pork – Page 18 – Michael Eats

Satisfying Eats at Running Pig

Published on October 5, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3636 Steeles Avenue East, Markham
Website: None

Running Pig is a no-frills take-out joint that serves various meat options and veggies on top of rice. It’s not the best thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s a hefty amount of meat and rice for $7.50; it’s hard to go wrong there.

I got the pork knuckle bento, which comes with a generous pile of pork knuckles (one is missing from my photo — I dug right in then realized I forgot to take a picture), a hard-boiled egg, tofu skin, and a variety of veggies on rice.

Pork knuckles can be mostly collagen without a whole lot of meat (particularly the way they’re cut here); if it’s not properly rendered, it’s going to be rubbery. And while these were mostly okay, they definitely could have braised for a little bit longer.

The various veggies and tofu were all tasty enough, and combined with the rice, it makes for a solid meal. Nothing here particularly stands out, but it’s cheap, quick, and satisfying. Sometimes that’s enough.

Horrifying BBQ at Hungry Hollow Smokehouse and Grille

Published on September 20, 2018September 20, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 134 Guelph Street, Georgetown
Website: http://www.hungryhollow.ca/

I try to be a “glass half full” type of guy whenever I can, because it’s always good to have a positive outlook on life. So, glass half full: Hungry Hollow Smokehouse and Grille gives me a much better appreciation for the disappointing BBQ joints across the GTA.

Places like Adamson Barbecue and Hogtown Smoke might not be as smoky as I’d like, but at least what they’re serving tastes good. Hungry Hollow, on the other hand…

I tried the brisket and the pulled pork, along with the fries and coleslaw.

The brisket was, no contest, the worst barbecue brisket I’ve ever had (and probably the worst brisket I’ve ever had, period). It was atrociously bad.

There’s no sugar-coating it; this particular glass is completely empty. The brisket was dry, it had zero smoky flavour, and worst of all, it was the leftoveriest piece of leftover meat in the history of the world. It had a sharply gamy flavour that immediately let you know something was amiss. It was outright inedible.

The pork was much better. It wasn’t particularly good, mind you, but I was able to eat it.

The texture was complete mush, and like the beef, it wasn’t even remotely smoky — but the flavour was otherwise okay. It was about on par with the vacuum-sealed pulled pork you can get at the supermarket, and it was clearly fresh. Under any other circumstances it would have seemed much worse, but after that questionable beef, something with no off flavours was quite delightful.

The sides, at least, were unambiguously tasty. The fries were fresh and perfectly cooked, and the coleslaw was nice and creamy, with a good level of acidity.

Above Average Ramen at Ramen Misoya

Published on September 12, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 646 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ramenmisoya.ca/

I don’t need a whole lot to convince me to try a new ramen joint. Ramen Misoya is a Japanese ramen chain that’s been featured in the Michelin guide, with locations all over the world.

Michelin-featured ramen? That’s pretty much all I need to hear. I’m sold.

(Though the last Michelin-adjacent ramen joint that opened in Toronto, Konjiki Ramen, was pretty disappointing.)

I ordered the gold kome special, which is a pork- and miso-based soup that comes with chasu, half an egg, ground pork, and a couple of potato wedges.

It’s a solid bowl of ramen. The broth has a decent amount of complexity; it’s got a porky richness and a nice miso flavour, and it’s livened up by a mild gingery and garlicky bite. The level of salt is a bit too intense, but it’s otherwise above average.

The noodles were also quite satisfying, with a perfect thickness and a nice firm texture.

The add-ins, sadly, were hit-and-miss. The egg was tasty, with a great gooey yolk. But the chasu was so tough I could barely even bite through it, and had a vaguely gamy flavour.

The potato wedges were just weird; even if these had been perfect I’m not sure they would have worked. And they were undercooked and crunchy, so they definitely didn’t work.

Decent BBQ at Beauty Barbecue & Smokehouse

Published on September 3, 2018 by Michael Nusair3 Comments

Location: 2901 Bayview Avenue, North York
Website: https://www.beautybbq.com/

Judging by Toronto’s restaurants, really great barbecue must be the toughest thing to get right. Because there are a lot of BBQ joints in the GTA, and very, very few of them are much better than okay.

You can add Beauty Barbecue & Smokehouse to the “okay” list. It’s fine. I didn’t dislike eating there. It’s certainly not great, but I’ve had worse barbecue in the city.

I tried three things and a couple of sides: smoked + roasted pork shoulder, Torontreal smoked meat, and baby back ribs, along with grilled cornbread and kale coleslaw. I was really hoping to try the brisket; alas, it was sold out.

The pork shoulder was the oddest of the bunch. It didn’t even vaguely resemble the pulled pork you might be expecting from a barbecue joint. Instead, it was thinly sliced and tasted more like porchetta than something you’d find in the American south, with an overwhelmingly herby, rosemary-tinged flavour. I suspect it hadn’t seen a smoker in many hours (if not days) as it had zero smokiness and a mildly gamy reheated pork flavour.

The Torontreal smoked meat was a definite upgrade over the pork. Though it can’t compete with the best smoked meat in the city, it was nicely spiced and had a surprisingly smoky flavour. But the meat was tough and the fat was vaguely rubbery. Despite the fact that it was sliced very thinly, it was disconcertingly difficult to cut with a plastic knife.

The ribs were the best of the bunch. They had a good level of smoke and a nice texture — tender, but with a bit of bite. Something about them wasn’t quite clicking (I think maybe the rub?), but the vinegary-sweet sauce was tasty, and it was overall a quality rack of ribs.

As for the two sides, they were both solid. Neither particularly stood out, but the coleslaw was nice and zingy, and the cornbread was sweet, buttery, and satisfying.

Mediocre Tacos at Wilbur Mexicana

Published on August 28, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 552 King Street West, Toronto
Website: http://wilburmexicana.com/

Wilbur is one of those places with a perpetual line out the door, and having just tried it for the first time, I’m not sure why.

That’s not to say it was bad. I just had two tacos, and they were both fine. But in a city as suffused with taco joints as Toronto, “fine” isn’t much.

I will say that their hot sauce selection is impressive. They have a few dozen bottles to choose from, not to mention a bunch of homemade sauces as well. If you want to add some spice to your taco, I can guarantee you’ll find something that strikes your fancy.

I tried a couple of tacos: al pastor (“pork, grilled pineapple, onion, cilantro”) and bulgogi (“Korean beef, cabbage, pear, sriracha, sesame seeds”).

I was most excited to try the al pastor, which is essentially Mexico’s take on the shawarma. But there were none of the crispy bits you associate with shawarma; it was just dry, personality-free lean pork brought to dessert levels of sweetness thanks to whatever they marinated it in and the pineapple.

It came on a corn tortilla that was dry, crumbly, and stale. A note to all restaurants serving corn tortillas: cook them fresh or GTFO.

The bulgogi, surprisingly enough, was way better. It was also quite sweet, but it had some savoury complexity to round things out. The beef was a little bit dry, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pork.

The tacos came with a handful of tortilla chips on the side. They were a huge upgrade over store-bought; they were way better than the tacos.