rice – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Tasty Burritos at Bolets Burrito

Published on March 30, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 134 Lower Sherbourne Street, Toronto
Website: https://boletsburrito.square.site/

Pretty much any time the topic of the best burrito in Toronto comes up on the Toronto food subreddit, Bolets is mentioned. I finally got around to it recently, and yeah: it’s quite good.

They have a handful of meat options (including some esoteric choices like Buffalo chicken and sweet spicy Thai), but the steak seems t o be the one they’re most known for, so that’s what I got.

The burrito comes crammed with steak, along with the usual assortment of rice, beans, and veggies.

The steak is tender, plentiful, and very well seasoned, and the proportion of meat to veggies to sauce is spot on. I asked for it hot, and while it’s not exactly going to blow your head off, it’s got a good kick. There were a couple of inedible gristly bits in the steak, which was unfortunate, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

Is it the best burrito in the city? I don’t know, but it’s probably a contender.

Tasty Japanese Food at Tanuki

Published on February 4, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3160 Steeles Avenue East, Markham
Website: http://www.tanukirestaurant.com/

Tanuki is actually in the same location as the great Shiso Tree Cafe, which, sadly, shut down near the beginning of the pandemic. I kinda want to hate this place on principal, like, how dare you try to replace the Shiso Tree Cafe?? But you know what? Just based on this one visit, I think Tanuki might be just as good.

I came during their brunch service and tried the seared duck breast (“served medium rare, chimichurri, garlic chips”), along with the omurice (“soft omelette, chicken fried rice, shiitake, edamame, gravy”).

Both were very, very tasty. The duck breast was perfectly cooked; it was tender while still having a nice meaty bite, and while the skin wasn’t crispy, once I started eating, I didn’t miss it. The garlic chips give it that crispiness while also adding pops of flavour. It’s a great dish.

The omurice was just as good. Slicing the omlette open to reveal its eggy interior is thoroughly satisfying, and the creamy eggs complement the tasty fried rice quite nicely. That fried rice would have actually been perfectly fine on its own, with the mushroom/chicken combo being thoroughly delicious, nice pops of freshness from the edamame, the occasional bite of crispy rice, and some nice smokiness from the wok.

But once you add the perfectly cooked omelette, things really take off. The omelette is silky and creamy, with its richness only amped up by the gravy that comes on the side. Add a few spoonfuls of the zippy habanero sauce they have on the table, and you’re really in business.

Delicious Nigerian Food at Afrobeat Kitchen

Published on January 6, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1510 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/afrobeatkitchen/

Sometimes you hear so many good things about a restaurant, you think, is it actually that good, though? Afrobeat Kitchen, a Nigerian place on Queen, is one of those restaurants, and spoiler alert: it is that good.

I tried a couple of things: the party jollof (“A West African celebration staple! Rice cooked in a fiery bell pepper, onion & tomato reduction — comes with peppered chicken”) and the buka beef stew (“luscious beef shank braised in tomato & palm butter sauce with coco rice & fried plantains”). They have three levels of spice, from medium hot to Naija hot — I went with Naija hot for both.

Both were very, very good, though the jollof rice was probably the better of the two. The rice is zippy and spicy (the level of heat on both was a bit more restrained than I was expecting, but this was the spicier of the two), and the chicken is perfectly grilled and topped with a flavour-packed sauce.

Still, the stew was no slouch in the flavour department, with a beefy, slightly sweet sauce and perfectly tender chunks of shank. It also comes with a nicely gooey egg along with lightly crispy slices of tender fried plantain, whose sweetness complements the beef quite well.

Tasty Hand Rolls at Hello Nori

Published on December 29, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 648 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.hellonori.com/

Hello Nori specializes in hand rolls — basically loosely constructed , uncut maki rolls –that they make in front of you and serve immediately. You wouldn’t think that would make that much of a difference, but the fact that the nori is still crispy when they give it to you is actually quite delightful.

It kind of reminds me of the onigiri they serve at variety stores in Japan, where the nori is wrapped on both sides to prevent contact with the rice until you eat it. Crispy nori and fluffy sushi rice turns out to be a great combo.

You can either order the rolls on their own (most of them are between six and nine dollars) or as a combo. I went with the four roll combo, which costs $23 and comes with negitoro (minced tuna and green onion), ora king salmon, snow crab, and spicy shrimp.

The negitoro was a bit oniony for me (raw onions are for jerks), but otherwise these were all thoroughly enjoyable. The rice was underseasoned, but then they do have soy sauce right in front of you at the bar; I think the expectation is that you’ll be dipping the rolls.

The salmon — which features big chunks of tasty fish — was probably my favourite of the bunch, but I liked them all.

I was worried four rolls might not be enough, but it was actually a pretty decent portion, at least for lunch.

Unique Thai Brunch at Kiin

Published on November 3, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 326 Adelaide Street West, Toronto
Website: http://www.kiintoronto.com/

I initially tried Kiin in 2018 and I found it tasty, but a bit overpriced. Since then, they’ve been featured in the Michelin Guide, and they’ve started serving brunch. I figured another visit was probably in order.

After visit two, I’m still more on the “like” than the “love” side of the fence, but it was a tasty meal and a pretty solid value.

I ordered the jhok: “Thai rice porridge, housemade chicken meatballs, sous vide egg, crispy vermicelli noodles, ginger, green onion, coriander, Thai cruller.”

This was a hearty bowl, with a generous amount of tender meatballs and tasty sausage (which wasn’t mentioned on the menu), a nice textural counterpoint from the crispy noodles, and pops of freshness and heat from the coriander and the sliced peppers.

And the porridge itself was creamy and comforting, with a satisfying savoury flavour. The silky sous vide egg complements the porridge quite well, adding extra richness and oomph.

It might have been too rich, however; it was crying out for a vinegary hot sauce or something with some brightness to cut the heaviness a bit.

I also tried the bua loy for dessert: “sticky rice flour balls, sweetened coconut milk, pandan, sesame, young coconut.” This was thoroughly tasty, with a bunch of pleasantly springy mochi-esque balls swimming in a sweet, flavourful coconut milk concoction. I was expecting this to be cold and was a bit shocked when my first mouthful was quite hot, but once I got used to the temperature, it was a great dessert.

Bonus: unlike my last visit, the prices seemed quite reasonable. The jhok was $18, and considering how crammed with tasty stuff it was, it’s impossible to argue that it’s overpriced (the dessert was $15, which is a bit less of a steal, but it was delicious enough that I won’t get too worked up about it).