soup – Michael Eats

Great Noodles at Gun Gun Rice Noodle

Published on September 21, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 565 Yonge Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/gungun.noodle/

Gun Gun Rice Noodle is a seriously delightful restaurant near Yonge and Bloor that specializes in noodle soups made with, of course, rice noodles. I heard the crispy pork spicy pickle rice noodle is the thing to order, so that’s what I did.

The menu doesn’t say what the dish is, though it does mention that all the soups come with “tofu skin, tofu puff, kelp, quail egg, chives, bok choy.”

I really enjoyed this. The broth is vibrant and flavour-packed, with a noticeable spicy kick; it’s actually quite addictive. The noodles were maybe a touch on the soft side, but everything else was so tasty that it really didn’t matter.

In particular, the crispy pork that comes on top of the soup is thoroughly delicious, with a perfectly seasoned crispy exterior and nicely tender pork within. The exterior is crispy enough to hold up to the soup for quite a while, but even once it starts to sog up a bit, it absorbs that delicious broth and becomes tastier.

Pho Ngoc Yen Continues to be Great

Published on August 3, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1596 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://sites.google.com/orderup.ai/ngocyenrestaurant/home

I went to the original location of Pho Ngoc Yen a few years ago and called it a hidden gem. It’s in an industrial area of Mississauga, and you really have to be looking for it to find it. You’re not going to stumble onto it.

Their second location, on a busy stretch of the Queensway in Etobicoke, is very much the opposite. But it’s still a gem.

I ordered the pho last time, which was extremely delicious, so I figured another noodle soup was a safe bet. I went with the bun bo hue: “beef, pork with vermicelli in spicy lemongrass soup.”

It’s a great noodle soup. Though it’s not particularly spicy, the broth is zippy and flavour-packed, with a meaty and slightly seafoody flavour that’s really satisfying.

It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it’s absolutely crammed with meat. There’s a whole bunch of tender sliced beef, a couple of fairly substantial pieces of tasty pork sausage, and some blood cakes.

The dish cost about 20 bucks, which certainly isn’t cheap, but considering the quantity and quality of stuff in this bowl, it’s hard to say it’s not worth it.

Tasty Soup at Tang Home Style Lamb and Beef

Published on May 12, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3380 Midland Avenue, Scarborough
Website: None

Tang Home Style Lamb and Beef is a great under-the-radar Chinese restaurant; they’ve got a whole bunch of tasty looking noodle dishes on the menu (not to mention a lamb bun that it seemed like most of the other tables were ordering — I’ll have to come back to try that one), but their specialty is paomo, a delicious lamb soup.

They serve a regular version and a spicy version; I went with the spicy version.

The thing that makes this dish stand out are the chopped-up pieces of flatbread interspersed throughout. They’re kinda like very thick, chopped up noodles; they have a great amount of chewiness to them (they’re not soggy or mushy at all) and bring the soup a ton of personality.

The bowl is also crammed with a generous amount of sizable pieces of tender lamb. It’s a hearty soup, that’s for sure.

As for the broth, it’s mildly spicy and has a very zesty, slightly sweet flavour. I liked it on its own, but it really comes alive once you add some of the smoky chili oil that’s on the table.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Tokasu Ramen Laksa Bar

Published on April 6, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 755 Queensway East, Mississauga
Website: https://tokasuramen.com/

Tokasu specializes in ramen and laksa, which strikes me as a bit of an odd combo. I mean, I guess they are both noodle soups, but the resemblance kinda ends there. Still, they’re both delightful, so why not?

I ordered the laksa, since it’s quite a bit harder to find in the GTA. They actually have six different varieties of the dish; I went with the chicken white santan laksa, which they describe as their “signature laksa bowl featuring a fragrant coconut chicken broth, shredded chicken, tofu puffs, bean sprouts, and noodles.”

It’s quite good. The broth doesn’t quite have the complexity of the best versions of the dish, but it’s nice and creamy, with a zingy tanginess that helps to cut through its richness.

The noodles were a bit on the soft side, but the chicken (which comes sliced rather than shredded) is nice and tender and the tofu puffs do a great job of soaking up the broth.

It might not be the best I’ve ever had, but it’s a solid bowl of laksa. I’ll definitely have to come back to try the ramen.

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.