Toronto – Michael Eats

Great Cookies at Robinson Bread

Published on December 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6 Brock Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.robinsonbread.com/

The sesame, fig, and white chocolate cookie at Robinson Bread appeared in Toronto Life’s list of the top 10 best new cookies in the city, which is all I needed to know.

As you’d expect from the name, Robinson Bread is mostly known for their sourdough loaves, though they do have a handful of cookies and other pastries on offer.

They’re one of those fancy bakeries that refuses to slice their bread, which infuriates me more than I should probably admit. So I have yet to try the sourdough, but based on the quality of this cookie, I have no doubt that it’s tasty.

It’s a great cookie. It’s got a perfect texture, with a nice light crispiness on its exterior and a great chewiness within. And the sweetness is perfectly tuned, with a nice balance between the white chocolate and the figs. But it’s the pronounced nuttiness from the sesame that really makes the cookie stand out. It definitely deserves its place on a list of the best cookies in the city.

Delicious Soupless Ramen at Kajiken

Published on December 14, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4850 Yonge Street, North York
Website: https://kajiken.ca/

Kajiken is a Japanese ramen chain that opened in Toronto a couple of months ago to quite a bit of fanfare. I drove by a few weeks ago around lunch and there was a line going around the block.

I figured things had probably mostly cooled down by now, but just to be safe, I showed up around 10 minutes before they opened at 11:30. There were maybe a dozen people in line, and by the time I left, the line was smaller, but still there. So yeah, popular place.

Does it justify the crowds? Yes, yes it does.

They specialize in abura soba, AKA soupless ramen. The menu lists their three most recommended dishes, and number one is the homura abura soba: “homura spicy minced pork, spring onion, chives, egg, nori, fish powder, bamboo shoots.” The egg comes either raw, onsen (“lightly poached”) or ajitama (“seasoned boiled egg”). The waiter recommended onsen, so that’s what I went with.

The dish comes with everything on top of the noodles and some sauce at the bottom of the bowl, and the idea is that you mix it all up until it becomes one cohesive whole.

It’s extremely tasty. The flavours here are definitely reminiscent of what you’d find in a standard bowl of ramen, with a really addictive savoury punch and a nice kick of spiciness. And the waiter was definitely right about the onsen egg; its silky texture means that it blends right in with the noodles and the sauce, giving everything an extra richness.

The thick noodles are perfectly chewy, and if you feel like jazzing things up, each table has a variety of condiments like toasted sesame seeds, chili oil, and vinegar.

Yeah, that’s worth waiting in line for.

Tasty Brunch at Gateau Ghost

Published on December 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 974 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://gateaughost.com/

Gateau Ghost is a charming brunch spot and bakery with a Korean twist (the menu features a variety of brunch standbys that are tweaked with stuff like bulgogi, kimchi, and Korean fried chicken).

I went with Owen’s Sando: “focaccia, caramelized onions, cabbage, jalapeño & cilantro, teriyaki pork shoulder OR teriyaki tofu.” (I went with pork shoulder, of course.)

It’s a solid sandwich with a great balance of flavours and textures: it’s sweet, savoury, crunchy, creamy, and chewy. In particular, the sandwich does a really great job of balancing out its sweet and savoury flavours, and it’s quite satisfying.

That’s not to mention the focaccia, which is clearly fresh and suits the sandwich perfectly. It’s a sloppy, overstuffed sandwich, but the bread holds up to it nicely without overwhelming.

The sliced pork shoulder is a bit on the dry side, which holds the sandwich back from greatness, but otherwise I liked this a lot.

You can also get a salad or fries for a four dollar upcharge; I went with the salad, which looks like the typical vinaigrette-dressed mixed greens you’ll find a place like this, but is actually a big upgrade from the norm, with a punchy zestiness that really works.

As for the bakery side of the equation, they mostly specialize in madeleines that come in various flavours. I tried the opera madeleine, which takes the coffee-and-chocolate infused flavours of an opera cake and crams it into a madeleine. It was really good.

A Satisfying Meal at Hancook Cheese Dakgalbi

Published on November 30, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 605 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.hancookcanada.com/

It’s always nice when you go to restaurant and know exactly what to order. In the case of Hancook Cheese Dakgalbi, that’s an extremely easy decision: it’s gotta be the Hancook cheese dakgalbi.

Dakgalbi is a Korean dish that consists of stir-fried chicken, rice cakes, and veggies in a sweet, gochujang-infused sauce. You can get it without cheese, but why would you? The richness of the cheese actually complements the zingy dish quite well.

It’s seriously tasty. It’s kind of like an amped-up version of tteokbokki, with the tender chicken being a great addition to the sweet/spicy sauce and the chewy rice cakes.

You can order it at a spice level from one to four; I went with three, and it was pleasantly spicy but not overwhelmingly so. I’d probably get four next time, but it certainly wasn’t lacking in spice.

I also got an order of the fried vegetable dumplings. Nothing about these particularly blew me away, but they’re nicely crispy on the outside and come with a creamy dipping sauce that’s thoroughly delicious and surprisingly fiery.

Hearty Kothu Roti at Saffron Spice Kitchen

Published on November 29, 2025 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 459 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.saffronspicekitchen.com/

Saffron Spice Kitchen is a delightful little restaurant on Queen Street specializing in Sri Lankan eats. And when I say little, I mean little. They’ve got a couple of counter seats, but mostly, this is a take-out place.

They have a variety of wraps and curries on the menu, but their specialty seems to be the kothu roti (basically a Sri Lankan hash, with chopped up roti, eggs, and meat), with the butter chicken version being the one they’re best known for.

It’s quite tasty and seriously hearty, with a richness from the eggs and a satisfying chewiness from the roti. It’s also delightfully flavourful, and is absolutely crammed with Sri Lankan spices.

The butter chicken on top isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, it’s a solid version of the dish and works well with the kothu roti.

You can choose from three levels levels of heat; I went with the hottest version, and while it could have been hotter, it was studded with sliced peppers that gave it some nice pops of heat. It’s a tasty dish.

But the portion, good lord. It costs fifteen bucks, which seems like it might be on the pricey side until they hand it to you and you realize that it must weigh like three or four pounds. It’s a good thing this is mostly a take-out joint, because this is a dish that either needs to be shared or split up into like two or three meals. I barely made a dent in it.