shrimp – Michael Eats

Tasty Noodle Soup at Wonton Hut Noodle Bar

Published on January 26, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 671 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://wontonhut.ca/

There are a bunch of great wonton noodle soup restaurants in the GTA — at least in places like Markham and Mississauga. In Toronto itself, it’s a bit harder to find. Enter: Wonton Hut Noodle Bar, which is on Queen Street and serves a very tasty bowl of the stuff.

They actually have a decent variety on the menu (including a handful of Vietnamese dishes, oddly enough) but of course, the place has “wonton” and “noodle” in its name, so you’ve gotta get the wonton noodle soup.

It’s good. The wontons themselves are seriously tasty, with big chunks of perfectly cooked shrimp and a very satisfying flavour. And the noodles are satisfyingly springy.

The flavour of the soup itself is a bit on the subtle side, but is nicely amped up by a couple of spoonfuls of the legitimately fiery chili oil they have on the table.

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.

Tasty Buns at Bao Mama

Published on April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga
Website: https://baomama.ca/

Bao Mama currently has a temporary pop-up in the Food District at Square One (until April 16th), but if you miss them there, you can check out their permanent location in Scarborough. And you might want to do that, because their Filipino-inspired buns are thoroughly tasty.

The first one I tried was the hip hipon crispy shrimp bao, which features crispy fried shrimp topped with a zingy sauce and “Asian house slaw.” The shrimp was a bit overcooked, but this was otherwise quite satisfying, with a nice contrast between the fluffy bao and the crispy fried shrimp, not to mention the tasty slaw and the slightly sweet sauce.

I also tried the triple B braised beef asado bao, which is stuffed with a generous amount of tender braised beef, and topped with the house slaw and crispy onions. This was easily my favourite of the two; that ultra-tender, very flavourful beef is something special.

They have a tangy, sweet chili sauce you can get on the side, and this stuff is a must — it complements both baos perfectly, and does a great job of amping up the flavours and adding a mild kick.

Quick Bites: Amanecer Salvadoreño Restaurant, Frenchie’s Doughnuts, 3 Mariachis Mexican Restaurant

Published on August 17, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Papusas and a combination plate at Amanecer Salvadoreño Restaurant

This is a fantastic hidden gem in north Etobicoke. I heard that the papusas are the thing to order here, and yeah, they’re top-notch. But the rest of the menu is no slouch; I also tried the combination plate that came with steak, shrimp, and plantain, and everything was very, very good.

Blueberry cheesecake doughnut at Frenchie’s Doughnuts

Frenchie’s has a fun gimmick that makes them feel delightfully distinct from a run-of-the-mill doughnut shop: they fry their doughnuts fresh and then top them to order (you can either pick from one of their pre-topped selections, or customize your own toppings). I went with the blueberry cheesecake, and the highlight was the doughnut itself; it’s cakey and still warm when you get it, like a full-sized version of Tiny Tom’s.

The Mariachi Platter at 3 Mariachis Mexican Restaurant

That beast of a plate is the Mariachi Platter, which comes with a chicken enchilada, two chorizo tacos, a shredded beef burrito, Mexican rice, guacamole, beans, pico de gallo, and a zippy green sauce. As the menu says, “why have one when you can have it all?” Why indeed. I shared this, obviously — I’m not Andre the Giant — and pretty much everything was quite tasty, particularly the burrito, which was crammed with tender, tasty beef. The taco was a bit dry, but aside from that it was a delicious (and huge) plate of food.

Fancy Dim Sum at Yu Seafood

Published on December 30, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 270 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill
Website: http://www.yuseafood.com/

If you have anyone you’re looking to impress with a fancier dim sum joint, you could do worse than Yu Seafood. The restaurant itself is quite a bit more sleek than your average dim sum place, and the presentation of the dishes is a bit snazzier.

And of course, it also has the prices to match — it’s not outrageous, but it’s noticeably more expensive than the norm.

The food is all solid, though nothing quite blew me away. I think pretty much everything was slightly (or more than slightly) underseasoned.

One of their specialties is the visually striking Bamboo Charcoal & Egg Yolk Bun. It looks impressive and tastes pretty good, but the molten custard filling was broken; it was lumpy and oily.

Everything I tried was quite tasty — but given the hefty pricing, it’s not quite as amazing as you’d hope.