Toronto – Page 20 – Michael Eats

Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich at Wendy’s

Published on July 1, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 5250 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.wendys.com/en-ca

The Takis Fuego Chicken Sandwich is the type of fast food novelty item nuttiness that I love, though I’ll admit that it’s probably more fun to look at / think about than to actually eat.

Here’s how Wendy’s describes it: “Our iconic spicy chicken fillet topped with chopped Takis Fuego® Chips, with cheddar cheese sauce, a creamy corn spread, and chili lime sauce. Get fired up because, well, you’re gonna get fired up.”

I certainly did not dislike eating this, but the spicy lime sauce wallops all the other flavours in the sandwich. It’s tasty enough — it certainly captures the zippy/spicy flavour of Takis Fuego, and has a mild kick — but the intense acidity is overwhelming.

There are other flavours here that should theoretically complement and/or tone down that in-your-face flavour, but everything else is thoroughly wiped out by the Takis flavour. What did the cheese sauce or the “creamy corn spread” taste like? Don’t ask me!

Still, the chicken itself was solid, and the additional texture you get from the chips is nice. The sandwich is not unpleasant, but it’s not something I’m going to run out to get again. But if you’re a Takis Fuego superfan? Run, don’t walk to try this sandwich. You’re going to love it.

I also got an order of the Fuego Fries (“Our always hot and crispy fries made even hotter by getting shaken in a chili lime seasoning, inspired by Takis®. The shake will leave you shook”), which was extremely unnecessary — it’s the exact same flavour, just on fries instead of in a sandwich. It’s a lot.

Big Rösti at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Published on June 30, 2025June 30, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2736 Lakeshore Boulevard West, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’ve now tried every item featured in McDonald’s International Menu Heist (aside from the Sweet Tangy Chili Dip), and it looks like I’ve saved the best for last. The Big Rösti from Germany? Quite tasty!

Here’s how McDonald’s describes it: “Picture a beautifully beefy burger, hickory-smoked bacon, melt-in-your-mouth processed cheese, delicious cheese sauce, and the jewel in the bun: our golden ‘Rösti’ hash brown. Served on a fluffy bun topped with rolled oats, it’s time to say ‘Willkommen.'”

The cheese sauce here is interesting; it’s more like cheese-flavoured mayo than the Cheez-Whiz-esque sauce that you might expect, but it works. It’s nice and zippy, with a noticeable cheesy flavour.

The Quarter Pounder patty was quite dry, but there was enough of that tasty sauce to (mostly) cancel this out.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had a burger with a hash brown on it, but it works surprisingly well — it adds some nice crispiness, and helps to round out the saltiness from the cheese sauce and the bacon.

The placement of the cheese slice was odd, however; it’s on top of the bacon and the hash brown rather than the burger, which means that it doesn’t get particularly melty. That’s a shame, but everything else here is tasty enough that this never feels like a huge deal.

Biscoff McFlurry at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Published on June 29, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Montreal
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

The International Menu Heist continues! Seriously: I love this. Can we just make this a permanent thing? One new menu item a month from an international McDonald’s location? Forever? Yeah, let’s go ahead and do that, McDonald’s. Thanks.

I recently tried the McPizza Bites from Italy, which I thought were pretty decent. Up next: the Biscoff McFlurry from Belgium (“Think creamy vanilla soft serve swirled together with Biscoff cookie crumbs. Now you can picture yourself wandering cobbled streets of Bruges while tucking in to this deliciously sweet treat”).

Do I need to describe this? If you’ve had Biscoff cookies and you’ve had vanilla soft serve, then there are no surprises for you here. It’s crushed up Biscoff cookies in soft serve. It tastes exactly what you think that’s going to taste like, which is to say: quite delicious! I’m a big fan of Biscoff’s distinct spiced caramel flavour, so yeah, I enjoyed this.

Also: I had this on a layover in the Montreal airport, and I don’t know if the soft serve at McDonald’s is tastier in Quebec or if it’s just better than I remembered, but it was creamy and satisfying. It was a great McFlurry.

McPizza Bites at McDonald’s (The International Menu Heist)

Published on June 28, 2025November 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Montreal
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

McDonald’s is currently running a promotion called “The International Menu Heist,” and I feel like it was pretty much made for me personally? Aside from the fact that I get oddly excited whenever McDonald’s does stuff like this, I also make it a point to visit a McDonald’s and try at least one or two of the unusual local items when I’m travelling.

(For those who are unaware, McDonald’s always has a few menu items in each country that are supposedly tuned to the local palate.)

Perhaps the oddest item in this particular promo: the McPizza Bites, an import from Italy. Here’s how McDonald’s describes these things: “The taste of Italy is here with McPizza Bites, the antipasto you’ve been waiting for. Made with melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella cheese and rich tomato sauce, all wrapped in a delicious, toasted pizza dough – good enough to make you say bravissimo! It’s time for a pizza party, and you’re all invited.”

I should note that if a pizza exists that’s good enough to make me say “bravissimo!” it certainly isn’t at McDonald’s.

The last time I had a pizza-pocket-esque concoction at McDonald’s, it was the horrifically bad Veg Pizza McPuff in India, so my expectations: not high!

This was totally fine, however. I don’t think it’s particularly different from something you can get at the freezer section of the supermarket, but for what it is, it’s tasty enough. It’s probably like 90 percent sauce and 10 percent cheese, but the sauce is pleasant and the cheese has some nice gooiness.

The crust has some extremely mild crunchiness, but is mostly just there as a vehicle for the sauce and cheese. Like everything else about this, it’s perfectly acceptable.

The menu suggests that this and the Garlic Mayo-Style Sauce from the UK are “great together,” and yeah, the menu is not wrong. It’s a very good dip; it’s creamy, it’s got a nice zestiness, and it’s garlicky without being overwhelming. It completely overpowers the flavour of the McPizza Bites, but it’s tasty enough that I’m not complaining.

Crispy Pork Belly Sandwich from BEAR Steak Sandwiches

Published on June 7, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 550A College Street, Toronto
Website: https://bearsteak.ca/

The Great BEAR sandwich is a collaboration between BEAR Steak Sandwiches and Great Fountain Fast Food, and it’s only being served this weekend (June 7 and 8).

That’s just not enough time for a sandwich this great. I think it’s safe to say that this is the most upsetting thing happening in the world right now. No, I’m not going to look at the news. You look at the news. I want to eat this sandwich for the rest of my life.

The Great BEAR sandwich, as per Instagram: “crispy pork belly, black vinegar sauce, black pepper aioli, pickled onions, scallions, black sesame bun.”

Yes. Yes to all of that. For whatever reason, the notion of putting Chinese roast pork in a sandwich had never even occurred to me, but yeah, of course. Of course that’s good.

The pork is fatty and perfectly cooked, and while my first few bites were a bit lacking in crispy skin, the back half of of the sandwich was loaded with the stuff.

The meat itself is so tender and and flavourful that you could throw it on a bun and call it a day, but the other stuff here really amps up the flavour of the sandwich. And the zippy pickled onions and black vinegar sauce do a great job of cutting through the richness of the unctuous pork; the sandwich is very finely tuned, and never feels too heavy.

The bun looks a bit big in the photos, but it’s pillowy and light, and lets the pork be the star of the show.

So no, sorry BEAR Steak Sandwiches. This can’t just be a limited-time thing. I won’t allow it.