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Thanksgiving Stack from Tim Hortons

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1084 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.timhortons.ca/

I’ll admit that I tend to ignore Tim Hortons. I know they’re beloved (and pretty much always busy), but I’m not a coffee drinker, and I don’t know if I’ve ever had a savoury item from them that I thought was much better than okay.

But a Thanksgiving sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce? Yeah, I’m all over that; I don’t care who’s serving it.

Here’s how Tim Hortons describes it: “The Thanksgiving Stack is prepared to order, served hot out of the oven, and features thick slices of seasoned 100 per cent Canadian carved turkey breast, homestyle stuffing, cranberry sauce made with 100% real cranberries, crispy onions and mayonnaise, and is served on a toasted potato bun.”

I will say that I saw the woman behind the counter prepare this, and yeah — it’s literally hot out of the oven. The whole sandwich goes in the oven for something like 30 seconds, and it is noticeably hot and toasty.

It’s totally fine. It’s kinda one-note salty and nothing really stands out (the turkey is vaguely dry and the stuffing is standard boxed fare), but the bread is soft and fresh and the flavours all work well together (unsurprisingly).

The biggest issue here is that the crispy onions are on the bottom of the sandwich, between the cranberry sauce and the turkey, and by the time it was served to me, they had almost entirely sogged up. They should probably be applied to the sandwich last.

Seriously Good Sandwiches at Alfie’s Sandwiches & Market

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 36 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.alfies.ca/

Alfie’s is part of the recent wave of Italian sandwich shops sweeping the city. And hey, if all the sandwich shops can be this good, sure — open a million of them.

It’s hard to pick here. The menu is split into two halves (“classic” and “signature”) with 10 sandwiches each. And they all sound extremely tasty.

After some deliberation, I went with the Parma Classico: “24 Month Prosciutto Di Parma, Lemon basil Pesto, Artichoke in Oil, Truffle Aioli.”

Wow, it’s good. I mean, if you put a decent amount of high-quality prosciutto in pretty much any sandwich, it’s going to be tasty. And yeah, the prosciutto here is pretty fantastic.

But everything else in the sandwich complements it so well, from the zippy pesto to the generous amount of tender artichoke to the creamy aioli. I’m not really a fan of truffle oil, but it’s used sparingly enough that I didn’t find it particularly objectionable. Everything here just works.

It’s all served on some pretty great quality sourdough flatbread (“Alfie,” in this case, is the name of their sourdough starter). It’s crispy, chewy, and flavourful, and stands up quite well to the generously filled sandwich.

On another visit, I tried the Alfie’s Roast Beef (“House-smoked Roast beef, Sliced tomato, Chilli oil, Roasted Pepper, Baby Arugula, Rosemary and Roasted Aioli”), and it was just as good; the chili oil, in particular, really makes the roast beef sing.

Pho Ngoc Yen Continues to be Great

Published on August 3, 2025 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1596 The Queensway, Etobicoke
Website: https://sites.google.com/orderup.ai/ngocyenrestaurant/home

I went to the original location of Pho Ngoc Yen a few years ago and called it a hidden gem. It’s in an industrial area of Mississauga, and you really have to be looking for it to find it. You’re not going to stumble onto it.

Their second location, on a busy stretch of the Queensway in Etobicoke, is very much the opposite. But it’s still a gem.

I ordered the pho last time, which was extremely delicious, so I figured another noodle soup was a safe bet. I went with the bun bo hue: “beef, pork with vermicelli in spicy lemongrass soup.”

It’s a great noodle soup. Though it’s not particularly spicy, the broth is zippy and flavour-packed, with a meaty and slightly seafoody flavour that’s really satisfying.

It’s hard to tell from the photos, but it’s absolutely crammed with meat. There’s a whole bunch of tender sliced beef, a couple of fairly substantial pieces of tasty pork sausage, and some blood cakes.

The dish cost about 20 bucks, which certainly isn’t cheap, but considering the quantity and quality of stuff in this bowl, it’s hard to say it’s not worth it.

Amazing Breakfast Sandwiches at Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee

Published on August 2, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1473 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/dads.goodmorning

Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches opened pretty recently, and it’s already extremely popular. I tried to visit a couple of weeks ago, at just before noon on a Saturday, and it was all sold out. I don’t mean one or two sandwiches were sold out. I mean they had sold out of everything.

Clearly, going early is advisable. I showed up at around 9:00am this time, and the place was packed, so I’m guessing another sell-out was inevitable.

(An aside: the sign calls this place “Dad’s Breakfast Sandwiches,” but online, it appears to be called “Dad’s Breakfast & Coffee.” Figure out a name and stick with it, guys; this isn’t that hard.)

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: Dad’s ’48 (“egg, hashbrown, cheddar, house ketchup, bacon or sausage”) and Katsu Dad (“katsu egg, caramelized onions, chili crisp, aioli”).

I was wondering if maybe this place was a bit over-hyped, but both of these sandwiches took my skepticism, loaded it into a cannon and shot it into the sun. The hype: 100 percent deserved.

The Dad’s ’48 is the more traditional of the two, but is just perfectly executed on every level. You can choose between bacon and sausage; the guy behind the counter mentioned that they make their sausage in house, so that’s what I went with.

It’s phenomenal. Perfect balance between the silky egg patty, the gooey cheese, the meaty sausage (which is nicely spiced and thoroughly delicious), and the crispy hashbrown. The ketchup and pickle slices (which the menu doesn’t mention) add more flavour and zinginess. The fluffy, slightly sweet bun is the perfect vehicle. It’s a top-tier breakfast sandwich. One of the best in the city for sure.

But as much as I liked that one, I think I might have liked the Katsu Dad even more. The idea of breading and frying an egg patty is, frankly, genius. It’s got a great level of crispiness on its exterior, but the egg patty within is just as silky and perfectly cooked at the non-fried one in the Dad’s ’48.

And the combo of the ultra-savoury, mildly spicy chili crisp and the sweet caramelized onions — not to mention the creamy aioli — is a big winner. I can’t say I’ve ever had a breakfast sandwich quite like this before, and it’s one that will live in my dreams forever.

Delicious Roast Pork at The Carvery

Published on July 26, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 486 Front Street West, Toronto (inside Wellington Market)
Website: https://thewelltoronto.com/directory/the-carvery/

Wellington Market at the Well recently expanded a bit — they have a handful of new restaurants, including locations of BEAR Steak Sandwiches, Chen Chen’s Nashville Hot Chicken, and the one I checked out, The Carvery.

This is an outpost of a Windsor restaurant that specializes in various roast meats — chicken, pork, lamb, and beef — that you can have in a sandwich or on a plate.

I went with the roast pork plate, which comes with the pork, a crispy piece of crackling, peas, carrots, squash, potatoes, and a dinner roll. At $13.90 for a massive plate of food, it’s an incredible deal.

No, it’s not the most photogenic dish ever — it’s basically just various shades of brown, though there is a generous amount of vegetables buried under there.

But if it tastes this good, I can’t say I’m too concerned about what it looks like.

Most importantly, the roast pork is great — it’s tender and nicely seasoned, with the gravy on top just amping up its flavour. There’s also the ultra-crunchy piece of crackling on top, and yeah, that’s good stuff.

As for everything else, the vegetables are all cooked perfectly (the potato has a satisfyingly crispy exterior), and the roll is clearly fresh, with a nicely buttery flavour.

And again: it’s $13.90. It’s an amazing value for the quantity and quality of the food you’re getting here.