Toronto – Page 121 – Michael Eats

Mediocre Ice Cream at Emmy’s Ice Cream

Published on June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 426 St. Clarens Avenue, Toronto
Website: http://emmys-ice-cream.business.site/

I love ice cream (and I mean, who doesn’t?). I’m always on the lookout for the next great scoop.

I’m not going to bury the lede — Emmy’s does not serve the next great scoop.

It’s fine. There wasn’t anything glaringly wrong with it. But the quality is more in line with something you might get from the supermarket with the words “Nestle” or “President’s Choice” on the label.

It’s in a bit of an odd location; it’s basically part of a coffee shop (they have their own sign and door, but once you’re inside, it’s all one store).

They don’t make their own ice cream. They source it from Dutch Dreams. I have a vague recollection of going to Dutch Dreams well over a decade ago and not being impressed, but I was hoping that they had improved in the interim.

Alas. I had the “Life on St. Clarens,” which is vanilla ice cream with a peanut butter swirl, along with brownie chunks and cookie dough.

Nothing about it particularly stood out. Though the ice cream was somewhat rich, the flavour was just generic sweetness. The same lack of flavour extended to the chunks — the brownie was just chewy and sweet, and the cookie dough was crumbly and sweet. Nothing makes an impact.

Given the fairly unambitious array of flavours they have on offer, I suspect that they’re trying to be more of a stop for local kids than somewhere you might go out of your way for. Which is fine. But… don’t go out of your way for it.

Epic Fried Chicken Sandwiches at Chica’s Chicken

Published on June 5, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2853 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.facebook.com/chicaschicken/

I’ve already talked about the Nashville hot chicken at Chica’s, which is amazing. Well I just went back and tried the sandwich, and yeah, it’s pretty damn good, too.

The first thing that you notice is that it’s monstrously big. The piece of fried chicken in the sandwich is almost comically oversized. It’s not easy to eat.

It looks like it might be one of those fried chicken sandwiches that’s about fifty percent batter and fifty percent chicken, but it’s surprisingly meaty, with a pronounced (but not overbearing) outer layer of crunchy goodness.

I think they might have somehow managed to combine chicken breast and thigh into one enormous mega-patty, because aside from the fact that it was insanely large, some of it tasted like dark meat, and some of it tasted like white. Maybe I’m going crazy and it was all white meat; either way, it was perfectly cooked and not even remotely dry.

I ordered it hot AF, and like on my last visit, it was abundantly spicy — but not overwhelmingly so. It’s an outstanding sandwich.

I got the bean salad on the side, which was corny, beany, garlicky, and delicious. I also tried the waffle fries, which are battered and crispy. Battered fries aren’t my favourite, but these were good.

I’ve pretty much tried the entire menu at this point (the only thing I haven’t had are the wings), and there isn’t a dud in the bunch. If you haven’t tried this place yet, you need to rectify that immediately.

Quality Ice Cream at Ed’s Real Scoop

Published on June 4, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 920 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: https://www.edsrealscoop.com/

I like Ed’s a lot, though it tends to be a bit hit-and-miss. Still, it’s one of the better places for ice cream in the city, and as you can see from the picture above, it’s popular.

And while the quality is a bit inconsistent, their sweet cream is always delicious. It’s about as simple as a flavour can get; as the name implies, it’s basically just sweetened cream. It’s proof that if you’re starting with good quality stuff, you don’t need elaborate flavourings and chunks mixed in.

My second scoop was chocolate, and remember when I said this place is hit-and-miss? Yeah, it was pretty middling.

I also checked out the Roncesvalles location recently; I got one scoop of sweet cream, and one of chocolate peanut butter. Again, the sweet cream was amazing, and the other flavour was just okay.

I should probably just stick with sweet cream.

Tasty Gelato at Soma Chocolatemaker

Published on May 30, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 443 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.somachocolate.com/

I mentioned recently that Hollywood Gelato is a strong contender for my favourite gelato in the city. Also on that list? Soma Chocolatemaker. You wouldn’t think that a place that makes great chocolate would also make great gelato, but hey, why not? They also sell some pretty tasty cookies, so I guess they’re just great at everything.

I got the dark chocolate gelato, and as you’d expect from a place with the word “chocolate” in their name, the flavour was outstanding. It had a deep, rich chocolate flavour with a perfect balance of sweetness. The creamy, almost fudgey texture was deeply satisfying.

I’d be surprised if there were a better scoop of chocolate gelato in the city.

Overpriced Thai Food at Kiin

Published on May 29, 2018May 29, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 326 Adelaide Street West, Toronto
Website: http://www.kiintoronto.com/

Kiin is the latest Thai restaurant in the burgeoning restaurant empire of Jeff and Nuit Regular (they also own Sukhothai, Pai, and Sabai Sabai). It’s one of those places where you order a few things and share, which is nice because you get to try more stuff (though you inevitably end up spending more, which is a bigger issue than usual at Kiin).

The first thing we tried was the pandan chicken, which features tender pieces of chicken that have been wrapped in a pandan leaf (you can eat those leaves, though they recommend that you remove them). It comes with a bowl of sweet chili sauce for dipping. It’s a tasty dish, but definitely not a home run — the chicken, though nice and tender, was quite plain, and the chili sauce was standard-issue and nothing to write home about.

Next up was the pork jowl, which was a definite upgrade over the chicken. It’s crammed with classic Southeast Asian flavours: it’s a little fishy and a little sweet, with a nice punch of sourness to round it out. But it’s too assertive, and the balance of flavours is off. It’s tasty, but the slices of pork (which are slightly tougher than they should be) are completely wiped out.

The final dish was kua hang gai, which was a braised chicken stir fry. No complaints here — the chicken was super tender, and the flavours were well-rounded and satisfying. We got this with one order of jasmine rice and another of roti. The deep-fried roti was crispy and tasty, but it was closer to fry bread than standard roti. I liked it, but a more traditional preparation would have been preferable.

I mentioned that price was an issue. The pandan chicken was $15, the jowl was $17, the stir fry was $26, the rice was $5, and roti was $6. With tax and tip, it was approaching a hundred bucks, which is just way too much money for the calibre of food that we were served. Not that any of the dishes were bad, but those are fine-dining prices, and the food wasn’t at that level.