Ontario – Page 143 – Michael Eats

Tasty Greek Take-out at Agora

Published on June 27, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 921 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://theagora.ca/

Agora is a delightful little take-out gem from the people behind Mamakas Taverna. As you might imagine, they serve tasty Greek eats. The menu’s a bit more interesting than the typical gyro joint, with sandwiches, salads, and more substantial meals like moussaka or roasted chicken. They have a few stools by the window, but for the most part it’s take-out only.

I tried the spanakopita, which is a mixture of spinach and feta wrapped in crispy phyllo pastry. It was one of the better versions of that dish that I’ve had. The filling was rich and satisfying, with lots of spinach flavour and nice pops of saltiness from the feta. And the super crackly pastry shell was ridiculously buttery, with about a million paper-thin layers of crispy, crunchy goodness.

I also sampled the briam, which the woman behind the counter described as a Greek version of ratatouille. And it was indeed extremely ratatouille-esque, with perfectly-cooked, flavour-packed chunks of zucchini and eggplant, among other vegetables.

Fluffy Souffle Pancakes at Hanabusa Cafe

Published on June 26, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 77 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.hanabusacafe.com/

It seems like every few months, some new food trend sweeps its way through the city. In the last couple of years we’ve had stuff like poke, chicken and waffles, Japanese cheesecakes, and sushi burritos. The latest seems to be souffle pancakes, a Japanese dessert that’s exactly what it sounds like (a cross between pancakes and souffle).

If what they’re serving at Hanabusa Cafe is any indication, this is a trend that I can get behind.

My only other experience with this dish was at a place called am.pm in Hong Kong, and that version was dense, overly eggy, and just all-around unappealing.

The one at Hanabusa Cafe, on the other hand, was the polar opposite — it was almost absurdly fluffy, with a mild sweetness and a satisfying custardy flavour without any of the in-your-face egginess you might be expecting. I ordered the Original Pancake, which is the simplest choice: it’s three pancakes topped with a dollop of whipped cream and served with a side of strawberries and blackberries. It’s outstanding.

Unlike a traditional pancake, it’s already fairly sweet, so it’s perfectly delicious on its own. I could eat about a million of these (though they’re surprisingly heavy, so three feels like a good number). The ethereal lightness combined with the custardy flavour is seriously addictive.

I’ll admit that my expectations weren’t all that high, but I really, really enjoyed this.

Delightfully Cheap (and Delicious) Noodles at Manpuku

Published on June 25, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 105 McCaul Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.manpuku.ca/

I just got a bowl of curry udon noodles from Manpuku, and they were both super cheap and super delicious. What’s better than that? (I’ll answer for you: nothing. Nothing is better than that.)

For six bucks, you get a very generous amount of udon noodles in a rich, curry-flavoured broth with some tender potatoes and a heaping pile of sliced pork. It’s an almost suspiciously good deal; for that little, it really shouldn’t be all that good, right? But it’s so good.

The broth is rich and delicious, the sliced pork is super tender and infused with that great curry flavour, and the noodles are chewy and perfectly cooked. The noodles are maybe a little bit bland, but other than that I honestly don’t have any complaints about this bowl.

It’s not the type of thing that’s going to blow anybody’s mind, but it’s rich, hearty, and delicious. I’d be hard-pressed to think of a more satisfying meal for under six bucks in the GTA.

Lemon Meringue Croissant from Butter Baker

Published on June 22, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 120 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://butter-baker.com/

The lemon meringue croissant from Butter Baker is one of those things that I saw on Instagram and immediately had to eat. And yes, I know: this makes me part of the problem.

A very strong argument could be made that social media (Instagram in particular) is making our cuisine appreciably worse by incentivizing restaurants to serve visually innovative food in which the actual taste is an afterthought (e.g. Sweet Jesus).

And that’s absolutely the case here. I mean, look at that! It looks so impressive! But it gets less impressive once you start actually eating it.

For one thing, it’s almost impossible to eat without getting sticky meringue all over your face. But let’s set that complaint aside, because a lot of cupcakes are just as hard to eat without making a mess, and only a monster would argue that a cupcake isn’t great.

The two main issues here are that the croissant itself is merely okay, and the lemon curd filling is completely bland. The latter point is especially egregious; the whole appeal of a lemon meringue pie is the delightful way that the tartness of the lemon curd is offset by the sweetness of the meringue. But here, the curd is disappointingly anemic, with a limp sugariness and almost no sour bite. Because of this, the whole thing comes off as one-dimensionally sweet and boring.

I will, however, give Butter Baker props for the use of creamy Italian meringue over frothy, dull French meringue. This is correct; French meringue is for jerks.

Pizza Perfection at Descendant

Published on June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1168 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: http://descendantdsp.com/

Is the pizza at Descendant the best in the city? I don’t know. It’s not not the best pizza in the city. It’s a contender, that’s for sure.

It’s so different from the Neopolitan-style pies that you’ll find throughout the GTA that it almost tastes like a completely separate dish.

Descendant serves Detroit-style pizza, which is cooked in a square pan and features a thick, substantial crust that’s delightfully crispy and greasy on the bottom. It’s kinda like the pan pizza from Pizza Hut, but a million times better.

This was my second time at Descendant; I liked it a lot on my first visit, but I liked it even better this time. It’s just so satisfying.

The thing that’s so impressive about this place is that the pizza itself is so good that they could easily phone it in with the toppings and just offer the usual suspects. But a lot of the flavours here are surprisingly bold and interesting, and it all works so well.

Take, for example, the Electric Avenue: “jerk chicken, fresh pineapple, curried lime aioli, green onion, Mama Lil’s Peppers, Diablo’s Fuego hot sauce.” It’s sweet and spicy, with flavours that are about as far from a traditional pizza as you can get. But it’s so good.

We also tried the special, which on this visit was the Mexican: “chorizo, pickled peppers, lime-pickled red onion, sour cream, tomato sauce, fresh cilantro.” This was probably my favourite pizza of the day — but they were all delicious. The flavours were so well balanced, with the brightness of the pickles balancing out the rich sausage and cheese.

The last pizza was the pepperoni, which was more traditional, but no less delicious.

One of the great things about this style of pizza is that you get such a great contrast between the crispy exterior and the soft interior of the crust. Plus, there’s a ring of cheese on the edges of the pizza that’s dark and crispy and amazing, and it’s just the best.