Toronto – Page 69 – Michael Eats

Tasty Chocolate Ice Cream at Avoca

Published on December 17, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 176 Hampton Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://avoca.business.site/

Avoca is a delightful little chocolate shop that makes their own ice cream. It’s also in a seriously unfortunate location — it’s in Greektown right off the Danforth, but it’s far enough off the main stretch that you wouldn’t know it’s there unless you’re looking for it. It’s a bit hidden.

It’s a shame; I think more people would be talking about this place if it were in a better location. I’m not sure about the chocolates, but the ice cream is top notch.

I tried a scoop of the classic chocolate ice cream, and it’s definitely above average. It was served way too cold (the woman behind the counter was having quite the struggle just getting a scoop), but everything else about it was great — it had a deep chocolately flavour, it wasn’t too sweet, and the ice cream itself was rich and creamy.

Pizza and Gelato at Eataly

Published on December 16, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 55 Bloor Street West, Toronto (inside the Manulife Centre)
Website: https://www.eataly.ca/

After years and years of speculation and hype, Eataly finally opened in Toronto last month; judging by the intense crowds, it’s a hit. Apparently there were lines just to get in for the first few weeks, and on a recent visit on Saturday, the place was absolutely packed.

So was it worth the wait? It’s hard to say based on one relatively brief visit, but I’m gonna say yeah, it was. It’s basically an enormous, high-end Italian grocery store crossed with a food hall. They sell all kinds of really interesting looking stuff, and all the food I tried was tasty. It’s delightful.

I tried a couple of things. First up was a pizza at La Pizza & La Pasta, a sit-down restaurant with a wood-burning oven that pumps out authentic Neapolitan pizzas.

The meal started with some seriously good-quality bread, which came with a bowl of intensely nutty olive oil for dipping.

As for the pizza, I had to try the margherita. As I’ve said before, I think it’s one of the world’s few perfect foods. It’s also a great way to judge the quality of a pizza joint; its simplicity puts the technique of the kitchen in full display. There’s no fancy ingredients to hide behind.

The version they serve here didn’t blow me away — the crust was slightly lacking in substance and flavour — but it was a solid B+. In particular, the pizza had a perfect amount of char from the blazing hot oven. The person manning the oven clearly knows what he’s doing.

Just around the corner from the restaurant is Il Gelato Artigianale, which has a whole bunch of tasty-looking flavours of gelato on offer. I went with stracciatella, and I quite enjoyed it.

I found it a bit overly sweet at first, but the combo of the sweet ice cream and the very bitter chocolate (they’re definitely using a darker chocolate than the norm) won me over. And the gelato itself is nice and creamy, even if it was slightly on the thin side.

Subtle, Tasty Ramen at Hakata Shoryuken Ramen

Published on December 12, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 225 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.hakatashoryuken.com/

A lot of times, the broth in a bowl of Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen can be overwhelmingly porky. The one-note pork flavour can get a bit wearying.

I’m normally not a big condiments guy — I’ll just eat it as it comes — but with this type of ramen, condiments tend to be necessary. In particular, pickled ginger does a good job of adding some vibrancy and cutting through the soup’s richness.

Oddly, however, the Hakata ramen at Hakata Shoryuken Ramen has the opposite problem; the flavour isn’t in-your-face at all. It’s surprisingly mellow.

It’s unexpectedly low-key, but quite tasty. The soup is nice and creamy, and though the porky flavour is subtle, it’s definitely there. It’s not going to knock anyone’s socks off, but it’s a pleasant bowl of soup.

The pickled ginger was still necessary, however — it gave the soup some welcome pops of flavour. It’s a fifty cent add-on, but it’s worth ordering.

The egg was another add-on ($1.50), and it wasn’t great. It was bland, and the texture was just odd — it was somewhere between an onsen tamago and a traditional ramen egg, and it wasn’t as good as either.

Everything else was solid. The chashu, in particular, was tender, tasty, and perfectly fatty. The noodles were slightly too soft, but otherwise got the job done.

Style over Substance at Maha’s

Published on December 11, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 226 Greenwood Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.mahasbrunch.com/

The Mind Blowing Chicken Sandwich at Maha’s is one of those dishes you see and immediately want to eat. No, scratch that — need to eat. I mean, look at that thing.

But then, that’s kind of the problem, isn’t it? It’s a tasty dish, but it also feels very much like something that was created to be a stunner on Instagram, with the actual flavour being secondary.

Maha’s Mind Blowing Chicken, per the menu: “Maha’s sacred marinate, tossed with parsley, onions and tomatoes, served on a toasted egg bun with tomeya, homemade mayo and tehina.”

The very generous pile of chicken is nice and moist, with a very unique and distinctive spicing that makes it stand out. The sauces, too, compliment it quite nicely, and the onions and tomatoes add some welcome freshness and crunch.

But it’s a very assertively-flavoured dish, and I’ll admit that by the end, it was getting to be a bit much. It really needed something on the side to help round things out and add a little variety. There’s so much of that chicken; it starts out delightful, but eventually turns one-note and tiresome.

It doesn’t help that the bun is all wrong. Its fluffy lightness is completely lost among the chicken’s very assertive flavours, and the bottom bun (yes, there is a bottom bun underneath that pile) turns into complete mush.

We had ordered some of the balady pita bread on the side, and it worked so much better — it has a nice chewy texture that holds up to the saucy chicken, and a nutty flavour that complements and helps to mellow out the assertive spicing. I wish it had come as a wrap in that bread, but then that wouldn’t be quite the showstopper on Instagram, would it?

I also tried the falafel, which was unambiguously delicious, and maybe the best falafel in the city. It’s crispy, fluffy, and delightfully herby. I couldn’t help but compare it to the stuff I recently had at Paramount, and it was night and day. It’s almost a completely different dish.

An Odd “Dessert” at 7 Baker

Published on December 9, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3 Wellesley Street West, Toronto
Website: https://7baker.ca/

The Chocolate Lava Croissant at 7 Baker is interesting? It’s quite tasty, but also… different.

It’s a high quality pastry, no doubt about it. The croissant is top-notch; it’s nice and buttery, with a good level of exterior crispiness and a tender texture. It’s not the best croissant I’ve ever had, but it’s clearly above average.

It’s filled with an intense, cocoa-packed chocolate pudding that’s creamy and tasty but also… not sweet. Not even a little bit.

It’s weird. It generally tastes good (though without a little sweetness to round things out, the bitterness of the cocoa is overly pronounced), but with the lack of sugar, I’m not sure what it is. It’s ostensibly a dessert, but… desserts are supposed to be sweet, aren’t they?

I certainly didn’t dislike eating it, but it’s flummoxing. I’m flummoxed by it.