pizza – Page 9 – Michael Eats

(Mostly) Tasty Eats at The Ex

Published on August 31, 2019September 1, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 210 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Website: https://theex.com/

Though I haven’t been in a couple of years, I enjoy going to the Ex. I mean, they have an enormous building dedicated entirely to food, not to mention vendor after vendor selling junky carnival food, so of course I enjoy it.

I didn’t get to try quite as much as I would have liked (this stuff was all extremely heavy), but I sampled a few things.

The Big Chief from Porkies Sandwich Co.

This place specializes in porchetta and pork belly, and serves a sandwich that’s crammed with both of them. The two meats are topped with caramelized onions, arugula, provolone, salsa verde, and chipotle mayo. It’s not bad — the two types of pork are a bit bland and textureless (they’re super tender, but there are zero crispy bits or crackling), but they’re still porky and satisfying. The cheese was unmelted and basically added nothing to the sandwich, but the onions and the sauces are tasty and do a good job of cutting through the extreme richness of the belly and the porchetta. I will say, however, that this might have been the greasiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my life. Grease was leaking everywhere.

Scorpion Burrito from Burrito Co.

Though Burrito Co. advertises this as “Canada’s hottest burrito,” that’s a dubious claim; the burrito itself is barely spicy at all. It does, however, come with a tiny dropper filled with a legitimately fiery hot sauce. This stuff isn’t kidding around, though I wish they had added it right into the burrito, because having to reapply it every couple of mouthfuls was a bit of a pain. As for the burrito itself, it was fine, I guess? It was decent enough, but nothing about it particularly stands out (other than the comically absurd $19.25 price tag).

Pickle Pizza from Rick’s Pizza

This is the only thing I tried that was outside of the food building. The slice is basically exploding with pickle flavour; it’s topped with pickle slices, and features dill ranch instead of tomato sauce. It’s a novelty food and it tastes like a novelty food, but it’s actually kind of satisfying. The pickles are nice and zingy, and the pizza itself is decent. I don’t know that I’d want to eat this all the time — but isn’t that the whole point of carnival food? If it’s something you’d want to eat on a regular basis, it’s probably not doing its job.

Tasty Pizza at Goodfellas Wood Oven Pizza

Published on November 27, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 209 Queen Street South, Mississauga
Website: http://www.goodfellaspizza.ca/

I mentioned, in my review of Pi Co., that I think a Margherita pizza is one of the world’s few perfect foods. I’m at the point now where if I see a Margherita pizza on a menu, I pretty much have to order it.

Aside from the fact that it’s great (don’t even argue about that unless you want me to challenge you to a old-fashioned duel), it’s the easiest way to gauge the quality of a pizza joint.

There’s no hiding behind fancy toppings or sauces; it’s just crust, plain tomato sauce, mozzarella, olive oil, and basil. You have to know your way around a pizza (and a pizza oven), or you’re probably going to mess it up.

And Goodfellas definitely passes the Margherita test, though I will admit that I got very concerned when I saw the waiter bringing a neighbouring table a pizza with a crust that looked flat, colourless, and horrible. I was ready to dive out the nearest window and then run until my legs gave out from under me — but then I heard a reference to gluten-free, and all was right again.

If you can’t (or won’t) eat gluten, maybe don’t eat pizza? Don’t ruin something great for yourself by eating whatever the hell that was. It looked truly dire.

Thankfully, the actual, non-gluten-free pizza is pretty great. The proportion of cheese and sauce is just right, and the crust is top notch (ah, sweet sweet gluten). It was slightly over-charred in spots and maybe a touch too dense, but it was still very tasty.

It had just the right amount of crispiness without being too crunchy, and a satisfying chewiness that contrasts very nicely with the sauce and the cheese. Like all Margherita pizzas, it’s simple, but hard to resist.

Bizarre Pizza at Big Trouble Pizza

Published on October 25, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 235 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.bigtroublepizza.com/

The dessert pizza at Big Trouble Pizza — called the Butter Jam Jam — is quite odd. It features raspberry jam, butter cream, bocconcini cheese, mozzarella cheese, balsamic reduction, and lemon zest.

It sounds kinda absurd, and… yeah, it’s absurd. I was hoping it would be one of those things that sounds weird but is actually great; no such luck.

It’s not bad, though. It’s generally tasty enough — all of the components are good — but the flavours/textures never quite cohere in any meaningful way. It’s a little too salty for something that’s supposed to be a dessert, and nothing about it particularly pops.

It tastes like something you might whip up in a moment of bizarre inspiration (perhaps under the influence of a certain substance that was just legalized) and then, once you actually try it, never make again.

Still, I didn’t dislike eating it, I guess. And the crust was actually quite good, with a light exterior crispiness, and a pleasantly chewy interior. It definitely makes me want to go back and try one of the traditional pizzas.

Tasty Slices at Superpoint

Published on October 19, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 184 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.superpoint.ca/

Getting a reheated slice from a pizza place can be a bit of a dicey proposition. Reheat a slice for too long and it becomes overly stiff and crunchy; not enough, and the cheese’s goo-factor isn’t there. Or worse: it’s clammy.

And if the pizza sits on the counter too long, it eventually passes a point of no return; it can only ever be a shadow of its former self.

The slice I just had at Superpoint avoids all of these pitfalls. It was one of the best reheated slices of pizza I’ve had in ages.

I think it’s the ultra-thin crust; the guy didn’t put it in the oven for much more than 30 seconds, but thanks to how thin it was, that was more than enough to heat it through and re-gooify the cheese.

The crust was actually pretty great, with a pronounced crispiness on its exterior that never felt overly crunchy or crackery. It still had a pliable chewiness that complimented the crispy exterior perfectly.

This particular slice was pretty simple, with just tomato sauce, cheese, spicy sopressata, and a light sprinkling of parmesan and dried herbs.

It was fantastic. The salty sopressata contrasted very nicely with the simple, slightly sweet tomato sauce, and there was the perfect proportion of cheese and sauce. It was one of the better slices I’ve had in quite a while.

Bonus: it only cost five bucks (and that includes tax) for a slice of pizza bigger than my head.

Double bonus: it’s a five minute walk from Bang Bang, which means that for less than ten bucks, you can have a delicious slice of pizza and a scoop of the best ice cream in the city. That’s about as perfect of a lunch as I can imagine.

Great Margherita Pizza at Pi Co.

Published on October 3, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1200 Bay Street, Toronto
Website: http://www.pi-co.ca/

Fact: a margherita pizza, done well, is the best pizza. It’s just crust, sauce, cheese, basil, and olive oil, but when it’s done well, it all comes together in a way that feels magical. It’s one of the world’s few perfect foods.

Pi Co. does it well.

The restaurant itself is actually pretty interesting — it’s mostly a take-out joint, and aside from the margherita, they don’t have any pre-topped pizzas.

The restaurant is set up almost like a Subway, with a variety of toppings behind glass that you can choose from on the spot. And the Neopolitan-style pies bake fast, so you can be in and out surprisingly quickly, despite the fact that they’re starting every pizza from scratch.

It’s quite good. A pizza like this lives and dies by its crust; the crust here was solid, with a satisfying chew, a decent amount of flavour, and a nice blistery exterior. The external crisp factor could have been slightly higher, but that’s a very minor complaint.

Everything else was great, with a nice balance of sauce and cheese. It’s not the best margherita I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty damn satisfying (again: it’s a perfect food).