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Garlic & Black Pepper Chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s (World Menu Heist)

Published on August 19, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The World Menu Heist continues! Next up: weird McNuggets, courtesy of Japan.

The Garlic & Black Pepper McNuggets, as per the McDonald’s website: “Last seen in Japan, these Chicken McNuggets have made their way to Canada. Crispy Chicken McNuggets with a garlic and black pepper breading, built for dipping. Punchy, savoury, and gone before you know it.”

I’ve gotta give McDonald’s credit — they could have just sprinkled some kind of seasoning on regular McNuggets and called it a day, but no, the flavour here is built right into the batter.

And yeah, it’s clearly very different from a standard McNugget; the flavour is not subtle.

Oddly, it doesn’t taste all that peppery, though the garlic flavour is unmistakable. It reminded me a lot of the fried chicken wings you’ll find at American/Canadian-style Chinese food joints, like Manchu Wok. I loved those wings as a kid and haven’t had one in years; the flavour here flashed me right back, Ratatouille-style.

The chicken itself was pretty dry, but otherwise I quite liked this.

And of course, you’ve gotta get the Black Garlic Sauce to go with it, also from Japan. This actually has more of a peppery bite than the McNuggets, and, of course, a decent hit of garlic flavour.

It’s very, very sweet, however. It’s kinda like a sweet chili sauce, but… all sweet, no heat. Personally I found it a bit cloying, but if you dip the McNuggets sparingly, it does complement their flavour pretty well.

McExtreme Pulled Pork at McDonald’s (World Menu Heist)

Published on August 18, 2026August 19, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 30 Courtneypark Drive East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The World Menu Heist! It’s back!! Is it sad that this is probably one of the highlights of my summer? Please don’t answer that.

As I was leaving the office at lunch today to head to McDonald’s, in my head I was like, we should all be chanting “Menu heist! Menu heist! Menu heist!” I believe this is a totally rational thought that doesn’t raise any troubling implications about my mental state.

For all the normal people out there who don’t get unreasonably excited about novelty menus at McDonald’s, the World Menu Heist is a promotion featuring various items pulled from McDonald’s locations around the world. This year, that includes France, Spain, Australia, Japan, and the Netherlands.

Obviously I’ll be trying everything (what do you think, I won’t be trying every item on this menu? Get out of here) but I started with the McExtreme Pulled Pork from Spain.

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “Pulled from Spain, now in Canada. Layers of pulled pork in BBQ sauce, beef, hickory-smoked bacon, white processed cheese, crispy onions for some crunch and creamy chipotle sauce for heat make for one delicious sandwich. One bite leads to another… and somehow it’s all gone.”

I’ve had some weird international McDonald’s menu items over the years, but somehow, pulled pork on a burger at McDonald’s strikes me as particularly weird.

It’s a tasty burger, though sadly, the pulled pork element is negligible. There’s a teeny-tiny amount of pulled pork on the burger, and it’s spread very thin over the large patty. You can taste the BBQ sauce, but I suspect if I had eaten this blind, I wouldn’t have even known the burger had pulled pork on it. There’s just too much other stuff going on.

I did try a little bit on its own, and it’s exactly what you think it’ll be. It’s pretty mushy and soaked in enough BBQ sauce to completely wipe out any pork flavour — but that sauce is tasty, and it’s pleasant enough as a burger topping.

Otherwise, this is probably one of the better burgers McDonald’s has come out with in a while. The creamy chipotle sauce is pleasingly zesty and very mildly spicy, and the BBQ sauce adds a nice sweet/savoury kick. The cheese, bacon, and crispy onions complement it well. It’s a solid fast food burger.

Solid Tacos at Contigo Taco Bar

Published on August 15, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6465 Millcreek Drive, Mississauga
Website: https://contigos.ca/

I wanted to check out Contigo Taco Bar after reading about it in Toronto Life, and yeah, it’s good. Do you need to stop what you’re doing and check it out immediately? Probably not, but it’s a solid taco joint.

I tried a few things. First up were a couple of tacos: chorizo, and BBQ pulled pork.

These might have been the messiest tacos I’ve ever eaten; the tortillas (flour, if I’m remembering right?) are a bit on the small side, and they absolutely load them up. They definitely do their best to give you your money’s worth, that’s for sure.

I liked both, but the pulled pork, which featured a generous amount of tender pork shoulder doused in a pleasantly zesty BBQ sauce, was my favourite of the two.

The aforementioned Toronto Life article specifically mentioned the fries supreme, so I got an order of that as well. This featured a very generous amount of melted cheese, cheese sauce, sour cream, and a whole bunch of veggies on top of a bunch of relatively well-prepared frozen fries. It’s not gourmet, but it hits the spot.

Quick Bites: Giragi, Barbershop Patisserie, Queen’s Pasta Cafe

Published on August 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Lamb Wrap from Giragi

I previously tried the steak wrap from Giragi, and it was stellar. I just tried the vochkhar (lamb), and it was just as good. Clearly, the people in charge of this place know their stuff. As per the menu, this particular wrap comes stuffed with “jajekh, xaviar, pickled turnip, pevaz.” To translate, jajekh is a cucumber yogurt salad, xaviar is an eggplant spread, and pevaz is a mix of onion and parsley. It’s a really, really tasty wrap. It’s so much stuff, and it seems like it should be overstuffed (and technically, it probably is — it’s a mess), but all the flavours work so well together, and the perfectly spiced lamb patties are thoroughly delicious. It’s so good.

Brownie from Barbershop Patisserie

Speaking of things that are obscenely delicious, the brownie from Barbershop is ridiculously good. Like, one of the best brownies I’ve ever had. It’s got an amazingly rich, chocolatey flavour, and the perfectly fudgy-but-light texture has a great chewiness that I can barely even describe. It’s pretty special.

Meatball Sandwich from Queen’s Pasta Cafe

As the name implies, Queen’s Pasta Cafe is mostly about pasta, though they do have a lunch menu with a few sandwiches. I went with the meatball (“Meatballs with Arugula, Mozzarella Cheese and Tomato sauce”), and it was okay. The meatballs were actually quite good, with a nice meaty flavour, a tender texture that isn’t too soft, and a rich sauce. But the stale bun was a bit of a disaster. This is probably my fault, however, for ordering something that isn’t pasta at a restaurant with pasta in its name. Those meatballs would have been boffo on spaghetti, I’m sure.

Outstanding Japanese/Italian Fusion at Tatsuro’s

Published on August 7, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1378 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.tatsuros.com/

I like Tatsuro’s a whole lot. I’d heard good things, and I figured I’d like it, but it kinda knocked my socks off.

They serve pasta and brunch with a Japanese flair; I stuck to the pasta side of the menu, and based on the level of quality, I’ll clearly have to come back to try their brunch.

There was a Japanese pasta spot in Markham called Shiso Tree Cafe that, sadly, closed a few years back; since then, I’ve had a Shiso-Tree-Cafe-sized hole in my heart. That hole has finally been filled.

I started with the nori fries (“nori seasoning, spicy mayo”). These were quite tasty; the fries were nicely cooked, the nori sprinkled on top works really well, and the spicy mayo on the side is enjoyably zippy.

For my main, I had the Wafu Carbonara (“bacon, ponzu, onsen egg, parmesan”), and yikes, it was so good.

It was incredibly, incredibly rich — with the richness only being amped up by the silky onsen egg they put on top. It basically melts into the sauce when you mix it up, and really cranks up the dish’s creaminess.

By all accounts it should be too heavy and rich, but there’s a nice lightness you get from the citrusy ponzu that really cuts through the heaviness and makes the dish sing. Legitimately one of the best bowls of pasta I’ve had in a long time.

I also tried the Curry Bolognese (“beef + pork curry, pickled onion, fried shallot, cilantro”), which takes the flavours of Bolognese and Japanese curry and crams them together in a way that’s surprisingly delightful.