pasta – Michael Eats

KD Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on August 21, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3517 Dundas Street West, York
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I’ve gotta give it to KFC: they know exactly what I want out of a fast food joint. If they keep pumping out carnival-style food, I’m gonna keep trying it.

I think the massive success of the Double Down might have broken something in the brains of all the KFC executives, because they’re clearly still chasing that high (the Festive Chicken Sandwich, the Gravy Lovers Sandwich, etc.), and I’m very happy to be along for the ride.

As per the KFC website, “the KD® Mac & Cheese Chicken Sandwich features our signature Chicken fillet, topped with KD macaroni noodles and creamy KD cheese sauce brought together to deliver on the ultimate Cheesy experience!”

It’s actually not bad, though calling it “the ultimate cheesy experience” might be a bit of a stretch. I don’t know if Kraft Dinner is way more bland than I remembered or if they just didn’t put enough sauce in this particular batch, but it mostly just tasted like plain macaroni (despite having that distinctive orange glow). I think there might have been a tiny bit of the “creamy KD cheese sauce” on top, but not enough to make much of a difference.

Still, I got lucky and got a reasonably hot and fresh piece of chicken, so just as a normal sandwich, it was tasty; the chicken was reasonably juicy, with a nicely crunchy exterior. The mac and cheese mostly just added some creaminess and — if you really concentrate — the vaguest patina of cheesy flavour. So no, it doesn’t add a whole lot, but it doesn’t detract, either.

Delicious Handmade Pasta at Pasta Forever

Published on March 21, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1693 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://pastaforever.ca/

Pasta Forever is a tiny little shop on Dundas that mostly specializes in freshly made pasta you can cook at home, along with various Italian pantry items. They also have a rotating menu of pasta dishes, sandwiches and salads you can take to go.

On this particular visit, there was only one pasta dish on the menu: “beet + ricotta mezzaluna with poppyseed butter, tarragon, + mint.”

I quite enjoyed it. In a lot of ways, it tasted like something you might be served at a nice restaurant; the beet and ricotta mixture is creamy and zippy, the herbs and poppyseed add a nice dose of flavour, the walnuts give it some textural contrast, and the whole thing is rich without feeling overly heavy.

A couple of things held it back from greatness, however. Most pressingly, the pasta was undercooked; the middle part was perfect, but the crimped edges were pretty tough. That’s not to mention the sauce, which didn’t really cling to the pasta the way you’d like, instead pooling at the bottom of the dish. The whole thing was tasty enough that it was easy to overlook these nitpicks, but it was still a bit of a shame.

Quick Bites: Bobbie Sue’s Mac + Cheese, Bang Bang, A&W

Published on December 1, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Blue Buffalo Chicken from Bobbie Sue’s Mac + Cheese

I’ve tried Bobbie Sue’s Mac + Cheese a couple of times and enjoyed it quite a lot. Alas, this visit wasn’t quite as stellar. I had the Blue Buffalo Chicken, which features chicken and Buffalo sauce mixed right in with the pasta, and crumbles of blue cheese on top. It’s a tasty combo, and it certainly wasn’t bad — but the pasta was overcooked, the whole thing was weirdly soupy, and it wasn’t evenly heated (the edges were piping hot, and the middle was surprisingly cold). Hopefully it was just an off day, because my last couple of visits were actually pretty special.

Beer and Brown Bread ice cream from Bang Bang

Beer and Brown Bread is a flavour that’s been popping up on Bang Bang’s menu for years, though for whatever reason I hadn’t tried it until now. It’s… weird! The ice cream itself is actually not that sweet, and captures the beer flavour with unnerving accuracy (it’s fairly bitter, like an IPA). It took me a while to warm up to it, but once you wrap your mind around it, it’s actually quite good. It’s also got somewhat crispy pieces of brown bread mixed in, which complements the beer flavour of the ice cream quite well.

Chocolate Turnover made with KitKat from A&W

Not much to say about this one — it’s a fried pie filled with chocolatey goo, with little crispy bits interspersed throughout. I feel like any fried pie is going to be tasty, and yeah, it’s good. The combo of the crispy exterior and crispy bits within adds some nice texture, and the chocolatey goo is satisfying. The whole thing is a bit too sweet and doesn’t quite have the punch of chocolate flavour that you’re hoping it might, but I still quite enjoyed it.

A Decadent Meal at Joe Beef

Published on October 30, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2491 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal, Quebec
Website: https://joebeef.com/

Joe Beef is frequently called one of the best restaurants in Canada, so if you find yourself in Montreal and you don’t mind splurging a bit (okay, a lot — it’s pricey), it’s a must.

I tried a few things. The first was… some kind of tart? This wasn’t on the regular menu and I forgot to take a picture of the blackboard where they wrote down the specials (I also forgot to take a picture of the inside of the restaurant — I’m really good at blogging, as you can tell).

I’m not even sure how to describe this thing. It was somewhat souffle-esque, and it was absolutely drenched in an ultra-rich, buttery sauce. It was outstanding. It’s exactly the type of dish you’re hoping to eat at a really nice restaurant; it’s a delightful alchemy of luxe ingredients and high-end techniques that you could never possibly replicate at home, or even in a normal restaurant kitchen. Every bite was pure magic.

Next up was the “côte de veau sauce ‘vieux téléviseur'”, which was a veal chop covered in an ultra-rich, buttery sauce (ultra-rich and buttery is definitely a theme at Joe Beef). This was just as good as the tart, with the tender beef being absolutely jammed with flavour, and with the rich sauce complimenting it perfectly. It seems relatively simple, but holy moly, the extent to which this was better than pretty much any other steak I’ve ever had was insane.

The side was some kind of braised greens (this also wasn’t on the menu, so I’m not sure exactly what it was). This was a pretty standard version of this dish — tasty, but not mind-blowing. My photo of this turned out pretty blurry, so you’ll have to use your imagination. It was just a pile of greens on an oblong plate, so not much imagination is required.

The only big let-down of the night was, oddly, one of Joe Beef’s signature dishes, the lobster spaghetti. This was perfectly delicious, but the heavy cream sauce was one-note rich, and the chunks of lobster were overcooked. It certainly wasn’t unpleasant to eat, but coming from a restaurant of this caliber, it’s a disappointment.

Classic Comfort Food at Bobbie Sue’s Mac + Cheese

Published on January 29, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 162 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://bobbiesues.com/

The last time I tried Bobbie Sue’s Mac + Cheese, I had the carbonara — it was absolutely delicious, but not exactly a traditional bowl of mac and cheese. I figured I should probably try the real deal.

So I went back and tried the jalapeno and bacon, which is a classic mac and cheese with pickled jalapenos and cubes of bacon (which I’m pretty sure is the pancetta from the carbonara) mixed in. This was a special, so it may or may not be on the menu when you visit.

It’s delicious. The mac and cheese is abundantly rich and cheesey, with perfectly al dente pasta and a nice crispy top from the oven. The meaty bacon and zippy jalapenos compliment it perfectly.

Bonus: the service was great. I picked up my mac and cheese from the counter and then immediately dropped it on the sidewalk (and the plate landed face down, because of course it did). The woman behind the counter witnessed this and quickly made me a new one free of charge, which was very much appreciated.