red bean – Michael Eats

Tasty Buns at Blooming Garden Dessert House

Published on July 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: None

Look, I’m a simple man with simple pleasures. Put a red bean bun in front of me, and I’m going to eat and enjoy that bun. I’ve had a lot of red bean buns of varying levels of quality, but I’ve never had one I’ve outright disliked.

I also enjoy desserts that are on the less sweet side of things, so when I saw that Blooming Garden Dessert House serves something that they call a “less sugar red bean pineapple bun,” I was all over that.

I know that I just said that I’d enjoy literally any red bean bun that you put in front of me, so maybe that kills my credibility a bit, but this was a particularly good one. I really, really enjoyed it.

I thought it might be barely sweet at all, but while the sugar level is definitely on the more restrained side of things, it’s plenty sweet. The sweetness level is about on par with the better red bean buns that I’ve had, so advertising this as “less sugar” is probably overkill.

Everything here is just right, from the satisfying chunkiness of the filling, to the ultra fresh and chewy bread, to the perfectly crispy topping. It’s legitimately one of the better versions of this that I’ve had in a while.

Delicious Wheel Cakes at Mister Wheel

Published on May 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5317 Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://www.instagram.com/misterwheel_toronto/

Mister Wheel is a Taiwanese wheel cake chain that recently opened in Toronto to a decent amount of hype, and having just tried it: yeah, I get it. They serve some top-notch wheel cakes.

The nice thing about this place is that all the cakes are made to order — there’s a note on the counter saying that all cakes are a 15 minute wait — so you know they’re going to be fresh.

I tried two of the classics, red bean and custard, and both were absolutely stellar, with a lightly crispy exterior, and perfectly cooked pancakey pastry within.

As for the fillings, both were above average. The red bean had a pleasantly chunky texture and a restrained level of sweetness that I really enjoyed. And the custard might have been even better — I normally prefer red bean, but the custard here was just so good, with a rich, creamy texture and a thoroughly satisfying flavour.

Tasty Buns at Saint Germain Bakery

Published on September 1, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://www.saintgermainbakery.com/

Saint Germain Bakery is an Asian bakery chain that started in Vancouver, and that’s been expanding around the GTA for the last few years. Their most recent location is in Square One in Mississauga, and it features a tempting assortment of sweet and savoury pastries (mostly cakes, croissants, and Asian-style buns).

It’s set up in a typical Asian bakery style, with everything (outside of the cakes) in self-serve displays, and trays for you to load up and take to the register.

My go-to at a bakery like this is typically something with red bean in it (I have a very hard time saying no to a red bean dessert), but I noticed they had something called a “Germain bun.” I had no idea what to expect with this, but I feel like it’s always a safe bet to order whatever pastry has the name of the bakery in it.

It’s not the most photogenic dessert in the world, but it’s very tasty. It basically tastes like a custard bun, but with the custard interspersed throughout — like a cinnamon roll, but with custard instead of cinnamon. It also has a crispy, sugary topping that does a great job of adding some texture to the soft, chewy bun. The topping might have amped up the sweetness level a bit too much, but the rest of the bun is more restrained, so it’s just right.

I liked it quite a lot, though I will say that it’s a deceptively hefty bun, so it’s probably a good idea to either share it, or eat half and save the rest for later. I ate it after having a heavy meal, and let me tell you: my stomach did not appreciate it. I think the term “food coma” applies.

Also: I came back another day and tried the red bean bun, and yeah, that’s good stuff. The red bean is maybe slightly too sweet and not quite as chunky as I’d like, but it’s still quite tasty and the bun is fluffy and fresh.

Great Taiyaki at Red Bean Waffle House

Published on August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 Steeles Avenue West, Thornhill
Website: https://www.instagram.com/redbeanwaffle/

Note: It looks like this place has closed down between me writing and posting this. Highly unfortunate!

The Red Bean Waffle House in Thornhill sells various cakes and savoury snacks, but they specialize in taiyaki — fish-shaped waffles that come stuffed with either red bean or custard.

I’m sure the custard is good, but come on — it’s right there in the name. You’ve gotta get the red bean.

The red bean filling here is actually slightly different than the usual. Its texture is creamier, and it tastes like maybe they’ve mixed in some custard with the red bean. I’m not sure if that’s actually the case, but whatever they’re doing, it’s quite tasty. It also has a satisfyingly restrained level of sweetness.

The waffle part, too, is a bit different from the usual: it’s slightly thinner and crispier, which works quite well with the creamy filling. It’s a very satisfying dessert.

Tasty Treats at Kevin’s Taiyaki

Published on February 25, 2020 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 333 Dundas Street East, Mississauga (inside PAT Supermarket)
Website: None

Kevin’s Taiyaki is inside the PAT Supermarket in Mississauga, which is a pretty trippy place to visit. It’s basically like stepping through a portal into South Korea. When I went, every other person — both customer and employee — was Korean, and the only language I heard spoken was Korean. PAT has a downtown location as well, but I’ve never quite had the same experience there.

I have a definite fondness for South Korea (I think it’s an underrated travel destination), so that was delightful.

Like the downtown PAT, there’s a location of Kevin’s Taiyaki right inside the supermarket, which specializes in red bean or custard filled pastries.

I got the red bean, and it was very, very good. It was freshly made, with a nice crispy exterior, fluffy pastry (if you’ve never had taiyaki before, it’s extremely waffle-like), and a delicious red bean filling. The red bean had a restrained level of sweetness and a chunky (but still smooth) texture that was extremely satisfying.

Taiyaki is one of those dishes that’s very simple and rarely bad, but difficult to do really well. Kevin’s Taiyaki does it really well.