wrap – Michael Eats

Tasty Shawarma at Shelby’s

Published on January 6, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1289 Marlborough Court, Oakville
Website: https://www.shelbys.ca/

I could have sworn I had already written about Shelby’s for this blog, but when I went to look for the post, I couldn’t find it. It turns out I actually blogged about Tahini’s, not Shelby’s.

In my defense, the two chains are quite similar: both are chains with a similar name and logo, and both serve a similar menu of saj-wrapped shawarma topped with a pomegranate-infused sauce.

Also: both are surprisingly tasty. Shelby’s, despite being a chain with a couple dozen locations, probably outclasses a decent amount of the independent shawarma joints in the GTA.

I ordered the Shelby’s Wrap: “freshly baked saj bread stuffed with lettuce mix, fries, pickles, turnips, tomatoes, sumac onions, tahini, hummus, and regular or spicy garlic.” I got it with beef and lamb shawarma, spicy garlic, and skipped the onions.

It’s a great wrap, with the slightly chewy and nicely toasted saj wrap being a nice vehicle for the generous amount of tasty meat and veggies/sauces. It’s mildly spicy, zippy and garlicky (my wrap didn’t say it came with pomegranate molasses, but I’m pretty sure I tasted its slightly tart flavour, which worked well), and the shawarma is tender, with a decent amount of crispy bits. I didn’t get much lamb flavour, but the whole thing was tasty enough that this didn’t really matter.

Quick Bites: Louf, Luca Pizza, Sidra BBQ & Grill

Published on December 28, 2025December 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Hummus bil lahma from Louf

Louf is a Palestinian restaurant near Casa Loma (it’s probably the closest I’ve been to Casa Loma since I was a kid). I went at brunch and tried a few things, though the only dish that really jumped out at me was the hummus bil lahma (“chickpeas, tahina, lemon, ghee, beef, spices, pine nuts”). It’s a solid bowl of hummus, with a satisfyingly zippy, cumin-tinged flavour. And the braised beef on top is perfectly tender. It’s a great combo.

Cheese pizza from Luca Pizza

Luca Pizza frequently comes up in discussions of the best pizza in Mississauga, and I guess I kind of get it. The place opened in 1975, and it looks like not much has changed in there in the intervening decades; it’s definitely got a bunch of old-school charm. And the pizza kind of reminds me of what a place like Pizza Pizza would be serving, if Pizza Pizza weren’t terrible. It’s cheap, cheesy, and filling. I also liked that the crust had a nice exterior crispiness. But I have to imagine that the people calling this the best pizza in the city are coming with a big dose of nostalgia — without that, it’s hard to fully overlook the canned-tasting sauce or the bland crust (it’s the kind of crust that makes you realize why dipping sauce with pizza became a thing). Still, while I’m not going to rush back, it was pretty satisfying for what it was.

Lamb shawarma wrap from Sidra BBQ & Grill

Mostly, I wanted to try Sidra — a shawarma joint in Oakville — thanks to the presence of lamb among their shawarma selections. My understanding is that lamb shawarma is actually quite common in the Middle East, but it’s weirdly rare in the GTA (and if you do find it, it’ll likely be mixed with beef). Sadly, I don’t think the lamb shawarma here was cooked on a vertical spit, which does kind of defeat the point (there were zero crispy bits), and the seasoning was probably a bit too aggressively applied. Still, it was a bunch of tasty, relatively tender lamb in a wrap, so yeah, I enjoyed it. Probably not worth going out of your way for, but if you’re in Oakville already, sure, why not?

Unusual (but Satisfying) Shawarma at Shawarnado

Published on November 9, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 4870 Tomken Road, Mississauga
Website: https://shawarnado.com/

The chicken shawarma wrap from Shawarnado is… odd. Tasty, but odd.

I guess when you think about it, the tastiness is all that matters. Is it checking the boxes I expect from shawarma? No, not really. But it does taste good, so sure, I’ll allow it.

I ordered the chicken shawarma wrap with everything (except onions, because raw onions are for jerks), which comes with garlic sauce, spicy garlic sauce, tahini sauce, and hummus, along with a whole bunch of veggies — including some unorthodox choices like green peppers (?), shredded carrots (??), and corn (???).

No, not exactly shawarma standbys, but with the deluge of tasty sauces, they mostly just add texture.

I asked for it extra spicy, and yeah, it definitely had a nice kick to it. Between that and the generous amount of zippy and rich sauces, it pretty much can’t help but be a tasty wrap. Those sauces didn’t quite taste like what you’ll normally find in a shawarma wrap, but whatever they were, they were good.

The chicken came out of a warming tray instead of being freshly shaved — never what you want to see — but it wasn’t dry at all, even if it had absolutely none of the crispy bits that typify great shawarma. It actually had a texture that was closer to pulled chicken than traditional shawarma, but again, with all that tasty sauce, it was fine.

The whole thing was so unusual that it reminded me more of a burrito than traditional shawarma, but hey, it tasted good, so I can’t exactly be upset about it.

Quick Bites: Kumain Kitchen, Kezy Doner, Salad King

Published on October 19, 2025October 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Chicken Inasal at Kumain Kitchen

Kumain Kitchen is a “Filipino inspired pop-up” that was in the pop-up space in the Food District at Square One last year (yeah, I have a bit of a backlog). I tried the chicken inasal (“grilled lemongrass chicken served with garlic rice and cucumber salad”) and mostly, it was quite tasty. The chicken was slightly on the dry side, but it was so well seasoned and absolutely crammed with vibrant flavours that this wasn’t a big deal. I really enjoyed it. But I guess they ran out of garlic rice, because it came with plain old rice instead, which was a shame. As for the cucumber salad, it was actually just undressed cucumbers, radishes and tomatoes, along with pickled onion. I actually Googled this to see if that’s just a Filipino thing, but nope — Filipino cucumber and tomato salad is called ensaladang pipino, and it’s definitely supposed to be dressed. Still, that chicken was delicious enough to make up for everything else.

Chicken Wrap at Kezy Doner

The chicken wrap from Kezy Doner was thoroughly okay. Did anything about it stand out? No, not even remotely. But it came up to exactly ten bucks with tax, came crammed with a healthy amount of relatively juicy chicken, and was satisfying enough for what it was. It’s not something you should go out of your way for, but if you’re in the area and you don’t feel like spending too much money, sure, why not? This place is in a food court right near the OCAD campus, and I can definitely see it being popular with broke students.

Lime Leaf Chicken at Salad King

Speaking of restaurants with (relatively) cheap eats that are popular with students… Salad King. This is a Toronto institution (it’s been around since 1981) that I’ve somehow never tried. I got the lime leaf chicken (“Chicken breast slices, snap peas, red pepper, lime leaf, & carrot in a spicy chili sauce with Thai herbs”) and it was perfectly fine. The chicken was a bit dry, but otherwise it was flavourful and satisfying. I’m not exactly going to be dreaming about the place, but I can see why it’s so popular. They are also, famously, not kidding around with the spice here, and yeah. I chose 10 out of 20 on their spice-scale, and it was thoroughly fiery.

Creamy Chipotle Fish McWrap at McDonald’s

Published on April 15, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1001 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke
Website: https://www.mcdonalds.com/ca/en-ca.html

I’ve mentioned before that McWraps are easily the most boring thing on the McDonald’s menu. So there’s a new McWrap. It’s got chipotle in it. Who cares?

But wait! This one is available with either grilled chicken, crispy chicken, or… fish? In a McWrap?? Well, that’s exciting (small print: it takes very little to get me excited. This is not actually exciting).

Here’s how McDonald’s describes this: “Made with crispy, flaky fish topped with creamy chipotle sauce, crispy tri-colour tortilla strips, shredded lettuce, sliced tomato and cucumbers. All wrapped in a soft white flour tortilla.”

This is definitely not the McWrap to change my mind about McWraps. It’s very McWrap-y, which is to say it’s a bit dry and boring; it tastes like a perfunctory stab at “healthiness” from a chain that has no business being even remotely health-adjacent.

The fish is interesting, but I guess there’s a reason why these types of wraps have chicken in them 99 percent of the time; it doesn’t quite work. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s odd. I missed the chicken (it didn’t help that the Filet-O-Fish patty had clearly been sitting out for some time; it was a bit dry).

Everything else is fine, with the veggies all being what you’d expect, and with the tortilla strips doing a decent job of adding some crunch.

The creamy chipotle sauce is the highlight. It’s creamy, zesty, a little bit smoky, and actually has a mild spicy kick. The wrap needed way more of it. Give me a little tub of it so I can use it as a dip for fries. It’s a really tasty sauce.