Ontario – Page 38 – Michael Eats

A Tasty Wrap at Fresh

Published on September 18, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke (inside Sherway Gardens)
Website: https://www.freshkitchens.ca/

I’ve been to Fresh a couple of times, and thought it wasn’t much better than fine on either visit. So I can’t say my expectations were particularly high on this visit, but you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed my wrap.

I ordered the broccoli Caesar wrap (“Roasted broccoli, heritage blend lettuce, chick’n tenders, Caesar dressing, grilled whole wheat tortilla,”) and when it came, I thought: uh oh. That’s too much green. That is an impenetrable-looking wall of green. That can’t be good.

But the broccoli was nicely roasted and liberally dressed with a zippy, garlicky Caesar dressing, and yeah, it worked. The “chick’n” tenders were crispy and warm from the fryer, and the fake chicken inside was close enough to the real deal that, with all the veggies and dressing, it was quite passable.

I got a salad on the side with the house dressing, which was maybe the oiliest salad dressing I’ve ever tasted? The pool of oil eventually made its way to the wrap and made it slick with grease and hard to eat. But aside from that? A surprisingly tasty meal.

A Tasty Cuban Sandwich at Havana Sanguich

Published on September 16, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 252 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.havanasanguich.com/

Havana Sanguich is a new sandwich shop downtown that serves what they call “Cuban-style sandwiches and Colombian street food.” It’s mostly a take-out joint, though they do have a few tables outside.

They actually have a pretty extensive sandwich menu, with something like a dozen choices. But of course, if you’re at a Cuban sandwich shop, you’ve gotta get the Cubano.

The Cubano, as per their menu: “black forest ham, lechon, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on Cuban bread.”

I think this place might serve the best Cuban sandwich I’ve ever had? It’s right up there, that’s for sure.

It’s the type of sandwich that could easily be too rich (it’s crammed with a two types of pork and melty cheese), but the balance of flavours is spot-on, with just the right amount of acidity from the mustard and pickles.

The combo of the salty ham and the sizable chunks of tender, flavourful pork shoulder is seriously satisfying, with the gooey Swiss bringing it all together. And the fresh, lightly crispy Cuban bread is the perfect vehicle; it’s nice and fluffy, with just enough substance to hold up to the meaty sandwich.

The sandwich is about 17 bucks, which seems pricey, but it’s easily hefty enough to be shared.

I tried the Cuban smoked brisket sandwich as well (“Cuban break, smoked brisket, roasted mojo pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, fried onions”). It’s hard to top that Cubano, but this was almost as good, with a whole bunch of tender beef and some nice zippiness from the onions. It’s a really satisfying sandwich.

I also tried a couple of the empanadas: beef, and cheese. Both were quite tasty, and both featured a delightfully crispy exterior that set them apart from other empanadas that I’ve had.

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.

Delicious Dessert at Soul Chocolate

Published on September 8, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 20 Wagstaff Drive, Toronto
Website: https://www.soulchocolate.com/

Soul Chocolate is a delightful chocolate shop and cafe where they make their own chocolate, not to mention a bunch of tasty desserts. They used to have a much smaller location on Gerrard, but have since moved to an industrial area nearby.

I tried a small chocolate bar and one of the desserts, and both were stellar.

They have a variety of dark chocolate bars made with cocoa from different countries; I went with the Dominican 70%, and it was actually pretty amazing. It’s about five bucks for a 25 gram bar, which is not cheap, but you know what? You get what you pay for. If you compare this to better mass-produced dark chocolate like Lindt, the difference is night and day. The chocolate here has so much more going on.

I also tried a slice of the chocolate pie, which might have the most intense chocolate flavour of any dessert I’ve ever had; it’s great. It’s ultra rich and fudgy, with an in-your-face dark chocolate / coffee flavour that’s really satisfying. The crust is made with sourdough, and it’s got a mild tang that works nicely with the deep chocolatiness. It’s a delicious dessert.

A Meaty Bowl of Noodles at Szechuan Noodle Bowl

Published on September 2, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 526 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://szechuannoodlebowl.ca/

Szechuan Noodle Bowl is definitely about more than just noodles, with an impressively deep, multi-page menu that has a whole bunch of tasty-looking Chinese dishes. Still, it’s called “Szechuan Noodle Bowl,” so clearly, I had to order the first dish on the menu: Noodles, Sichuan style.

You can choose from either chicken or pork (I went with pork), and spicy or non-spicy (I went with spicy, of course).

It’s a solid bowl of noodles. The flavour was a bit more muted than I’d like (this is particularly true of the spice level, which was almost nonexistent — and sadly, the jar of chili oil that you’ll often find on the table at a place like this was absent, so there was no way of amping things up), but otherwise this was a really satisfying bowl of noodles.

The thick noodles were nice and chewy, the garlicky pork was quite tasty, and the peanuts added a good amount of texture. It didn’t exactly rock my world, but I enjoyed it (the affordable $11.99 price tag for a very substantial serving of both noodles and pork definitely helps).