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Fried Chicken and Spaghetti at Jollibee

Published on August 27, 2019September 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 800 Boyer Boulevard, Mississauga (inside Seafood City Supermarket)
Website: http://jollibeecanada.com/

Jollibee opened locations in Scarborough and Mississauga in the last couple of years, and they were both immediately swamped. People love Jollibee with a passion that’s unusual in the world of fast food.

I tried visiting the Mississauga location a couple of times when it first opened, and both times the line was way too intense. But I figured it was safe enough to give it another shot, and yeah, the extreme crowds have died down. I showed up at around 11:20 AM on a Friday and was able to order immediately, though by the time I left a line had already formed.

I ordered the Crispy Chicken Perfect Pair, which comes with a piece of fried chicken, Jolly Spaghetti, and a drink.

I assumed I’d like the fried chicken (and I did), but the spaghetti was a bit more of a question mark. It’s topped with meat sauce with chunks of hot dog mixed in, and it’s notorious for being quite sweet. I was expecting something in line with Chef Boyardee.

It’s interesting; the sauce is, as advertised, quite sweet. But it’s also tangy, and kind of reminded me of a cross between a traditional tomato sauce and barbecue sauce. It feels like it shouldn’t work, but it kinda does. The salty hot dog slices help to round out the sweetness, as does the cheese on top.

The spaghetti itself isn’t exactly al dente, but it’s not mushy, either. The whole thing is oddly compelling. I liked it.

The fried chicken is more straightforward. It basically tastes like KFC original recipe, but with a slightly more subtle flavour. The chicken was nicely crispy on its exterior and very juicy inside. It’s a quality piece of fried chicken.

Even the gravy is a bit more unique than you might think; it’s definitely not the typical brown gravy you’ll find at a fast food joint. It’s a little bit sweet, and there’s a spice in there I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It works really well with the fried chicken.

I ordered the peach mango pie for dessert, which is crispy and fried, as it should be. The filling is basically a fruit-flavoured goo (there were maybe like two or three tiny bits of fruit in there), but it’s still quite tasty. It’s basically impossible to go wrong with a deep fried pie.

Okay: I get it. I get the lines. It’s certainly not the best thing ever, but I can see why people who grew up with Jollibee have a deep fondness for the place. It’s pretty unique.

Chocolate Cream Pie at Bakerbots Baking

Published on August 19, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 205 Delaware Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://bakerbotsbaking.com/

Chocolate cream pie is one of those desserts that’s incredibly simple (it’s basically just chocolate pudding in a pie crust), but incredibly satisfying.

There’s not much to say about this; it’s exactly what you’re hoping it’ll be.

The filling is dense and rich, with a very pronounced bittersweet chocolate flavour that’s nice and intense without being overpowering.

The cream helps to cut the richness from the chocolate filling, and the little bits of chocolate on top add additional texture and flavour.

The crust is nothing to write home about, though the pie was in the “day old” section of the bakery at a discount, so it’s possible it might have been better when it was just baked. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with it, but nothing about it jumped out at me. The balance between the chocolate and the cream was so tasty, however, that it really didn’t matter.

Tarte au Citron at Bang Bang

Published on June 25, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 93a Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://bangbangicecream.com/

I think this is going to be the shortest post I’ve ever written. The tarte au citron flavour at Bang Bang is basically like the best lemon meringue pie you’ve ever had, but as an ice cream.

Lemon meringue pie? Delicious. Bang Bang? Delicious. Cram those two things together? Yeah, it’s delicious. Of course it’s delicious. That’s just math.

The ice cream is creamy and pleasantly tart, with a great lemony flavour. It’s got silky meringue swirled in for some additional creaminess and to help cut the tartness of the ice cream. And then there are buttery, delicious chunks of pie crust.

It’s all just as good as you’d hope it would be.

Perfect Key Lime Pie at La Rocca Creative Kitchen

Published on September 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1285 Elgin Mills Road East, Richmond Hill
Website: https://laroccakitchen.com/

Is key lime pie the king of pies? It might be! The contrast between the tart filling, the sweet graham cracker crust, and the creamy topping is absolutely magical when done well. I have a hard time saying no when I see it on a menu.

And La Rocca Creative Kitchen — which serves the type of little pastries that look so nice it’s almost a shame to eat them — makes a really good one.

It’s a little bit untraditional. The typical whipped cream topping is subbed out for creamy Italian meringue, and the crust is made from speculoos cookies instead of graham cracker.

It’s great. Sometimes a key lime pie’s crust can be too substantial or dry, but this had the perfect level of crunch without getting in the way, and the flavour of the speculoos set it apart from the norm.

The dense, creamy Italian meringue might even be better than whipped cream. Certainly, it does a perfect job of balancing out the tart key lime custard.

And the custard was just right — it’s sweet and creamy, with just the right amount of tartness. It’s good stuff.

Decent meat pies from Nadege

Published on March 31, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Address: 3401 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.nadege-patisserie.com/

I just got a couple of meat pies from Nadege in Yorkdale — beef bourguignon and chicken basquaise — and they were both fine. they were so middle-of-the-road that I’m having a hard time mustering up the enthusiasm to even write a few words about them, but this is a food blog. It was food. Let’s do this.

They both had the same puff pastry crust, which was light and flaky, if a bit dry. Like everything else about these things, it was fine.

They heated them up for me, but clearly not enough, because they were vaguely hot in some places, and lukewarm in others.

The beef bourguignon had big, tender cubes of beef interspersed with carrot chunks. It wasn’t bad, but nothing about it particularly stood out. There just wasn’t much going on, flavour-wise, and the sauce was nonexistent — it was just dry chunks of beef and carrots.

The chicken basquaise had big chunks of chicken interspersed with pieces of peppers (red and yellow peppers, I think? I ate this just a couple of hours ago and it has already almost completely faded from my memory). Like the other pie, it was a bit bland. It was also entirely sauce-less, and the chunks of chicken were kinda dry. But it was fine.

I know I’ve said “fine” an awful lot, but it’s really the best word to describe these things. By tomorrow they will have both entirely receded from my memory, like they never existed.