Toronto – Michael Eats

Unique Eats at Japan Taco

Published on October 25, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://www.japantaco.ca/

Japan Taco started as one of those booths you see at various street festivals around the city, and eventually they were successful enough to open a couple of permanent locations. They’ve got one on Queen Street, and now, this one in The Well.

So what is a “Japan Taco”? It’s kind of like a cross between a poke bowl, onigiri, and a taco. It’s interesting.

I ordered the Miso Salmon, which features a sizable piece of miso-glazed salmon, mashed avocado, pickled radish (I think?), sushi rice, and a bunch of other stuff (I can’t find a description of this anywhere online, so I’m not 100% sure what was in there — it was a lot).

The nori shell is what makes this really distinctive. I sort of figured this would be similar to the lightly crispy nori in onigiri, but it has a hearty crisp-factor that I found to be surprising and delightful. And the intense crispiness remained right until the last bite, never sogging up. It has what appears to be panko on its exterior, so I guess it’s breaded and fried?

Otherwise, this was pretty satisfying, with a well-prepared piece of salmon and a bunch of other tasty stuff. The flavour could have been amped up a bit (maybe you’re meant to add soy sauce or dip it in something?), but otherwise I quite enjoyed it.

Quick Bites: Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant, Las Muns, Azhar Kitchen and Bar

Published on October 24, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Birria burrito and carnitas quesadilla from Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant

It’s been a few years since birria mania swept through Toronto, and it’s still going strong. Case in point: Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant has a whole birria section on their menu, where basically every Mexican staple you can think of has been birria-ified. I tried the birria burrito, and while there was no broth on the side, the beef was nice and tender. Nothing about it particularly popped, but I certainly didn’t dislike eating it. I also tried the carnitas quesadilla, and aside from the fact that the pork tasted slightly leftovery, it was a solid version of the dish. Both were crying out for some hot sauce, however — if any was available, I didn’t see it.

Spicy beef and poutine empanadas from Las Muns

I was intrigued by Las Muns, a Spanish empanada chain that has a bunch of locations in Europe, and is starting to expand in Canada. They have a variety of flavours — some classic, some quirky (stuff like Cajun shrimp and Thai chicken). I went with the spicy beef and poutine varieties, and they were both… fine, I guess? They taste more like something you might expect to find in the freezer section at Costco rather than a handmade empanada from a restaurant, but they were both inoffensive enough.

Za’atar fries and muhammara from Azhar Kitchen and Bar

Okay, let’s end this with some positivity. I checked out the happy hour menu at Azhar and tried a couple of things, and both were quite tasty. The za’atar fries weren’t the best fries I’ve ever had, but they were quite solid, with the generous amount of za’atar they were tossed in adding a nice zippy, herbal punch. That’s not the mention the lemon aioli that comes on the side, which was satisfyingly rich and creamy, with a nice brightness from the lemon to round things out. It’s a great dip. I also tried the muhammara (“roasted pepper, walnut, sourdough, pomegranate seed; one pita”), which was even better, with a nice chunky texture and a satisfying cumin-tinged flavour. And the freshly-baked pita on the side was a perfect complement.

Tasty Pizza at Raffaella

Published on October 19, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 296 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://raffaellapizza.com/

Raffaella started as a pop-up serving New York-style pizza, and eventually did well enough to graduate to their own spot inside the Annex Hotel.

They’re mostly known for their pizza, but they do have a few other things on the menu. The arancini, in particular, caught my eye: “Cacio E Pepe Risotto, Tomato Sauce, Parmigiano Reggiano.”

This was clearly some of the better arancini I’ve had in a while, with a great contrast between the perfectly crispy exterior and the rich, creamy risotto within. It might have been too rich, but the zippy tomato sauce gives it a nice balance. It’s great.

They let you try a couple of things by splitting a pizza in half, which is nice; I went with the Margherita (“Raff’s Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Grana Padano, Fresh Basil”) and the Annex (“Raff’s Tomato Sauce, Spicy Sausage, Whipped Ricotta, Roasted Red Pepper, Hot Honey”).

It’s a solid pizza. Raffaella describes it as “48 hours sourdough, thin and crispy” — this one wasn’t particularly crispy, with its soft floppiness giving it a bit of a Neapolitan-meets-NYC vibe, but whatever it is, it’s tasty. The crust has a nice chewiness and a decent amount of flavour thanks to the sourdough. It didn’t blow my mind, but it’s really solid.

As for the toppings, I tend to prefer the simplicity of a plain cheese pizza, and that continues to be the case here, with a nice balance between the tasty sauce and gooey cheese. I liked the Annex as well, though the flavour of the roasted red peppers did kind of dominate everything else.

A Delicious Treat at Eight Cookies

Published on October 17, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 983 Dovercourt Road, Toronto
Website: https://eightcookies.ca/

I’ll admit that I didn’t have the highest of hopes for Eight Cookies. They serve big fat chunky boys, like at Crumbl or Andrea’s, which I’m generally not crazy about. I find this type of cookie to be one-note soft, and I’m not a big fan of how underbaked they tend to be.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I found that the cookie here was not underbaked at all, but still managed to be delightfully soft and chewy, with a nice level of crispiness on its exterior.

Like at Crumbl, they have a rotating menu of eight different cookies, with several of them featuring various toppings and icing. I like to go simple when I’m first trying a place, so I went with the milk chocolate and sea salt: “A delightful balance of sweet and savory, these soft cookies feature rich milk chocolate chunks, finished with a sprinkle of sea salt for that perfect touch of flavor.”

It’s a top-notch cookie; it’s buttery and rich without being overly greasy, the chocolate is obviously very good quality, and the cookie itself is quite tasty. It’s a bit sweet for me, however — I think a darker chocolate would be perfect here, but then I tend to like my dessert to lean a bit less sugary.

Still, the salt does a solid job of (mostly) balancing out the cookie’s sweetness, and other than that, I liked this a whole lot.

Windsor-Style Pizza at Ambassador Pizza Co.

Published on October 11, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 946 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ambassadorpizzaco.ca/

Ambassador Pizza serves Windsor-style pizza — yes, Windsor has its own style of pizza (why is there no Toronto-style pizza? Someone get on that).

This style of pizza is known for having a flour and cornmeal crust, and, most famously, for being topped with shredded pepperoni.

If you’re buying a slice, you can get either cheese or pepperoni. Normally I’d go for a plain cheese pizza, but obviously I had to see what was up with the shredded pepperoni.

It’s interesting; you wind up with a much more subtle pepperoni flavour, so if you’re not a big fan of the stuff, this might be the pizza for you. Its distinctive saltiness is dialed down quite a bit, with the flavour spread much more evenly throughout the slice.

As for the pizza itself, it’s solid. The crust a nice exterior crispiness and a pleasant airiness, with just enough heft to hold up to the generous amount of tasty sauce and cheese. It’s not the most flavourful crust ever, but I think it was brushed with some kind of garlic oil that worked pretty well.

It’s about nine bucks for a slice, which is on the higher end — but it’s also comically large, so you could easily share. I don’t it’s anything anyone is going to lose their minds over, but it’s clearly above average.