pastry – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: The Pie Hut, Mr. Yummy, Falafel World

Published on March 14, 2026March 14, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pork, Apple & Fennel pie The Pie Hut (inside Good Behaviour)

It’s hard to find all that much information on it online, but the Queen Street location of Good Behaviour serves up a variety of tasty pot pies (along with the usual sandwiches and ice cream). I went with the pork, apple & fennel, and enjoyed it quite a lot. The crust is flaky and satisfying, it’s filled with a generous amount of tender pork, and the addition of apple adds a little bit of sweetness that helps to round things out. Bonus: it’s somewhat more svelte than the gut-busters they serve at a place like The Pie Commission, so if you’re looking for a pot pie where you don’t have to take a nap after, this is your spot.

Stir-fried vegetables and steamed rice with tofu at Mr. Yummy

I checked this dish out after Karon Liu wrote about it in an article about tasty eats for under $10, and indeed: it is tasty, and it is a steal at under ten bucks. Should you go out of your way for it? No, there’s nothing particularly exciting about it. But it’s got a decent kick, a nice contrast between the fresh crispiness of the veggies and the soft tofu, and again: it’s under ten bucks. If I lived near this place, I’d be a regular for sure.

Falafel plate from Falafel World

I don’t know if anyone else does this, but sometimes I’ll click on random restaurants on Google Maps to see if I can find anything interesting and/or well-regarded. That’s how I found Falafel World, a great little place on Bloor near Jane station. I got the falafel plate (I mean, what else are you going to order at a place called Falafel World?) and everything on the plate — hummus, salad, tabule, and three pieces of falafel, with pita bread on the side — was very tasty. The falafel was maybe a bit dense, but was otherwise fresh, herby, and tasty, with a nice crispy exterior.

Quick Bites: Brodflour, Corleone’s, Villa Madina

Published on January 28, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Pain Suisse from Brodflour

I’ll admit I hadn’t even heard of pain Suisse (which is similar to a chocolate croissant, but with pastry cream and chocolate chips) before seeing it at Brodflour, so I was excited to try it. And yeah, it’s good. I mean, look at it. Of course it’s good. The combo of the gooey chocolate chips and the slightly sweet pastry cream is a clear winner, and the croissant itself — as you’d expect from Brodflour — is stellar.

Veal sandwich from Corleone’s

Corleone’s sells a variety of Italian sandwiches like veal, meatball, and eggplant. I tried the veal, and it was totally fine. Nothing about it particularly jumped out at me (and the bun was a bit gummy) but it’s a solid sandwich. There are a couple of things that stand out about this place, however. One is that they offer a “junior” version of their sandwiches; most places like this sell massive gut-busters that pretty much demand that you take a nap afterwards, so I appreciated that the smaller sandwich here is satisfying without being comically oversized. The other thing I appreciated is that the spiciest version of the sandwich is legitimately fiery, with a generous amount of a legitimately hot pepper paste spread on top.

Chicken shawarma wrap from Villa Madina

Is the shawarma from Villa Madina the best you’ll ever eat? No, absolutely not. But it’s actually pretty decent, and for a eatery from a mall food court, that’s enough. The shawarma has a decent amount of crispy bits and is relatively juicy, and the wrap itself is saucy and tasty. It’s very middle-of-the-road, but it gets the job done.

Quality Eclairs at The Happy Chocco

Published on October 23, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive (inside The Food District at Square One)
Website: https://www.thehappychocco.ca/

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of The Happy Chocco. They always have a million eclairs on offer, and they never seem to be particularly busy. And I’m like, are these all fresh? Because it seems like they won’t all be fresh. There’s nothing sadder than a stale eclair with soggy pastry.

Well, I just went with two other people, and we all tried different eclairs and found them to be quite fresh (and quite delicious!) so I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

I went with the Dubai chocolate eclair: “classic eclair filled with pistachio pastry cream and Belgian milk chocolate dip with roasted kataifi.”

I really enjoyed this. The choux pastry had a great texture and was clearly not stale at all, the pistachio pastry cream was creamy and delicious (if a bit light on the nutty flavour), there was a decent layer of good-quality chocolate on top, and the roasted kataifi added a nice crispy texture. It’s a quality eclair.

Tasty Pastries at Bartholomew Bakery

Published on September 29, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 467 Edgeley Boulevard, Vaughan
Website: https://www.bartholomewbakery.com/

Bartholomew Bakery does well. I showed up early on a Saturday afternoon and the place was absolutely packed, with a line out the door and a huge crowd inside. I almost left when I saw how busy it was, but there’s something about a line for food that calls out to me. What do those people know that I don’t?? I need to find out.

Anyway, it didn’t take much longer than 15 minutes to get to the front of the line, so it wasn’t too bad.

Bartholomew specializes in various croissants, along with sourdough bread. I got a pistachio croissant along with a loaf of sliced sourdough.

I neglected to take a photo of the bread, which is a shame because that was probably the highlight. All they had when I visited was the honey oat; I almost didn’t order this, because I was afraid it would be too sweet, but I’m glad I did. It is indeed a bit too sweet, but it’s nicely balanced out by the tang of the sourdough. The bread is dense, but not overly so, with a satisfying level of heft and chewiness. It’s a solid loaf of bread.

The pistachio croissant was quite good, but not on the level of the bread.

The pistachio filling had an eggy flavour that I wasn’t particularly crazy about, but otherwise had a great level of sweetness and was absolutely crammed with pistachio flavour. I wish they weren’t so generous with it, though; there’s just way, way too much of it, and it completely overwhelms the croissant itself. I think it was a good-quality croissant (albeit slightly lacking in its crisp-factor), but the deluge of pistachio filling makes it impossible to tell.

Delicious Doughnuts at Fab’s Donuts

Published on April 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1618 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/fabsdonuts/

Fab’s is in the same spot where Maverick’s Donut Company used to be, which I liked a whole lot. Apparently it’s from the same owners, who decided to strike out on their own. Clearly, they know what they’re doing, because the doughnuts here are very, very good.

They are quite different, however — notably, Maverick’s specialized mostly in cake doughnuts, and as far as I can tell, this is a cake-free zone. All the doughnuts that I tried were classic raised doughnuts.

I tried four: creme brulee, pistachio heaven, Biscoff, and chocolate kunafa.

All were generously filled, and all were thoroughly delicious, though the creme brulee — with its crackly top and tasty custard filling — was probably my favourite.

But then everything was thoroughly tasty, with the doughnuts themselves having a nice chewy texture, and with the flavours being right where they should be. It’s all quite sweet, but not a sugar-bomb. They’re great doughnuts.