seafood – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Tasty Japanese Sandwiches at Imanishi Sando Bar

Published on November 9, 2023November 9, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 179 Brock Avenue (inside McCormick Park)
Website: https://imanishisandobar.square.site/

Imanishi Sando Bar is a bit of an odd one — located in an unlabeled shipping container next to a community centre, in an area where you’d absolutely never be able to see it if you were driving by, it’s pretty much the dictionary definition of a hidden gem.

They mostly serve a variety of Japanese sandwiches (or “sandos”), though they do have a few other things on the menu.

I tried the pork tenderloin sando, the aji (mackerel) sando, and the fries; everything was quite good.

Both the pork and the fish are freshly fried, with a delightfully crispy exterior and a perfectly cooked interior. They’re served on sweet, fluffy Japanese milk bread, which complements them both perfectly.

The aji, with its tartar sauce and slice of cheese, is basically like an upscale Filet-O-Fish. Both sandwiches are saucy as hell (the pork has what tastes like the same tartar sauce, along with tangy tonkatsu sauce); they’re a bit of a mess to eat, but they’re extremely tasty.

The fries are quite good too — particularly once you dip them in the sweet honey mustard sauce on the side — though they are fairly standard battered fries.

Delicious Thai Food at Thammada Thai Cuisine

Published on October 25, 2023October 31, 2023 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 2888 Lake Shore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://thammada.meemup.com/

I visited Thammada Thai Cuisine on a recent Sunday for lunch; the place was completely deserted for the entire time I was there, which is a damn shame because all of the food was very, very good.

I had read about this place in the Toronto Star, so of course I had to try the main dish they recommended, which is a whole fried fish that you can either order with fried garlic or nam chim sauce. I went with the latter, which is a delightfully zesty, zippy sauce that complements the crispy fried fish perfectly.

The fish looks like it’s going to be one of those dishes you have to eat very carefully, with a minefield of tiny little bones, but it’s actually completely deboned aside from the tail and the head. It’s all edible and it’s all delicious, with a perfectly crisp exterior and flaky meat within.

I also sampled the tried-and-true pad thai, which was just as good as the fish. I sometimes find this dish to be a bit cloying, but the version here had a really great balance of flavours, perfectly chewy noodles, and a mild smokiness from the blazing hot wok. It was probably one of the better versions of pad thai that I’ve ever had.

Enjoyable Health Food at iQ

Published on December 29, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3401 Dufferin Street, North York (inside Yorkdale Mall)
Website: https://www.iqfoodco.com/

Though I hadn’t heard of iQ until very recently, they actually have nine locations as I write this, mostly downtown. The whole place kind of comes off as a parody of a trendy health food joint, with various bowls and avocado toasts on the menu, but based on the bowl I tried, it’s actually pretty tasty.

I got the Steelhead + Veg bowl: “roasted steelhead trout, avocado, roasted sweet potato, steamed broccoli, cucumber, pickled onion, jalapeno, brown rice, chopped romaine, lime wedge, carrot ginger dressing.”

It’s not bad at all. It’s got a good variety of tastes and textures, the dressing was nice and zippy, and the quality of the fish (which is served cold, like the rest of the ingredients here) is quite good. I don’t think it’s going to blow anyone’s mind, but for something that’s so blatantly healthy, it’s pretty satisfying.

A Decadent Meal at Joe Beef

Published on October 30, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2491 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal, Quebec
Website: https://joebeef.com/

Joe Beef is frequently called one of the best restaurants in Canada, so if you find yourself in Montreal and you don’t mind splurging a bit (okay, a lot — it’s pricey), it’s a must.

I tried a few things. The first was… some kind of tart? This wasn’t on the regular menu and I forgot to take a picture of the blackboard where they wrote down the specials (I also forgot to take a picture of the inside of the restaurant — I’m really good at blogging, as you can tell).

I’m not even sure how to describe this thing. It was somewhat souffle-esque, and it was absolutely drenched in an ultra-rich, buttery sauce. It was outstanding. It’s exactly the type of dish you’re hoping to eat at a really nice restaurant; it’s a delightful alchemy of luxe ingredients and high-end techniques that you could never possibly replicate at home, or even in a normal restaurant kitchen. Every bite was pure magic.

Next up was the “côte de veau sauce ‘vieux téléviseur'”, which was a veal chop covered in an ultra-rich, buttery sauce (ultra-rich and buttery is definitely a theme at Joe Beef). This was just as good as the tart, with the tender beef being absolutely jammed with flavour, and with the rich sauce complimenting it perfectly. It seems relatively simple, but holy moly, the extent to which this was better than pretty much any other steak I’ve ever had was insane.

The side was some kind of braised greens (this also wasn’t on the menu, so I’m not sure exactly what it was). This was a pretty standard version of this dish — tasty, but not mind-blowing. My photo of this turned out pretty blurry, so you’ll have to use your imagination. It was just a pile of greens on an oblong plate, so not much imagination is required.

The only big let-down of the night was, oddly, one of Joe Beef’s signature dishes, the lobster spaghetti. This was perfectly delicious, but the heavy cream sauce was one-note rich, and the chunks of lobster were overcooked. It certainly wasn’t unpleasant to eat, but coming from a restaurant of this caliber, it’s a disappointment.

Top-Notch Sandwiches at Vilda’s

Published on October 23, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 209 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://www.vildastoronto.com/

Sandwiches! I think I’ve mentioned in the past that there are a few dishes that I think are the perfect food. A margherita pizza, for one. A great bowl of ramen. And of course, you’d have to add sandwiches to that list — but is that cheating? A margherita pizza is a pretty specific thing, but with all the different combos of bread and fillings, a sandwich can be about a billion different things.

Still, who doesn’t love a sandwich, particularly when they’re as great as they are at Vilda’s?

(That’s mostly a rhetorical question, but if you’ve legitimately never had a sandwich that you loved, then there might be something medically wrong with you. Go see a doctor.)

I tried a couple at Vilda’s: the Duca di Zucchine, and the Tuna à la Mediterranean. Both were very good, but the Duca di Zucchine (which the menu describes as “Hard-roasted, lemon-marinated zucchini ribbons. A vibrant spread of garlic scapes and tahini. Parmesan cheese! Bacon AND mint?! Together? Yes.”) was the highlight. The combo of the tender zucchini, the crispy/meaty bacon and the zingy vibrancy of the various sauces was extremely delicious.

The Tuna à la Mediterranean (“Cut up artichokes, whipped tuna, melted cheddar, olive-dressed butter lettuce and mayo”) was a bit less impressive, but still quite tasty. This one tasted more like something I might be able to make at home (or more accurately, something I think I could make at home, but could never actually make at this level of deliciousness). It was also a bit odd in that it was ostensibly a tuna melt, but featured cheese that was completely unmelted. You’d think that this would be an issue, but it was delicious regardless. It’s hard to go wrong with the combo of the creamy tuna spread and the crispy freshness of the veggies, not to mention the great bread.