sandwich – Page 4 – Michael Eats

Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich from KFC

Published on February 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4559 Hurontario Street, Mississauga
Website: https://www.kfc.ca/

I was actually kind of shocked to see that chili crunch is now mainstream enough to pop up at a giant fast food chain like KFC — but then I guess it’s been on its way up for a few years now (here’s an article from 2022 about how chili crisp “took over America”).

KFC’s got several items with the stuff, including a sandwich, Loaded Chili Crunch Tenders, a chili crunch Snacker Wrap, and chili crunch fries.

I went with the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich: “Meet your new spicy obsession – the Chili Crunch Chicken Sandwich. KFC’s juicy, crunchy, signature tripled-breaded chicken fillet is layered with spicy chili crunch oil, creamy chili crunch mayo, crispy onions, and pickles— all sandwiched between a toasted potato bun.”

I’m a fan of chili crunch, so I sort of figured this would be good, and yeah, it is. For one thing, unlike my last experience at KFC, the sandwich was hot, fresh, and made with some level of care. This seems like it should be the bare minimum, but here we are.

But even aside from that, this is a tasty sandwich — the chili crunch they’re using is a bit tangier than the norm, but it works. Combined with the heat and the garlicky punch, it’s a great topping for a fried chicken sandwich. The mayo also has some of that flavour, which is nice.

The level of spice is pretty decent, too — it’s certainly not the spiciest thing you’ll ever eat, but it’s got a nice kick. It’s a level of heat that would have been unheard of from a fast food chain a few years ago, but fast food places have been upping the spice recently.

I’m not sure if the crispy onions add all that much, and the sandwich is maybe a bit too salty, but otherwise I really enjoyed this.

A Tasty Veal Sandwich at Buon Giorno Caffe & Panini

Published on February 17, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1134 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.buongiornocaffe.ca/

The last time I visited Buon Giorno Caffe, I was specifically there to try the veal, but was sidetracked by the cold cut sandwich (which was thoroughly delicious — I regret nothing). I finally came back to try the veal sandwich, and yeah, it was worth the wait.

You can have the sandwich topped with mushrooms, onions, hot peppers, or sweet peppers (cheese is also available for a bit extra). To me, all a good veal sandwich needs is some spice, so I went with the hot peppers and left it at that.

I used to have a pretty hardline opinion that the veal in this type of sandwich needs to be freshly fried and sauced on the spot so that it stays at least a little bit crispy. But I’ve come around to the pleasures of the hot table version of this sandwich, which they serve here, where the sauce has had time to really soak into the nooks and crannies of the veal.

It gives you a soft, silky texture that you couldn’t get from a freshly-fried version. It’s different, but if done right, still very tasty.

Spoiler alert: they did it right here, with a generous amount of tasty veal, a whole bunch of rich and flavourful sauce that really sings, and a nice kick from the hot peppers.

The texture of the veal was great; it wasn’t so tender that it was just mush — it still had some bite to it — but wasn’t tough at all. And the hearty bread is the perfect match for the saucy sandwich, retaining its texture and chew even under the deluge of sauce.

Quick Bites: La Casa Dolce, The Fourth Man in the Fire, Petite Bouchée Patisserie

Published on February 16, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Chocolate chip cookie from La Casa Dolce

I certainly wasn’t in a rush to go back after my last visit to La Casa Dolce, but I was in the area and craving something sweet, so sure, why not? I went with the chocolate chip cookie this time, because it’s basically impossible to mess that up. That’s one of those things where even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. And this one: not bad! Not great, certainly, but it had a good amount of decent quality chocolate chips (bittersweet, I think), a nice chewy texture, and it wasn’t too sweet. It felt like something was missing, however (vanilla, maybe?), which held it back from being much better than pretty good, but I still enjoyed it.

Meatball sandwich from The Fourth Man in the Fire

I’ve written about the pizza from The Fourth Man in the Fire a couple of times on this blog, and in case you don’t feel like clicking on that link: it’s great. I like it a lot. So I decided to try their meatball sandwich this time (“Meatballs (Beef and Pork Mix), Povolone. Served on Fresh Baked to Order Bread”), and yeah, it’s good. In particular, the flavourful, tender meatballs were actually pretty amazing, and the ultra-rich tomato sauce they come with is the stuff dreams are made of. I want to bathe in the stuff. Oddly, I was expecting the bread to be the highlight (I like the crust on their pizza quite a lot) and it wasn’t. It got the job done, but I think it might have been slightly underbaked, with a mildly doughy consistency that I wasn’t crazy about.

Chocolate cake from Petite Bouchée Patisserie

I picked up a chocolate cake from this place after reading several references to it being the best in the city, and hey, wouldn’t you know it — it just might be. The cake itself is delightfully tender and fluffy, and the rich and creamy frosting is crammed with a delicious, chocolately flavour. It’s very sweet, but not in a way that feels overwhelming or cloying. Immediately after eating it, we were all making plans to order another one. So yeah, it’s quite good.

Great Sandwiches at Leslie’s Sandwich Room

Published on February 7, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 969 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.lesliessandwichrooms.com/

Leslie’s Sandwich Room is a great little sandwich shop on the east end. Pretty much every sandwich on their menu is something I want to try immediately, but I did manage to narrow it down to a couple.

Up first: The Cure (“focaccia, salmon, beets, horseradish dill mayo, rye croutons”). This was basically like an upscale tuna salad sandwich, with a really great flavour and texture on the salmon (and zero fishiness), and with some nice pops of flavour from the beets, not to mention the creaminess from the horseradish mayo. And the focaccia its served on works perfectly, with enough substance to hold up to the overstuffed sandwich, but not so much that it overwhelms.

The highlight here might have been the rye croutons, however. It never would have occurred to me to put croutons in a sandwich, but their satisfying crunchiness perfectly balances out the softness of the other components here.

I also tried La Bomba (“focaccia, roasted chicken, white American cheese, sriracha mayo, sweet pickles, spicy garlic bomba”). This was a really satisfying sandwich: meaty, cheesy, spicy, and profoundly rich. I kinda wished there was something here to cut the heaviness a bit (the pickles are presumably supposed to do that job, but they’re more sweet than zippy, and get a bit lost among the other flavours), but it was still a top-notch sandwich.

Frank’s RedHot Original McCrispy at McDonald’s

Published on February 5, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

If you put “Frank’s RedHot” in the name of your sandwich, I’m going to expect a lot of Frank’s RedHot. I don’t think that’s unreasonable?

McDonald’s actually has a few new items in their Frank’s RedHot x McDonald’s menu: you can get the distinctive red hot sauce on a McCrispy, a McVeggie, several different McMuffins, or in a hot honey dipping sauce.

I went with the Frank’s RedHot Original McCrispy: “We cranked up the flavour on the McCrispy with the added kick of Frank’s RedHot®. We took our McCrispy chicken sandwich, made with tender and juicy 100% Canadian-raised seasoned chicken, and topped it with shredded lettuce, mayo-style sauce and Frank’s RedHot® Original Thick Sauce. Served on a potato bun.”

It’s… fine? I guess? As I said, I was kinda (not unreasonably?) expecting this to taste strongly of Frank’s RedHot, and it absolutely did not. If you’re going to name this sandwich after one of the condiments, it should be called the Mayo Original McCrispy, because it was absolutely dripping with the stuff.

The Frank’s Red Hot, on the other hand? I got a couple of bites with a decent amount (you can see it on one side of the sandwich in the photo), which were reasonably satisfying. Otherwise, it may as well have not been there. Which left me with a plain old McCrispy with a vaguely dry piece of chicken. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t particularly like it, either.