sandwich – Page 19 – Michael Eats

Delicious, Beefy Sandwiches at Marq’s Chicago Beef

Published on November 6, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 707 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.marqsbeef.ca/

If you’re looking for a tasty, beefy sandwich, look no further: you’ve found it. Go to Marq’s and thank me later.

As the name implies, Marq’s serves Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, which features a whole bunch of roast beef on a French roll, served with a beefy au jus sauce (which, unlike a French dip, is incorporated right into the sandwich).

The sandwich is served as saucy as you like it: either juiced, dipped, or dunked, with dipped being the default level. You can further customize your sandwich with giardiniera (spicy pickled veggies) or sweet peppers, or if you want to really live it up, both.

I got the sandwich dipped with both, and it was extremely tasty. It’s exactly what you want it to be — the beef has a great flavour, it’s super tender, and the sauce-soaked bread is the perfect vehicle. That’s not to mention the zingy giardiniera, which does a great job of adding some brightness to the very heavy sandwich.

There’s not much else to say about it — it’s a great sandwich. There’s a whole lot I liked about it, and nothing that I didn’t.

Quick Bites: Chica’s Chicken, SumiLicious, Honey’s

Published on November 1, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

The O.G. Sandwich from Chica’s Chicken

The Nashville hot chicken sandwich at Chica’s is very different than it used to be. I should note that it’s still juicy, crispy, and abundantly flavourful. It’s easily one of the best fried chicken sandwiches in the city. But it used to be among the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and it’s not quite there at the moment. It’s also noticeably smaller than it used to be — I’m going to guess that it’s about one third of the size? If you look at a photo of what it used to look like, and then compare it to the photo above, the difference is stark. Chica’s used to sell a smaller sandwich called the “Small Fry,” which they clearly got rid of because it is not possible to sell a sandwich smaller than what they’re currently serving. I also ordered it at the max level of heat, “hot AF,” and while it was quite spicy, it’s not at the blow-your-head-off level of heat that it used to be. Still! I need to reiterate that it’s very, very good. A step down from the best fried chicken I’ve ever had is still pretty damn good.

Smoked meat sandwich at SumiLicious

I haven’t been back to SumiLicious since it opened in 2018; it’s since been recognized by no less than the Michelin guide, and I was curious to see how it’s held up. Well, it was glorious then, and it’s just as glorious now. I mean, just look at the photo. Look at it. It’s easily the best smoked meat in the city. I actually had Schwartz’s in Montreal relatively recently, and while I think that place is still the king (the spicing there is a bit more satisfying), SumiLicious is pretty close.

Chocolate matzo toffee crunch ice cream from Honey’s

I’ve written about Honey’s before, and how shocked I was that a place that serves entirely vegan scoops of ice cream could be so thoroughly delicious. Well, it’s still mystifyingly good. Seriously, how can vegan ice cream be this creamy?? I will say that the more you eat it, the more you notice the absence of the expected dairy/creamy flavour, but aside from that, the texture and flavour is dead on. I’m pretty positive that if you went out and did a blind taste test, 99 percent of people would have no idea that what they’re serving here is vegan. As for this particular flavour, it was quite good — the matzo has a mild crunch from the toffee, and a nice restrained sweetness that works very well with the chocolate.

Tasty Buffalo Chicken at Harry’s Charbroiled

Published on April 20, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 293 Palmerson Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.harryscharbroiled.com/

Though Harry’s is mostly known for their cheeseburger (which I didn’t care for when Grant van Gameren first took over, though it has supposedly improved in the interim), they’ve recently added a fried chicken sandwich to the menu (because are you even a restaurant these days if you don’t serve a fried chicken sandwich?).

The sandwich, which consists of fried chicken tenders rather than one piece of chicken, comes topped with pickles and ranch, and can be optionally tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce, which is what I went with.

It’s a tasty sandwich. The fried exterior has a good amount of crispiness, and while the white meat within is a bit dry, it’s so thoroughly doused in sauce that it barely even matters. This might have literally been one of the sauciest sandwiches I’ve ever had. It was constantly dripping the entire time I ate it.

The bun (a potato bun, I think), was nice and fresh, and held up quite well to the sauce-drenched chicken.

I’m a sucker for the Buffalo/ranch combo, so yeah, I quite enjoyed it. I wish it were spicier — they call it “spicy Buffalo,” but the level of heat here is basically a mild tingle. It’s flavourful enough that this isn’t a huge deal, but I wish they’d give you the option to crank up the spice a bit.

I also tried the fries, which are outstanding. They’re thicker than the norm, which could be trouble (there’s nothing worse than a thickly-cut fry that’s chalky on the inside), but these are perfect: they’re crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Chewy, Unique Noodles at Rougamo & Noodles

Published on April 16, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4905A Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://rougamoxianstylenoodles.com/

I actually wasn’t planning on posting this anytime too soon (I’ve got a bit of a backlog), but I’ve just heard that this restaurant is closing in about a week, so I figured I’d post this now while it’s still around. Check it out before it’s gone!

I could tell you about what Rougamo & Noodles is all about, but Karon Liu wrote about it for the Toronto Star in far more depth than I ever would, so… here’s the link.

I tried a couple of things mentioned in that article. First up was the pork rougamo, a simple dish consisting entirely of stewed pork on a chewy flatbread. This was a tasty if unspectacular sandwich that’s much improved by adding a healthy dollop from the jar of smoky chili oil on the table.

And of course, you can’t go to a place with noodles in the name and not try the noodles, so I went with their specialty, the signature biangbiang noodle. This is a really unique dish that features a single hand-pulled noodle that’s thicker, broader, and chewier than the norm. It comes topped with more of that stewed pork, along with a zippy, tomato-y sauce that works really well with the substantial noodles.

Quick Bites: Street vendor hot dog, Bao Bar, Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on March 30, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hot dog from street vendor at King and John

Street vendor hot dogs have mostly disappeared from the city, which is too bad; they’re certainly not gourmet, but when you need a quick bite, they’re pretty tasty. I actually made a short film about street vendor hot dogs back in 2007, so yeah, I like them. This particular one wasn’t the best I’ve had (the secret of a good street vendor dog is to grill it until it’s got a crispy exterior and a smoky, charred flavour, and that didn’t happen here), but for five bucks for a quick meal, it’s hard to complain.

Great Chicken and Crackle Belly baos from Bao Bar

I think part of the reason I don’t want to dwell on negativity on this blog is that it’s very possible to catch an otherwise good restaurant on a bad day. So rather than trash a place that doesn’t deserve it, I feel like it’s a better idea to just focus on the places I like. That being said, I tried a couple of the baos at this place, and nothing about them — not the bread, the meats, or the sauces — was even remotely good (I should note that “great chicken” is the name of the dish, and certainly not my description of it). But then Bao Bar is generally fairly well regarded online, so maybe it was just a bad day.

Pumpkin and sweet cream from Ed’s Real Scoop

I have a love/hate relationship with Ed’s Real Scoop (well, love/hate is a bit strong… love/like I guess?); when it’s good, it’s very good. But I find it to be the most inconsistent of the better ice cream shops in the GTA. But here’s them at their best: on this particular visit I had pumpkin and sweet cream, and both were fantastic. The pumpkin had a really satisfying pumpkin pie flavour, and the sweet cream (which is reliably the best flavour here) was as delicious as usual. Having them together is basically like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. It’s a boffo combination.