rice – Page 4 – Michael Eats

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).

Delicious Jamaican Food at Potluck Caribbean Cuisine

Published on October 23, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1707 Britannia Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://potluckrestaurant.ca/

I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from Potluck Caribbean Cuisine — I mostly checked it out because it’s close to my work, and it kinda blew me away.

It’s popular, that’s for sure. I showed up at around 4:15pm on a weekday and the place was shockingly busy for such a random time. It seemed odd, but then I ate the food and oh, okay, I get it.

I was hoping to order the jerk chicken, but they were out of dark meat, so I went with the BBQ chicken instead. You have your choice of sides; I got rice and peas (which they top with oxtail gravy), and coleslaw.

The chicken comes doused in a ketchupy BBQ sauce, and at first I thought it was too sweet (it’s a bit intense), but it grew on me. It’s especially good when you combine it with the rice and peas, which are nicely seasoned and feature perfectly creamy beans; it’s one of the best versions of the dish that I’ve ever had. The combo of the sweet sauce and the savoury rice is thoroughly delightful.

I got the “small” size, which is a comical designation considering that the overstuffed container is crammed with what has to be a couple of pounds of food. At 13 bucks, it’s a fantastic deal.

Quick Bites: Tarboosh Restaurant, Maji Curry, The Night Baker

Published on September 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Shawarma and falafel plate at Tarboosh Restaurant

I ordered the Tarboosh combination plate here (because you should always order a dish with the name of the restaurant in it), which comes with chicken shawarma (beef is also an option), falafel, and two sides (I went with hummus and tabouleh). It didn’t rock my world, but it was all tasty enough. The chicken tasted more like baked chicken breast than like shawarma; it was nicely seasoned, but I wish it had been a bit juicier. The falafel was actually quite unique — it was easily the lightest, fluffiest falafel I’ve ever had, and the flavour reminded me more of a hush puppy than typical falafel. And the two sides were pretty solid, particularly the hummus, which was a bit heavier on the tahini than I generally prefer, but super creamy and luxurious.

Pork Cutlet Curry with Cheese from Maji Curry

Maji Curry is a Japanese curry chain that recently opened in Toronto. I’m a big fan of Japanese curry (what’s not to love?), so yeah, I checked it out. I ordered the pork cutlet curry with cheese, which is one of their signature dishes. It’s odd; I figured the pork cutlet would be panko-breaded tonkatsu, but it looked and tasted more battered than breaded (and the pork itself was a bit on the dry side). The “cheese” seemed to be more decorative than anything else, as it had a milky texture and not much flavour. As for the star of the show — the curry — it was perfectly tasty (I certainly didn’t dislike eating it), but it wasn’t substantially better than the Japanese curry bricks you can get at Asian supermarkets.

Classic chocolate chunk cookie from The Night Baker

I actually assumed I had already blogged about this place, which is why I only took one quick photo and then scarfed the cookie down. Apparently I haven’t! Oh well, next time I guess. And there will definitely be a next time: the classic chocolate chunk cookie here (which also has walnuts and sea salt) is top notch. It’s nicely chewy with a crisp exterior, the flavours are all where they should be, and the walnuts do a great job of adding a mild crunch and tempering the sweetness of the cookie a bit.