pork – Page 2 – Michael Eats

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich from BEAR Steak Sandwiches

Published on June 7, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 550A College Street, Toronto
Website: https://bearsteak.ca/

The Great BEAR sandwich is a collaboration between BEAR Steak Sandwiches and Great Fountain Fast Food, and it’s only being served this weekend (June 7 and 8).

That’s just not enough time for a sandwich this great. I think it’s safe to say that this is the most upsetting thing happening in the world right now. No, I’m not going to look at the news. You look at the news. I want to eat this sandwich for the rest of my life.

The Great BEAR sandwich, as per Instagram: “crispy pork belly, black vinegar sauce, black pepper aioli, pickled onions, scallions, black sesame bun.”

Yes. Yes to all of that. For whatever reason, the notion of putting Chinese roast pork in a sandwich had never even occurred to me, but yeah, of course. Of course that’s good.

The pork is fatty and perfectly cooked, and while my first few bites were a bit lacking in crispy skin, the back half of of the sandwich was loaded with the stuff.

The meat itself is so tender and and flavourful that you could throw it on a bun and call it a day, but the other stuff here really amps up the flavour of the sandwich. And the zippy pickled onions and black vinegar sauce do a great job of cutting through the richness of the unctuous pork; the sandwich is very finely tuned, and never feels too heavy.

The bun looks a bit big in the photos, but it’s pillowy and light, and lets the pork be the star of the show.

So no, sorry BEAR Steak Sandwiches. This can’t just be a limited-time thing. I won’t allow it.

Bangers and Mash Sandwich at Hot Pork

Published on June 4, 2025June 4, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 932 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/hotpork.to/

I tried the beef brisket breakfast sandwich from Hot Pork last year, and spoiler alert: it was one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had.

So when I heard Hot Pork was serving a bangers and mash sandwich (“Irish Banger Patty, Mashed Potato Patty, Caramelized Onions, Brisket Gravy, Brioche Bun”), I thought, well, that sounds weird, but if Hot Pork is doing it, it must be great.

And indeed it was. Indeed it was.

I will say that it could have used something like 50 percent less mashed potato; the bun already kinda fills that role in a sandwich, and the prodigious amount of mashed potatoes here is carb overload (it also dilutes the other flavours, which are all fantastic).

Otherwise? Amazing sandwich. The pork patty is nicely-spiced and thoroughly delicious, and the combo between the savoury, ultra-flavourful gravy and the deeply caramelized onions is a big winner. And the brioche bun adds some nice sweetness and holds up to the very, very messy sandwich without overwhelming.

With slightly less mashed potato, this could have been an all-timer — but even as is, it was seriously tasty.

A Great Deal at Juicy Dumpling

Published on May 3, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 280 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.juicydumpling.ca/

Juicy Dumpling actually does have stuff other than juicy dumplings on the menu, but of course, if you go to a place called Juicy Dumpling and you don’t order the juicy dumplings, what are you even doing with your life?

I got an order of six mini soup pork dumplings, which was $4.99, and a pork bun, which was $2.85. It was a solid lunch for under ten bucks.

I’m a little bit perplexed as to why they’re calling these mini soup dumplings. They seemed like a pretty standard size to me? I can’t recall having soup dumplings that were substantially larger than the ones they serve here.

They’re tasty dumplings. There’s no vinegar or any of the other condiments you’d expect with soup dumplings, but they’re pretty tasty on their own, with a decent amount of pork and soup inside. They’re not the best soup dumplings you’ll ever eat, but for five bucks for an order of six, they’re pretty great.

The pork bun was satisfying too, with a good amount of sweet pork filling inside of a fresh, fluffy bun.

Tasty Sandwiches at Cubano Kings

Published on April 27, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 141 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.cubanokings.com/

As you’d expect from the name, Cubano Kings is pretty much all about Cubanos (though they do have a few other things on the menu). They actually serve five different varieties of the sandwich — who knew that many types of Cuban sandwiches even existed?

The Miami Cubano (“slow-roasted mojo pork, black forest ham, Swiss cheese, mustard & pickle”) is the classic Cubano we all know and love, so that’s what I ordered.

It’s a solid sandwich. It’s nicely pressed with a crisp exterior and gooey cheese within, and it has a good proportion of ham and roast pork.

It was very light on the mustard and probably could have used a bit more to cut through the richness of the other ingredients, but otherwise this was a solid, no-frills Cuban sandwich.

Solid Tacos at Azul

Published on April 13, 2025April 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/azulmexicanto/

I think the first thing I should note about Azul is: it’s not easy to find! It’s in the food court at First Canadian Place downtown, except, oh wait, apparently there’s more than one food court in First Canadian Place? I wandered around the one on the lower level for longer than I should admit, and the whole time I’m looking at Google Maps like, it should be right here, what gives?

It turns out there’s a whole other food court on the upper floor, which is not confusing at all. Totally reasonable to have two food courts within a couple of floors of each other.

Anyway, Azul. It’s a Mexican eatery that features various tacos, tortas, and bowls. I tried a couple of the tacos: chilorio (“pork shoulder – marinated and slow cooked, pickled onions”) and Baja (“fish – battered and fried, cabbage slaw, lime mayo”). You also get a little tub of salsa on the side that can be mild, medium, or hot. I went with hot.

The tacos both come on blue corn tortillas that are reasonably fresh and have a decent amount of heft to them (both tacos were crammed with stuff, and the tortillas held up nicely).

Neither knocked my socks off, but both were quite tasty — particularly the chilorio, which features a generous amount of tender, meaty pork. The fish was a bit dry, but it’s topped with so much stuff that it barely matters. For something from a food court, you could do much worse.