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A Decent Breakfast Sandwich at Eggslut

Published on June 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 545 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://eggslut.ca/

Hot take alert: whenever I eat a trendy breakfast sandwich in the GTA, I always ask myself the same question — is this better than a McMuffin? An alarming number of times, the answer is no. No, this fancy breakfast sandwich that costs several times as much as a McMuffin… does not actually taste better than a McMuffin.

Eggslut opened in Toronto recently to a whole bunch of hype. The most popular sandwich on the menu seems to be the Fairfax, so that’s what I went with: “cage-free soft scrambled eggs and chives, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and sriracha mayo in a warm brioche bun.”

It’s fine. The soft scrambled eggs are perfectly cooked, with a luxuriously rich, creamy texture. The sweetness from the caramelized onions and pillowy brioche bun helps to balance out the saltiness of the eggs. It’s tasty.

But the bun is so, so soft, and in the absence of anything that isn’t squishy in the sandwich, the texture is one-note mush.

Contrast this with a Sausage ‘N Egg McMuffin, where you get a nice balance of textures — light crunch and chewiness from the toasted muffin, softness from the egg and cheese, and meatiness from the sausage. The Fairfax is clearly using better quality ingredients and cheffy technique, but the McMuffin is more satisfying.

(Not to mention that the McMuffin costs about five bucks, whereas this costs fifteen and absolutely does not feel worth the splurge.)

I should mention that I also tried the French Toast Sticks (“house-made brioche French toast dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with maple custard”), and they were actually pretty amazing. The French toast is pleasantly custardy, with a perfectly crispy exterior and a nice punch of flavour from the cinnamon and sugar. The creamy custard on the side complements it perfectly.

It’s kinda hilarious that the menu calls this a side (it’s straight-up dessert), but whatever you call it, it’s delicious.

Tasty Gelato at Aura Gelato Artigianale

Published on June 6, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1070 Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://auragelato.com/

Aura Gelato Artigianale is a bit confusing — the sign on the outside says Gemma Gelato, but everything on the inside of the shop (including the cups) calls it Aura Gelato Artigianale. Online, it’s occasionally referred to as “Aura Gelato Artigianale at Gemma Gelateria.” So… it’s a collaboration between the two shops, I guess?

Whatever it is, it’s good.

I always like to go basic when I try a gelato or ice cream joint for the first time; it’s the best way to suss out the quality. With no big chunks or funky flavours to hide behind, it’s all about the gelato itself.

I got the dark chocolate, and yeah, that’s good stuff. It’s super rich and creamy, the sweetness is very well tuned, and the chocolate flavour is nicely robust. It’s really tasty.

A Delicious Brunch at Emma’s Country Kitchen

Published on May 23, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 810 Saint Clair Avenue West, Toronto
Website: https://www.emmascountrykitchen.com/

Emma’s Country Kitchen has been serving up brunch for a while. I’ve been wanting to check the place out since seeing it on a 2015 episode of You Gotta Eat Here, and yeah, they’re still around and kicking. Even more surprising: the place is still hopping. I showed up at about 10:00am on a Saturday, and it was a half hour wait to get in.

I tend not to go to brunch places all that often, because it’s all a bit boring, and it’s generally all stuff you can make at home relatively easily. But when it’s as good as it is here? Yeah, I can’t do that at home, and I doubt you can, either.

It’s worth braving the crowds. Everything here was stellar.

In particular, the cinnamon bun pancakes (“Stack of light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes swirled with caramelized brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Served with whipped brown butter and real maple syrup”) might be their most well known dish (it was featured on that episode of You Gotta Eat here all those years ago), and for good reason.

Seriously, I think these might be the best pancakes I’ve ever had? They were nice and fluffy with just the right amount of density, they’ve got a nice tang from the buttermilk, and the caramelized brown sugar gives the pancakes a nice crispiness in spots and a delightful amount of sweetness. I didn’t even use the syrup on the side — the level of sweetness here was restrained, but perfect.

The brown butter on top gives it a nice creaminess and a mild salty pop that offsets the sweetness of the brown sugar. Good lord these were good. I could eat about a million of them.

I also tried the Breakwich (“Freshly baked buttermilk biscuit topped with over easy egg, melted cheese and choice of sage and onion sausage, house cured bacon or griddled tomato”) and yeah, that was stellar, too. You can choose your egg, cheese, and meat: I went with scrambled, spicy pimento cheese, and sausage.

The perfect biscuit was the highlight, but everything here was very, very good. In particular, that pimento cheese has a nice kick and a satisfying zippy flavour. I want this stuff on all my breakfast sandwiches from now on.

Finally, I tried the Emma’s BLT (“Freshly baked buttermilk biscuit, 2 pieces house cured bacon, fresh tomato, baby arugula and roasted garlic mayo”). You can get this with a biscuit, or a toasted rye bun. I went with the bun since I was already having the biscuit.

This was the least exciting of the dishes I tried, but still quite tasty. I’m pretty sure I’m going to dream about that thickly-cut house-cured bacon. It’s fantastic. But then everything here is fantastic, so why shouldn’t it be?

Quick Bites: Emmer, Dear Grain, Craque de Creme

Published on May 13, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Peanut Butter Miso Cookie from Emmer

Toronto Life recently called the peanut butter miso cookie from Emmer one of the best new cookies in the city, so obviously I needed to try it. And yeah, it’s fantastic, with a really addictive crispy/chewy contrast and a deep savouriness from the miso and the generous amount of salt on top. The level of sweetness here is very, very restrained, which seems like it maybe shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does.

Blueberry Scone from Dear Grain

I feel like I can’t bring up Dear Grain without grumbling about their refusal to slice most of their (very delicious!) bread (unless you buy it frozen), so: what’s the deal with that?? With that out of the way, I’ll say that their blueberry scone is absolutely fantastic. Seriously, seriously good. The exterior is nice and crispy, it’s sweet without being too sweet, it’s got a nice blueberry punch, and the texture of the scone itself is perfect. It also comes with a little cup of tasty lemon curd, and its pleasant tartness really takes things over the top. It’s so good.

Canele from Craque de Creme

Speaking of tasty pastries, the canele from Craque de Creme is thoroughly tasty, with a rich custardy flavour and a restrained sweetness that I found to be quite delightful. The overly crunchy exterior does hold it back from canele perfection, however. I love a nice crisp, caramelized exterior on a canele, but this one takes a step or two (or three, or four) too far. The rock hard exterior here kinda shredded the inside of my mouth.

Delicious Wheel Cakes at Mister Wheel

Published on May 10, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5317 Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://www.instagram.com/misterwheel_toronto/

Mister Wheel is a Taiwanese wheel cake chain that recently opened in Toronto to a decent amount of hype, and having just tried it: yeah, I get it. They serve some top-notch wheel cakes.

The nice thing about this place is that all the cakes are made to order — there’s a note on the counter saying that all cakes are a 15 minute wait — so you know they’re going to be fresh.

I tried two of the classics, red bean and custard, and both were absolutely stellar, with a lightly crispy exterior, and perfectly cooked pancakey pastry within.

As for the fillings, both were above average. The red bean had a pleasantly chunky texture and a restrained level of sweetness that I really enjoyed. And the custard might have been even better — I normally prefer red bean, but the custard here was just so good, with a rich, creamy texture and a thoroughly satisfying flavour.