Pacific Mall, but then they broke hearts across the GTA by shutting down like a bunch of jerks.

Sadly, there’s no indication that they’re coming back anytime soon, but in the meanwhile, we’ve got Choux Lab.

Choux Lab serves up choux pastries (which are light and fluffy, with a crispy exterior) with a variety of fillings. The vanilla is probably the most Beard-Papa-esque, but they were actually handing out samples of that one, and it was delicious (and indeed, did remind me of Beard Papa, with a creamy, custardy filling), so I figured I’d order something else.

I went with the hazelnut, and it was very, very good. The filling was rich and ultra-creamy, with a great hazelnut flavour and a nice balance of sweetness — sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. Beard Papa used to fill their puffs to order, and I was worried that the pre-made ones they serve here might lack that great crispy/fluffy/creamy combo. But the one I tried wasn’t soggy at all, and all the textures were right where they should be.

Choux Lab is just a few stores over from San Remo, and I worry that everyone will just stick with the reliable deliciousness there and not give this place a shot. But everyone needs to check this place out; I need them to stick around forever and not break my heart like Beard Papa did.

Tasty Sweet Buns at Akko Cake House

Published on October 20, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4040 Creditview Road #1, Mississauga
Website: None

Akko Cake House is a bit oddly named. They do have a handful of cakes at the front, but mostly, this is a fairly standard Chinese bakery with a whole bunch of sweet and savoury buns and tarts.

I tried a few sweet buns: coconut, custard, and walnut.

The pastry itself was quite good — it was fresh, a little bit sweet, and super fluffy.

I was intrigued about the walnut variety; I don’t recall ever seeing a walnut bun before, and I’ve certainly never tried one. It was fairly subtle, however, with a very thin layer of walnut paste and a few walnut chunks. It tasted more like a plain bun with a mild walnut flavour.

The custard was about what you’d expect. It was sweet, creamy, and tasty.

The coconut bun was where it was at. The generous filling was really tasty, with a nice coconut flavour. It also has a surprisingly strong hit of salt that does a great job of rounding out the sweetness. It’s really good. The bakery was packed (the line was to the door when I left), and with buns that good, it’s easy enough to see why.