pork belly – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Quick Bites: Street vendor hot dog, Bao Bar, Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on March 30, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hot dog from street vendor at King and John

Street vendor hot dogs have mostly disappeared from the city, which is too bad; they’re certainly not gourmet, but when you need a quick bite, they’re pretty tasty. I actually made a short film about street vendor hot dogs back in 2007, so yeah, I like them. This particular one wasn’t the best I’ve had (the secret of a good street vendor dog is to grill it until it’s got a crispy exterior and a smoky, charred flavour, and that didn’t happen here), but for five bucks for a quick meal, it’s hard to complain.

Great Chicken and Crackle Belly baos from Bao Bar

I think part of the reason I don’t want to dwell on negativity on this blog is that it’s very possible to catch an otherwise good restaurant on a bad day. So rather than trash a place that doesn’t deserve it, I feel like it’s a better idea to just focus on the places I like. That being said, I tried a couple of the baos at this place, and nothing about them — not the bread, the meats, or the sauces — was even remotely good (I should note that “great chicken” is the name of the dish, and certainly not my description of it). But then Bao Bar is generally fairly well regarded online, so maybe it was just a bad day.

Pumpkin and sweet cream from Ed’s Real Scoop

I have a love/hate relationship with Ed’s Real Scoop (well, love/hate is a bit strong… love/like I guess?); when it’s good, it’s very good. But I find it to be the most inconsistent of the better ice cream shops in the GTA. But here’s them at their best: on this particular visit I had pumpkin and sweet cream, and both were fantastic. The pumpkin had a really satisfying pumpkin pie flavour, and the sweet cream (which is reliably the best flavour here) was as delicious as usual. Having them together is basically like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. It’s a boffo combination.

Quick Bites: King’s Tacos, Bakerbots Baking, Hanyang Jokbal

Published on September 15, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Tacos at King’s Tacos

The most interesting thing about the tacos at Kings Tacos might just be the way they serve them — an order comes with a very generous platter of meat (in this case the King’s Special, which comes with pork, beef, chorizo, onion, bacon, and cheese) and tortillas on the side, and you build it yourself. It’s interesting, and it’s a great value, because that pile of meat is not kidding around. That’s not to mention the very generous bowl of free (and tasty!) tortilla chips and sauces that comes with the meal. It’s not just a good value, however: it’s quite tasty, too.

Cinnamon Bun at Bakerbots Baking

I’ve heard the cinnamon bun at Bakerbots referred to as one of the best in the city, and yeah, that sounds about right. It’s absolutely fantastic, with a slightly crispy exterior and a gooey (but not overly gooey and sweet, like a Cinnabon) interior. The pastry itself is top-notch, with a nice chewy texture and a flavour that ensures that the cinnamon bun isn’t just one-note sweet. Is it the best in the city? It could be!

Jokbal at Hanyang Jokbal

I mean, look at that glorious pile of pork. Do you even need me to say anything? Jokbal is a Korean dish featuring braised pig trotters; I tried the half and half, which is half jokbal and half bossam (pork belly, if I recall correctly). You eat it wrapped in lettuce with some of the tasty sides and condiments on the table, and yeah. It’s delicious. Again: look at it.

Oji Seichi Might Just Serve the Best Ramen in the City

Published on September 22, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 354 Broadview Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.ojiseichi.com/

Oji Seichi is the brainchild of Mitch Bates; he was previously the chef at Grey Gardens and the sadly defunct Momofuku Shoto, and in case those credits aren’t enough to tell you that the guy knows what he’s doing, let me tell you: the guy knows what he’s doing. Based on my recent visit, the ramen at Oji Seichi might just be the best in the city? It’s right up there, that’s for sure.

The menu also features an assortment of sandwiches, and I’m sure those are delicious too (how could they not be, given the quality of the ramen?), but trust me — you need to get the ramen.

The classic ramen features a broth made with chicken, pork, and seafood (a vegetarian option is also available) and comes in either shio or shoyu. I got shio, and holy moly it was so good.

The broth is (mostly) perfect. It’s a bit too greasy (your lips feel slick with grease almost immediately), but other than that, it’s outstanding. It’s lighter than the rich tonkotsu style of ramen that’s so common in the GTA, but it’s absolutely exploding with flavour. It’s got a deep roasty/meaty flavour that’s abundantly satisfying, with a subtle seafoody kick that hums along in the background without ever calling attention to itself. It’s also lightly smoky, but again, in a way that complements all the other flavours in the bowl so well.

I’ve mentioned this before, but the best bowls of ramen have this magical ability to keep revealing something new with each mouthful, and this is definitely that. The flavours are not subtle, but it absolutely never feels one-note or tiresome.

They make their noodles in house, and like the rest of the bowl, they’re top-notch; they’re perfectly chewy and have a very subtle, almost nutty flavour. So good.

The toppings are outstanding, too. The egg looks like it might be a bit undercooked in the photo, but trust me: it’s great. Perfectly jammy yolk, super flavourful — my only complaint is that the bowl comes with half an egg and I needed about a million of them.

And the chashu, with its silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture, is even better. They finish it on the grill to give it a smoky flavour, and good god I want to dive into a swimming pool filled with the stuff like Scrooge McDuck but with pork belly instead of money. Crazy good.

Decent Pork Belly at Chengdu Guokui

Published on January 2, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4750 Yonge Street, North York (in the Emerald Park food court)
Website: None

I’ve mentioned before that the Emerald Park food court near Yonge and Sheppard is a treasure trove of unique Asian eateries (though not everything there is particularly great).

My latest discovery: Chengdu Guokui, which specializes in Sichuan cuisine.

I ordered the braised pork rice bowl, which comes with the aforementioned pork, stewed eggplant (I think?), and a spicy slaw on top of rice.

It’s almost 17 bucks with tax, which seems excessive until you get your bowl and realize that it weighs about a pound, and is crammed with enough pork belly to feed a small family.

It’s certainly better than the last thing I tried in this food court, but alas, it’s not great. The main issue here is the pork; it’s quite underseasoned, and is lacking the punch of flavour you’re expecting from the dish. It also had a vague leftover flavour, and wasn’t quite as melt-in-your-mouth tender as it should have been. It was tasty enough, but it was nothing special.

The eggplant was nice and tender, and the rice, though mushy, featured a tasty sauce and was fairly satisfying.

The star of the show, oddly enough, was the slaw; it was tossed in an intensely flavourful chili oil, and had that great numbing heat you get from Sichuan cuisine. I wish there had been about double the amount.

(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.