pork – Michael Eats

A Great Breakfast Sandwich at Alma + Gil

Published on March 28, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 392 Dufferin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.almaygil.com/

Alma + Gil started as a pop-up specializing in breakfast sandwiches, and have recently expanded to a new location with a full menu. There’s some tasty-looking stuff on the menu, but of course, I had to get one of those sandwiches.

I went with the pork belly sando: “overeasy free run egg, roasted pork belly, cheese chicharron, caramelized onion sauce, brioche.”

It’s a great sandwich, with the combo of the perfectly runny egg, tender pork belly, and crispy cheese being thoroughly delicious.

The “cheese chicharron” is just a piece of cheese that’s been browned and crisped up on the griddle, and yeah, of course it’s a great addition to this (or any) sandwich.

The soft, ultra-fluffy brioche bun adds some mild sweetness, and is a great vehicle for the other ingredients here.

There are a couple of things holding this back from breakfast sandwich perfection (I wish they had gotten at least a little bit of colour on the pork belly, and the ultra-rich sandwich is crying out for some hot sauce or anything acidic to cut through its decadence somewhat), but it’s still a top-tier sandwich.

Tasty Katsu Curry at Hinoya Curry

Published on March 22, 2026March 22, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 20 Carlton Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.hinoyacurry.net/

Hinoya Curry is a chain that specializes in tonkatsu curry; they’ve got a bunch of locations in Japan and a few worldwide — including, most recently, right here in Toronto.

I actually tried the tonkatsu curry at Hinoya a few years ago in Tokyo and found it to be satisfying, but by Japanese standards, just okay.

By Toronto standards, on the other hand? Quite good!

I ordered the same dish here, tonkatsu curry, which features a fried pork cutlet on top of rice that’s absolutely doused in a rich, beefy curry sauce.

It’s very tasty. The menu describes the curry as “sweet first, spicy later,” and yeah, that’s about right. It’s got a nice balance of sweet and savoury, a pleasant curry flavour, and a lingering heat that’s mild, but definitely present.

It goes very well with the freshly fried tonkatsu, which is nice and tender and retains its crunch, despite being smothered in sauce.

It comes with some pickled radish on the side, which has a vinegary brightness that does a great job of cutting through the dish’s richness. I wish there were more of it, however; they put a teeny-tiny amount on the plate, and I could have used about double or triple (it’s in a container on the side in Japan — or at least it was when I visited — which makes much more sense).

Another nice touch: the container with a mix of puffed rice and toasted garlic on the table, which adds more crunch and flavour to the dish. I’ve never seen this anywhere but here, and I don’t know why — it seems like it would improve pretty much anything.

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.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Paddler Thai Boat Noodles

Published on February 8, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1710 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.paddlerthai.ca/

I’m pretty sure this is my first time trying boat noodles, but if this place is anything to go by? Boat noodles need to be a regular part of my life. They’re seriously, seriously tasty.

Here’s how Paddler describes the dish: “‘Kuaytiaw – Rua’ was originated in Thai floating market back in the old days. A dark brown flavorful soup contains Thai herbs, dark soy sauce, coconut milk. Comes with Chinese broccoli, bean sprouts garnished with fresh basil, culantro, fried garlic and pork rinds.”

You can pick from small rice noodles, medium rice noodles, flat rice noodles, or egg noodles (I went with small rice noodles). You can also pick either beef or pork (I went with pork).

Everything here is so good. The soup itself is intensely savoury, with a satisfying tangy brightness and a bunch of depth (sometimes you’re kinda sick of the broth at the end of a bowl of noodle soup, but that definitely wasn’t the case here).

The bowl is absolutely crammed with tasty stuff, from the tender pork, to the pleasantly springy meatballs, to the flavourful herbs and fried garlic. It’s a definite flavour bomb, but in a way that feels very finely tuned. I’d probably go with the medium noodles next time (the small noodles were slightly too thin), but otherwise this was a superlative bowl of noodle soup.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Kuya Don Lomi Batangas

Published on February 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1482 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kdlb.ca/

Kuya Don Lomi Batangas is a Filipino restaurant that started in North York and has recently expanded to Mississauga. And judging by the crowds, it’s already a hit — I showed up not long after they opened at 11:00am on a Saturday, and the place was already pretty full. By the time I left, it was packed.

They have a variety of Filipino dishes on the menu, but the specialty is lomi batangas (it’s right there in the name, so obviously you’ve gotta order that).

I can’t say I’ve ever tried (or even heard of) this dish, but I’m always game to try something new. Here’s how the menu describes it: “freshly made miki with caldo, sliced fish ball, boiled egg, pork liver, kikiam, rebusado, bola-bola, and garnish.”

In case you’re as clueless about Filipino cuisine as I apparently am (I understood fish ball, boiled egg, pork liver, and garnish in that description), here’s how that breaks down. Miki is a Filipino egg noodle, caldo means broth, kikiam is a type of sausage, Google is saying rebusado is fried shrimp (there was something fried in the bowl, but it definitely wasn’t shrimp — pork, I think?), and bola-bola is a meatball (which I don’t think was in my bowl? There were crispy pork rinds, however).

Whatever was in here was quite tasty, particularly those fried chunks of pork (?), which were well seasoned, nicely crunchy on the outside, and tender on the inside.

The soup itself has a really deep savouriness that’s quite satisfying, particularly once you add a squeeze of the calamansi they have on the side — this does a great job of adding some brightness to the very rich bowl. The soup is thickened, but not in a way that feels overly goopy. It’s quite good.

My only real complaint is that while the noodles do a great job of soaking up the flavour of the soup, they’re pretty mushy. I’m not sure if that’s the way they’re supposed to be or if something went wrong, but either way, that’s probably my only complaint about an otherwise very tasty dish.