pork – Page 11 – Michael Eats

Tasty Noodle Soup at Szechuan Noodle Bowl

Published on September 13, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 400 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
Website: https://szechuannoodlebowl.com/

Look, I’m a simple man. If you slap a bowl of freshly-made noodles in front of me, my level of happiness is going to go up by like a hundred percent. Szechuan Noodle Bowl — which, as the name implies, specializes in bowls of freshly-made noodles — makes me a happy man.

I ordered the Hand-Made Noodles, which comes spicy or non-spicy with your choice of topping (beef, ground pork, pork intestines, Chinese pickle, or chicken). I went spicy with ground pork, and yeah, it’s good.

Those noodles are great — they’re thick, chewy, and satisfying. The soup is mildly spicy and has a nice zippy flavour, and the generous amount of tasty ground pork complements it perfectly.

I wish there had been some chili oil on the table — the soup was spicy, but could have been kicked up a bit — but aside from that it was a top-notch bowl of noodles.

Tasty, Meaty tacos at Gus Tacos

Published on July 24, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1533 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://tacosgus.ca/

Gus Tacos have three locations in the GTA; they’re clearly successful for a reason. My tacos were great, and my dining companion raved about his burrito. Supposedly, the tortas are quite good as well. Clearly, I need to come back.

The woman behind the counter mentioned that the barbacoa (braised lamb) taco is their most popular choice; I ordered that along with the chilorio, which turned out to be very similar to the barbacoa, but with pork. Probably not the best two choices, as they were both along the same lines — but when the tacos are this delicious, it really doesn’t matter.

The tortillas were obviously fresh, which is a must, and while both tacos were tasty, the barbacoa wasn’t kidding around. If you like the slightly gamy flavour of lamb, this is absolutely the taco for you. It’s super tender, flavourful, and thoroughly delicious. So good.

Quick Bites: Pho Tien Thanh, Ice Creamonology, Nani’s Gelato

Published on June 29, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

BBQ Pork on Vermicelli at Pho Tien Thanh

Not a ton to say about this one — aside from the pork being a bit dry, this was a tasty version of a classic dish. Most of the herbs and veggies are under the noodles, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, but there was a really good proportion of meat, noodles, herbs, and vegetables. The meat was a little bit sweet and nicely savoury, and the whole thing was thoroughly enjoyable, if nothing too mind-blowing.

Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake at Ice Creamonology

I wasn’t crazy about Ice Creamonology on my first visit, but I’ve been back a couple of times and it’s definitely getting better (or maybe it’s just growing on me?). The ice cream is nice and creamy, and while it’s still a bit stretchier than your average scoop, it’s not as gummy as it was the first time I tried it. I will say, however, that I haven’t been back since they’ve moved to Queens Quay, so I have no idea how it holds up now.

Pumpkin Pie soft serve at Nani’s Gelato

I recently mentioned that the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from Dairy Queen is the king of Blizzards, and this is basically just that, but a billion times better. I tried this last October (I’m still working my way through my backlog since the blog came back from hiatus); if you like pumpkin pie, the next time Nani’s brings this back (hopefully sooner than next October), you need to try it. It’s so good.

Meaty, Cheesy Sandwiches at Good Behaviour Submarine

Published on June 22, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 342 Westmoreland Avenue North, Toronto
Website: https://goodbehaviourto.ca/

Though Good Behaviour started out as an ice cream shop, they also serve an assortment of meaty subs, and sure, why not? Ice cream and subs; seems like a winning combo to me.

The menu features a few cold subs, and a few hot ones. I tried a couple of the hot ones: beef brisket (“smoked beef brisket, smoked gouda, banana peppers, caramelized onion, horseradish, beef fat vinaigrette, iceberg lettuce”) and pork shoulder (“braised pork shoulder, provolone, salsa verde, broccoli rabe, chili preserve, mustard mayo, lemon juice, red onion, iceberg lettuce”).

The sandwiches were both meaty, cheesy, and incredibly rich. They were quite tasty — how could they not be, with that quantity of tender meat and gooey cheese — though nothing about either of them particularly blew me away.

The problem is that they’re both a bit one-note in their flavour and in their meaty richness. Though maybe “problem” should be in quotes there, because let’s face it: a sandwich being meaty and rich isn’t exactly the end of the world, even if I’d like some other flavours/textures to break things up a bit. To be fair, both sandwiches had elements like banana peppers and salsa verde that should have performed this function, but all I could taste was meat, cheese, and heavy sauces.

Still, they were both solid sandwiches, particularly the beef brisket, which had a mild but satisfying smokiness from the beef and the gouda. And the bread is great — perfectly toasty, soft and fluffy, but with enough heft to stand up to the sloppy fillings.

Above Average Patties at Stush Patties

Published on September 29, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Website: https://stushpatties.com/

Stush Patties are available frozen at various supermarkets throughout the GTA (you can see where on their website), but alas, they don’t have a permanent location where you can buy their patties hot.

They were recently set up for the weekend at the Cheese Boutique, and I can say pretty conclusively that they need to open their own place ASAP. They’re top notch patties.

They had five types of patties on offer: beef, jerk chicken, jerk pulled pork, spicy lentil, and swiss chard. They’re five bucks a pop (or slightly cheaper if you buy them frozen), which seems pricey, but you get what you pay for.

I went with the pulled pork, which features a whole bunch of tender pork with a delightful punch of tasty jerk flavour. It’s meaty and very nicely spiced, with a pleasant kick and a mild sweetness that rounds things out.

The pastry is quite good too; it’s rich and flaky without being overwhelming. Some patties overdo the pastry and skimp on the filling, but this one is just right.