pork – Michael Eats

Solid Ramen at Men-ya Inoichi Ramen

Published on August 3, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/menyainoichi/

Not every restaurant has to serve the best version of a dish that you’ve ever had; sometimes,
“pretty good” is good enough.

Enter: Men-ya Inoichi Ramen in Mississauga, which isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but which serves some pretty good ramen.

They have a few other Japanese dishes on the menu, like omurice and katsu, but the ramen is their specialty. I ordered the Original King Butao ramen (“Bone Broth Flavor. Includes: Soft Boiled Egg, Agaric, Sweet and Sour Radish, Green Onion, Salad”), which comes with either a tonkotsu (pork) or chicken soup base. I went with tonkotsu.

Nothing in the bowl particularly stands out, but it’s all thoroughly tasty, with a rich, savoury broth and some very pleasantly chewy noodles.

The fact that it’s in Mississauga helps; the ramen explosion that happened in the GTA over the last decade or so left Mississauga mostly untouched, so if you’re looking for a better bowl of ramen, it’s going to be a bit of drive.

Solid Tacos at Ghost Taco

Published on July 11, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 151 East Liberty Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.ghosttaco.ca/

Ghost Taco is a solid taco joint in Liberty Village. It’s affiliated with a brewery (Something in the Water Brewing Co.), so if you’re in the mood, you can get a beer to go with your taco. The menu even gives you beer pairing suggestions for each taco.

I tried a couple of tacos. First up: Alabama Chicken (“fried chicken, Bama sauce, corn salsa, shrettuce”).

This was pretty solid. The fried chicken tender tasted like something you might find at a fast food chain, but it was freshly-fried, crispy, and satisfying. And the combo of the zippy salsa and the creamy Bama sauce worked well. This didn’t knock my socks off, but I enjoyed it.

Next up: Vampire (“fried cheese, pickled jalapeno, braised pork, tortilla, guac & pico, sriracha aioli”).

This was definitely my favourite of the two. It’s that fried cheese on the exterior. It’s crispy, chewy, and immensely satisfying. The rest of the taco is solid, with a nice balance of flavours, but that cheesy shell is where it’s at.

Bonus: the tacos are generously-filled and $5.50 a piece, so it’s a great deal.

A Delicious (and Gigantic) Meal at Brown Donkatsu

Published on July 3, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 487 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://browndonkatsu.ca/

Brown Donkatsu serves the Korean version of tonkatsu, which is quite similar, but with a sweeter sauce.

Before checking this place out, I had read a few references to how big the portions are, so I was expecting a hefty meal. I was unprepared.

Wow, it’s a lot of food. I got the combo katsu, which comes with half brown katsu sauce, and half cream sauce. You can choose from chicken or pork; I went with pork.

Every order comes with two fried cutlets, and I’m not sure if you can get a sense of the scale from the photo, but they’re surprisingly massive. One of these would be enough for any reasonable person. Two is… a lot.

I think the reasonable thing to do is to eat one and take the other to go. The problem here is that they’re very, very good. So once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. The crispy exterior is substantial enough to give you a very hearty crunch, but light enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the pork. And the pork is nice and tender. It’s seriously tasty.

I finished it, but I didn’t feel good about it, that’s for sure. It’s the type of meal where you feel like you have to go lie down to recover.

I will say that I’ll probably just stick with the brown sauce if I ever find myself back here. It complements the meaty pork quite well, with a nice sweetness that helps round things out (it’s also quite different from the curry or tonkatsu sauce that you might expect). The ultra-rich cream sauce, on the other hand, is a bit one-note heavy. I certainly didn’t dislike eating it, but a little of it goes a long way. I would have liked about 90% brown sauce, and 10% cream sauce for a little bit of extra richness.

As for the other stuff on the plate, the sweet, creamy dressing on the cabbage is nice, and the corn and rice are corn and rice.

Satisfying Chinese Food at Bao Goubuli

Published on May 29, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://goubuli.ca/

If their website is to be believed, Bao Goubuli is a Chinese chain that opened their first location in 1858. No, not 1958 (which would still be very impressive). 1858.

Assuming that’s true, you can’t argue with that kind of history. Clearly, they’re doing something right.

They’ve got about a million things to choose from, but the first item on the menu (and the specialty, I assume?) is the pork bao: “Traditional Steamed Pork Bao stuffed with
Ground Pork and Green Onion.”

It’s a tasty bao, with the ultra-fluffy bun encasing tasty, juicy pork. Nothing too mind-blowing here, but it’s quite satisfying.

I also tried the pan-fried pancake stuffed with beef, which features a flaky flatbread rolled up with beef, lettuce, and a sweet sauce. Again: quite satisfying.

Last but not least, I tried the Tianjin-style savoury crepes (a.k.a. jian bing), which was a really solid version of this dish. Eggy, crispy, and tasty.

Tasty Hot Pot at Mabu Generation

Published on April 21, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://mabugeneration.com/

Mabu Generation is a small chain (they also have locations in Markham and Toronto) that serves what they call Taiwanese fusion. Their specialty seems to be their “Taiwanese style mini hot pot.” Not so sure about that “mini” designation — I split this with one person and it was way more food than either of us needed. I’m pretty sure you can comfortably share this with three or even four people (making it a great deal at 26 bucks).

I went with the House Special Spicy Hot Pot: “Nappa cabbage, seafood mushroom, tomato, iced tofu, meat ball (pork), clam, quail egg, pork blood cake, pork blood, pork intestine, preserved vegetables, cilantro, sliced beef, luncheon meat.”

It’s a very enjoyable dish. It’s absolutely crammed with tasty stuff, and the Sichuan-peppercorn-infused soup has that satisfying spicy/numbing mala thing going on in spades. It could probably be spicier, but it’s got a decent enough kick. It’s quite good.