pecans – Michael Eats

Strawberry Salad from Wendy’s

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

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

A few years ago, pretty much every fast food chain started serving salads in a short-lived attempt to prove to everyone that they’re not just about clogging your arteries and raising your blood pressure. But healthy eats at a fast food joint is an affront to everything that is good and pure about the world, and the salads are pretty much all gone — except at Wendy’s.

I guess people actually order the salads at Wendy’s? Because not only are they still on the menu, but they’re adding new ones, too.

Here’s how Wendy’s website describes the Strawberry Salad: “Herb-marinated, grilled 100% Canadian grilled chicken breast topped with fire-roasted corn, sharp white cheddar, roasted pecans, greenhouse-grown strawberries and lettuce all finished with a sweet onion vinaigrette. It’s the best you’ll pick all year.”

It’s fine? It’s a pretty generic salad. I didn’t dislike eating it, but the guy next to me was eating a burger and I’ll admit that I was pretty jealous.

It mostly all works pretty well — in particular, the balance between the salty cheese, the sweet strawberries and candied pecans, and the zippy dressing is fairly satisfying. I was worried that the dressing might be too oniony, but it was fine.

The biggest issue here are the chicken pieces. I was hoping they’d use freshly-cooked chicken, but instead it’s those pre-cooked chicken breast pieces that you can find in the supermarket or at Costco. They get the job done, but they have a very processed taste and texture that I’m not crazy about.

Quick Bites: Slow Jams, Cotolet, Bakerbots Baking

Published on April 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Smoked pork sandwich from Slow Jams

Slow Jams is a Filipino pop-up shop that you can find at various street festivals. I previously tried their fried chicken sandwich, and between that one and the smoked pork sandwich (“tamarind & sweet soy sauce, spicy pickled cabbage”), they clearly need to get their own location ASAP. The sandwich features a very generous amount of pork that’s meaty, tender, and satisfyingly smoky. The slightly sweet, squishy bun suits it perfectly. Between the strong vinegary punch of the sauce and the cabbage, it’s kinda acid overload, but the pork is tasty enough that this is only a minor complaint.

Pork loin katsu with brown demi-glace sauce from Cotolet

You can’t go wrong with a good pork katsu. I mean, you can’t go wrong with basically anything that’s breaded and fried, but there’s something about katsu that’s particularly magical. And the version at Cotolet? Quite good! The pork was maybe a bit on the dry side, but the panko-breaded exterior was perfectly crispy, and the brown demi-glace sauce (“made with various fruits and vegetables”) has a very nicely balanced fruity sweetness that’s a bit different from any katsu sauce I’ve had before.

Pecan sticky bun from Bakerbots Baking

Yep, Bakerbots is still chugging along, serving some of the tastiest baked goods in the city. I’ve written about them a few times before, so I don’t need to dwell here, but I do feel like it’s my duty to tell you that their sticky bun is very good. Sweet but not too sweet, nice texture on the bun itself, gooey but not complete mush like certain national chains that sell sickly sweet cinnamon buns… it’s very tasty. But then I’ve never had anything that was less than delicious here, so I guess that goes without saying.

Amazing Cookies at Bakery Pompette

Published on February 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 655 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.pompette.ca/bakery

I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of Bakery Pompette prior to Toronto Life ranking them number four on their list of the best new cookies in the city. Which is crazy, because based on how good the cookie is, I feel like everyone should be talking about this place. You’ve all failed me.

The pecan caramel cookie (“pecan chocolate chip cookies topped with coffee caramel and pecan praline”) is pure magic. It’s basically a chocolate chip cookie, but greatly enhanced with the addition of pecans and the two sauces on top.

It’s cookie perfection, with a great crispy/chewy texture, a generous amount of good-quality chocolate chips, and a nice nuttiness from the pecans.

You’d think the caramel sauce on top would be overkill, but the pleasantly mild bitterness from the coffee does an amazing job of cutting through the cookie’s sweetness.

Every element here just works. It’s a seriously, seriously good cookie.

Tasty Cheesecake in a Jar at Laila’s Cheesecake Co.

Published on February 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 855 Browns Line, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lailascheesecake.com/

It’s hard to go wrong with cheesecake, and Laila’s definitely makes a tasty one. Which is good, because it’s literally all they serve.

You can get whole cheesecakes, slices, or individual jars of cheesecake, which seems to be their specialty. The jars come in two sizes: four ounce or eight ounce. I found the four ounce serving to be a perfect amount, but eight is there if you really want to cheesecake it up (or if you’re sharing).

They have a variety of flavours like salted caramel, blueberry, and cherry; I went with caramel chocolate pecan.

It’s really good. It’s sweet but not too sweet, with a nice balance of flavours between the chocolate, caramel, and tart cheesecake (with another nice dose of texture and flavour from the graham cracker crust at the bottom). The NY-style cheesecake base is just the right amount of dense and creamy. It’s a satisfying dessert.

A Delicious Butter Tart at Kate’s Town Talk Bakery

Published on September 25, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 206C Queen Street South, Streetsville
Website: https://www.katestowntalk.ca/

It’s always a good sign when a bakery puts one of their pastries in a paper bag and it becomes translucent with buttery goodness. If the paper bag looks pristine? Sorry, that pastry probably sucks. I don’t make the rules.

Though they have an assortment of sweet and savoury pastries, the specialty at Kate’s Town Talk Bakery is clearly the butter tart, which you can get with pecans, raisins, raspberry Nutella, or on its own.

I got the pecan variety, and oh man, it’s good. The sign outside says that the butter tarts here “rival the best you’ve ever tasted,” and you know what? They’re not wrong. I wish the filling were a bit gooier, but other than that it’s basically butter tart perfection: the crust is perfectly flaky, the filling has a great toffee-like flavour, and it’s got those great crispy caramelized edges that are pretty much irresistible.

I’m not sure that it’s the best best butter tart that I’ve ever had, but it’s right up there, that’s for sure.