Toronto – Page 102 – Michael Eats

Mediocre Tacos at Wilbur Mexicana

Published on August 28, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 552 King Street West, Toronto
Website: http://wilburmexicana.com/

Wilbur is one of those places with a perpetual line out the door, and having just tried it for the first time, I’m not sure why.

That’s not to say it was bad. I just had two tacos, and they were both fine. But in a city as suffused with taco joints as Toronto, “fine” isn’t much.

I will say that their hot sauce selection is impressive. They have a few dozen bottles to choose from, not to mention a bunch of homemade sauces as well. If you want to add some spice to your taco, I can guarantee you’ll find something that strikes your fancy.

I tried a couple of tacos: al pastor (“pork, grilled pineapple, onion, cilantro”) and bulgogi (“Korean beef, cabbage, pear, sriracha, sesame seeds”).

I was most excited to try the al pastor, which is essentially Mexico’s take on the shawarma. But there were none of the crispy bits you associate with shawarma; it was just dry, personality-free lean pork brought to dessert levels of sweetness thanks to whatever they marinated it in and the pineapple.

It came on a corn tortilla that was dry, crumbly, and stale. A note to all restaurants serving corn tortillas: cook them fresh or GTFO.

The bulgogi, surprisingly enough, was way better. It was also quite sweet, but it had some savoury complexity to round things out. The beef was a little bit dry, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the pork.

The tacos came with a handful of tortilla chips on the side. They were a huge upgrade over store-bought; they were way better than the tacos.

Delicious Asian-Style Ice Cream at Koishi

Published on August 27, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 160 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: http://little-pebbles.com/koishi-ice-cream

Koishi is a collaboration between Little Pebbles (which is great) and Arthur Pezzelli, the co-founder of Bang Bang (which is beyond great).

Bang Bang serves, bar none, the best ice cream in Toronto. It’s not even close; they blow everyone else out of the water. This makes Koishi a must-visit. A new place started by one of Bang Bang’s founders? Uh, yeah, I’m all over that.

Asian-style ice cream has very much become a thing in Toronto, and as you might infer from the name, that’s what Koishi is all about. They have a variety of Japanese-influenced flavours that you can get in a cone, a cup, or a sweet bun.

I’m all about the ice cream at places like this (as much as I love Bang Bang, the cookies are a complete waste of time), so I just went with a plain scoop in a cup.

I tried the honey soba: “toasted buckwheat & caramelized honey.”

It was pretty great — the crunchy bits of soba gave it a nice toasty flavour, and the honey was pleasantly floral, with a subtle sweetness that was just right.

The quality of the ice cream itself wasn’t as perfect as Bang Bang’s — it didn’t quite have the same level of rich creaminess, and it was very subtly icy — but it’s still top-shelf stuff.

Fluffernutter Goodness at Lola’s Gelato

Published on August 23, 2018August 23, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 16 Brookers Lane, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.lolasgelato.com/

Fluffernutters are delicious. That’s a fact.

In case you’ve been living an empty sham of a life and are unaware of the magic of the fluffernutter, it’s basically like a PB and J, but with gooey marshmallow sauce subbed in for the jam. It’s the best.

They have a fluffernutter-inspired flavour of gelato at Lola’s. Obviously I had to try it.

This was my first time having the gelato Lola’s. The quality is quite good — it’s not the richest or the creamiest gelato I’ve ever had, but it’s solid. It’s above average.

The flavour (called WTF – What the Fluffernutter) consists of peanut butter gelato swirled with marshmallow sauce, with Oreo bits interspersed throughout. It was really tasty. I wish the peanut butter flavour were a bit more pronounced — it doesn’t quite recapture the gooey, peanut-buttery joys of a fluffernutter sandwich — but it’s quite good regardless.

Mediocre Barbecue at the Beach Hill Smokehouse

Published on August 22, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 172 Main Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.beachhillsmokehouse.com/

I mentioned, in my post about Hanabusa Cafe, that Toronto churns through food trends with an almost alarming fervor. If anyone is keeping track of such things, Texas-style barbecue needs to be added to the list; something like a dozen restaurants have opened up in the last few years serving that very specific style of American barbecue cookery.

And yet no one seems to be able to consistently get it right. Even the much-lauded Adamson falls short. It’s tasty enough, but it lacks the deep smoky flavour that you’ll find in real-deal southern ‘cue.

I had heard good things about the Beach Hill Smokehouse, but alas: the search continues. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

I got the Austin sandwich, which is a no-frills brisket sandwich with barbecue sauce, served on a bun. It comes with one pork rib as a bonus.

I probably should have ordered the brisket on its own. The pictures I’ve seen of the Beach Hill’s brisket have featured big, impressively picturesque slices of glistening, fatty beef.

The sandwich on the hand… I have a strong suspicion that the sandwich is how they get rid of all of the little dried up bits that aren’t good enough to be served on their own. The brisket scraps in my sandwich were vaguely smokey, but incredibly dry. Zero fat, zero moisture — just chewy and tough. Even the generous amount of sauce (which was sweet, spicy, and tasty) couldn’t quite overcome the extreme dryness.

The bun was fine, but it was big and bready, and only served to further compound the dryness problem.

The rib was a bit better than the brisket. It was peppery and intensely sweet, with an almost ham-like cured flavour that reminded me of jerky. The texture was nice, however — tender but not mushy, with a little bit of a meaty bite. The flavour was a bit unusual, but it wasn’t altogether unappealing.

I got the loaded baked beans on the side, which was the clear highlight. They had a really great flavour, with a pleasant kick and a generous amount of pork and sausage chunks. They were some of the best baked beans I’ve had in a long time; they’re outstanding.

Unique Scoops at Wong’s Ice Cream

Published on August 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 617 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
Website: http://www.wongsicecream.com/

Ice cream is the best (obviously), but if you ever find yourself getting bored with the same old flavours, there’s an easy solution: head to Wong’s, an Asian-inspired ice cream shop with some seriously interesting scoops.

I don’t think you’re going to find taste combinations like pineapple cilantro, wasabi honey, or toasted ramen miso anywhere else in the city (though Wong’s is far from the only Asian ice cream joint in town; Kekou Gelato is another stand-out).

I got the rosewater white chocolate jasmine, and it was seriously delicious. The texture was ever-so-slightly grainy (from the white chocolate, perhaps?), but it was otherwise excellent, with a very rich, creamy consistency.

White chocolate tends to be intensely sweet, so I was worried this would be a bit much, but the sweetness was admirably restrained. Rosewater has a very distinct, very strong flavour (it’s a bit of an acquired taste), but again, the flavours here are really subtle and well-balanced. There’s a mild floral sweetness, but it isn’t in-your-face. If you’re on the fence about rosewater, this might just be the dessert to get you on board.