The Tuesday Taste - Shake Shack Toronto

 

 

God, what a mess

on the ladder of success

Where you take one step

and miss the whole first rung

Dreams, unfulfilled

Graduate unskilled

Beats pickin' cotton

and waiting to be forgotten  

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste. 

Quick opening side note: I'm extremely glad I sometimes plan/write these weekly reviews about a week ahead of time rather than the night before, seeing as I spent most of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend couch-ridden without any appetite (turns out black mold buildup hidden in your kitchen... not good for you!) 

With that extremely appealing way to kick off a food review... hoooo boy, we've indeed reeled in a big one for this week. A true legend in the modern North American cheeseburger scene, an import from the newest of York Cities... that's right boys and girls we're going back to the shack (not Weezer's best song fyi). 

 

 

Shake Shack started out just after the turn of the millennium (the 2000s of course... don't think I'd be eager to try whatever a hamburger from the 1000s would taste like). Initially, it was a simple hot dog cart operated by a nearby fine dining kitchen (this was all part of a larger revitalization of Madison Square Park in Manhattan at the time). 

There was wasn't a big plan for the hot dog cart to eventually become a permanent space, but by 2004 the popularity of the cart had grown substantially and the city was looking to establish a food kiosk in the center of the revamped park anyhow. Thus, the original Shake Shack came to be... still serving folks in the park on their distinctive green picnic tables to this day. Meanwhile, the menu having now expanded to burgers and fries along with the dawgs and signature milkshakes... the demand and fame only accelerated. Particularly, a "east versus west coast" burger comparison between the likewise famed though very different In-N-Out Burger.

Despite expanding to several other countries across the world in the span of the past decade and a half, it was only this spring Shake Shack finally opened one in Canada... right on the north-east corner of the bustling Yonge/Dundas Square (weird it took so long considering, ya know... Toronto is significantly closer to NYC than say, Hong Kong).       

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Now, this was not my first ever trip to a Shake Shack. I'd first tried them back in 2012 when I visited that same original kiosk in Madison Square Park in New York (their peanut butter creation is still one of the three best milkshakes I've ever had). Wildly, I got a second taste during a stopover at La Guardia airport a few years later (actually within 24 hours of having an In-N-Out burger in San Francisco... quite a duel that I hope to explore further another day soon). 

When it was announced Shake Shack was expanding into Toronto, I gave a strong nod of approval while also thinking "yeah I'll go after they've been open for six months". I don't like waiting in lines! And I knew this one, despite clearly an enormous location, would involve some patience. 

Anyhow, here we are! About six months after opening (don't check my exact math) and now time to finally sample and see if this version of Shake Shack measures up to the excellence I remembered from that first try from where they started. 

 

 

First... what an interior. Not your standard vibe of a cheeseburger and french fry joint. Felt like I was in an ancient Roman atrium or something. Quite elegant... plus I do love green (which is the colour of the Shack logo anyhow).

It's a very large space and after placing your order, they give you one of those buzzing pager things to alert you when it's ready. Plus there are multiple screens (such as in the middle of the photo above) wherein you can follow your progress in the queue. Cool? I guess? I imagine these kind of things were especially useful when they initially opened and the buzz was at its peak... lineups for an hour and all. That has cooled considerably I imagine, as when I went on a late Friday afternoon they were simply quite busy rather than crammed to the walls. It took about seven-ish minutes for my order to be ready and that's a perfectly acceptable amount of time.

 

 

Speaking of said order, hey here it is! I'm a simple lad: just a single patty Shack Burger with some bacon cheese fries. I'd worked up quite an appetite (unlike this Thanksgiving just passed, damnit) after spending a chunk of this afternoon waiting in the passport office... and my first criticism will be how this was not a super filling meal.

 

 

Starting off with the bacon cheese fries. The bacon itself: well you can likely tell, dear reader, that this is your standard dried out assembly of bacon bits. Not down to the level of a absurdly salty bacon crumble (the modus operandi among the scoundrels of many a pizza joint)... but this is only better by a slight step. I guess it's okay, but I was hoping for a quality solidly above something likely sold in a sprinkle jar. This here would be fine as a finishing touch in a caesar salad, but as an item where it's a headliner this is quite underwhelming. 

So the bacon isn't all that hot or juicy. How about the rest? Crinkle cut fries... sure I guess. Just too many crinkle-cut fries on the show this summer, they're all blending together at this point and I'm over it. Good crispiness, kind of a hollow potato taste to it (probably cut in house but then frozen in bulk I suspect) and overall fairly okay-ish but similarly a minor let down. They do the job, these are slightly above average fries via sheer consistent texture but honestly nothing to sing about. 

How about the cheese sauce? Well, I hope you're reading this review still with an open mind regarding my intentions... because while I stand by my conclusions about the 'okay-ishness' regarding the fries and bacon... well Shake Shack absolutely nails the cheese part of this equation. 

Truly a fabulous cheese sauce: creamy, rich, loaded with a milky cheddar flavour, perfectly thick but not goopy... they drip, man. Replace the fries with macaroni and you've still got a killer mac and cheese here. Real damn good... I'd even ditch the bacon (it's really such a minor presence) and just hook this cheesy goodness to my veins. Thick enough to linger in the mouth, too. Truly awesome stuff. 

 

 

Here is the main event, the Shack Burger. You get the sweetness of the lightly toasted on the inside potato bun quite prominently, and a terrific visual ratio of meat-to-other-supporting elements. I mean, you ever seen a sandwich that could take a bite of you???

 

 

So I'm not gonna be playful in my descriptions here: this is a fabulous cheeseburger, and it does my memory of the New York version proud. The first bite I took of this thing... holy moly. Like going back to an old school and your carving underneath the bleachers is still there. 

Just marvelous. Everything is in such precise proportion: the hint of lettuce, the light sweetness of the potato bun, the cheese coating the patty, the sweet sting of sliced tomato, and the beef itself is vivid and juicy, flavourful throughout. My singular complaint is how small it was: this reunion was over too fast. You left me wanting more... which objectively is still a compliment. I'd even consider maybe getting a double next time, which as I've mentioned frequently is not my thing.

An excellent cheeseburger. You don't get too much of any one aspect taste-wise: the beef has the spotlight but the cheese is always there, the tomatoes are playing the keyboards, the lettuce is a solid bass player keep things fresh and the subtle sweetness of the soft potato bun on drums keeps it all together. Precise and deliciously executed. Even here as a single patty, it's a good time. Melts together in your mouth, almost: everything is so tender and soft.

 

 

Overall! Yeah it's pretty good, and to double down on a previous point I made... they do the NYC legend and my memory of it considerable justice. Indeed I do recommend checking them out and most definitely trying it if you never have yet experienced Shake Shack.

However... much like my thoughts on Prince Street Pizza: this is exceptional stuff, the import has been a success... but some of the very best newish homegrown joints, in my mind, are just a tiny bit more compelling. Much like I'd take Badiali over Prince Street by a tiny bit, Toronto is really a blessed food city and the burger scene has followed: we've got Rudy, Harry's, Friday, Burger Drops, Allen's (for your more older school sit down types) and a bunch of other ones I still need to try or haven't even heard about yet. Shake Shack Toronto puts a very strong foot in, sliding into that "Best In The City" conversation but in my view not transcending it. 

A good problem to have. We have a bunch of delicious burger spots in our city? Somebody call the police! Nah, Shake Shack is goddamn delicious and I was incredibly pleased that this wonderful taste indeed made it through customs. The fries are okay-ish like I said (with a killer cheese sauce) but the main attraction are the burgers and it did not disappoint (and yes I know I could've gotten a milkshake too for this review but... shrug).

Worth a visit without a doubt and I'd go again (open the next one further east though, please).

 

Pizzamouth Strikes Again

If you missed it, I also tried and reviewed a new-ish pizza joint up near Davisville and Yonge Street named Diavola Pizza. They do a Roman style pie, which is still rather unusual here in Toronto (not as completely impossible as it is to find as Chicago deep dish here though... seriously Double D's closed almost half a decade ago somebody please get on this).       

Tuesday Tune

Feeling kind of angsty, what with the appetite abandonment and barely eating in two days as of publishing this review (for somebody who writes so much and so frequently about fast food and pizzas... my eating habits are even weirder and less healthy than you think, but not for the reason you think).

Anyhow, it's the Replacements. They ruled in their unruliness. 

That's all for this week. Here's hoping my hunger returns soon because... well eating is kind of important (no shit). For the purposes of the weekly review though... well I don't have another one written and banked unlike this one mostly was (damnit) but more interestingly: this by my count is the 98th edition. Meaning... the big 1-0-0 is two weeks from now, October 29th. I have a fairly good idea what I'm going to do, but also... could I throw that plan out the window for something crazy? Who knows! I sure don't. 

Until the big anniversary of The Taste, and oh yeah next week of course... stay warm/cool, stay safe, eat something good and most of all don't spill that mustard. 

 

This Week In Pizza: Diavola Pizza

 

The Endless Pizza Quest resumes! In this edition, I traveled up to Midtown Toronto to try a fairly new member of the city's continuously growing pizza scene. 

Diavola Pizza, which opened earlier this spring, is in fact a sister restaurant to the Slayer Burger location next door on the corner of Yonge Street and Glebe Road (we indeed reviewed the Riverside Slayer outpost just a couple months ago). As such, Diavola offers the same desserts as Slayer, along with one of their signature pies drawing inspiration from their cheeseburger sibling.

Alas, that is not what was ordered here. Instead, you've got their take on a five cheese pizza (the one you see in the back) and their namesake pie 'The Diavola" with all the pickled toppings in the front of the photo. 

 

 

Here's a closer look at the "Cheese Lovers". It is indeed a fromagey blend of mozzarella, goat cheese, parmesan, blue cheese and standard orange cheddar... with the goat cheese standing out the most and the blue cheese fairly invisible within. 

 

 

As you have probably noticed, Diavola is a Roman-style pizza spot... thus the rectangular shape and smaller square sized slices. This works mostly to the disadvantage of the pizza, sadly: while the bread is light and airy, both mini-pies have just way way too much bread compared to everything else. This might've been okay-ish if the crust were a little less over-baked (and there is some pleasant buttery taste throughout this cheese pizza) but instead you're getting just a lot of bites that are nothing but bread. The centre of the slices are filled with goodness sure, but that's barely even half of the whole pizza. 

Regarding that goodness... as far as cheese pizzas go this one is pretty decent. I wish the blue cheese was way more of a presence rather than seeming to blend within everything, but all in all this pie does smell really good and the mix of cheeses does keep the taste more dynamic than a typical (frankly boring) cheese pizza. A good balance of sharp and creamy. Goat cheese is, of course, always delicious and I'm pleased there was plenty of it on here.    

Onwards, to the title track! The namesake pizza is indeed quite loaded: spicy N'duja, hot Italian sausage, jalapenos, pickled onions, peperoncinis... quite a mix of peppery sting matching a pickled type of sting. 

The sausage and Ndjua work together successfully (the sausage is fairly juicy and slightly salty), bringing the affair plenty of robust sharp spice... and the pickled onions do well to cut into that as well. However, the rest of this pizza is just very... meh. This is your generic mozzarella cheese that melts perfectly fine but provides nothing in the flavour department. It's just there, likewise the tomato sauce. Very forgettable (as in, I have absolutely nothing else I can say about it). 

It really are the toppings and the distinct crunch of the edges doing all the work on this Diavola pizza (which loosely translates as "devil" pizza), and there's only so far that can take you when those core elements (sauce and cheese) have nothing going on for them. There is some quality spiciness to this one, thanks to the earthier Nduja and the stinging jalapenos... but like the cheese pizza (where at least those different cheeses combined into something more fully flavoured and interesting) again there is just far too much empty space here. Too much nothing, not enough pockets of something. 

 

 

 

Overall? I'll give some points for creativity: the pickled onions are an inspired choice, and the distinct spice of the Nduja is always a good call. 

Certainly not a bad pizza... there are good components to it and quite a few pretty tasty moments. However, the mediocrity of the base elements combined with the bread-to-anything-else ratio being so askew... it's too much to overcome and sadly I can't really recommend this spot as a "must try". It is a fairly new spot and it's entirely possible there is still some growth to be had, some margins to work out and recipes that can definitely be improved upon.

As currently, though... I'm going to score Diavola a 'B--'. Some good concepts and the bread/dough is quality (you'll definitely get a good sense of that) but a few key flaws drag it well below anything I'd strongly suggest seeking out. Probably a fringe Top 100 pizza in Toronto. 

   

The Tuesday Taste - Matty's Patty's Burger Club

 

 

Well you can't say nothing

if your money ain't right

'Cause that government trash

will keep you up all night

Some folks work so hard

they nearly break their backs

Don't step on the cracks

'cause you know about that

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste! You'll notice I left out the full title of our restaurant this week, which has an additional dash of "Best Burgers Toronto". Well spoilers but... they're not. 

Okay I guess that's the review! Thanks for reading, please subscribe and don't spill that mus--- okay fine. There is actually plenty to say about Matty's Patty's and while I will double down on my quick assertion they are not Toronto's best burger... we've done some pretty damn good cheeseburgers this year (Friday, Burger Drops, Harry's). It's a tough field, and as of writing this I still have yet to try this Toronto version of Shake Shack either. 

 

 

Matty's Patty's is, as I'm sure you know, a venture of celebrity chef Matty Matheson (his name is in the freaking title) and I quite enjoy the interviews and videos I've seen of Matheson. He brings an energetic wide-eyed playful enthusiasm towards food that comes across as very accessible and unpretentious. Many of his restaurant ventures* reflect this attitude: whether it be his original stomping ground Parts & Labour (or its brief offshoot P&L Burger near Queen/Spadina) or Maker Pizza which he co-founded, a BBQ pop-up in his hometown based on the American style of "meat + 3", and of course this here basic little cheeseburger and fries joint across the street from arguably the most social park (for hipsters heh) in downtown Toronto.

*I'm just going to leave Prime Seafood Palace out of this... I'd be Doctor Zoidberg asking if bread is free in that place

The idea for Matty's Patty's becoming an actual thing became about several years ago when Matheson and RVCA (had to look up what that was, it's a clothing brand... I do not know these things) founder Pat Tenore were in Hawaii giving away cheeseburgers for a community event at a skate park. The feeling re-invigorated Matheson's love of cooking and giving food to people (he'd mostly been focused on cookbooks and the business side of the industry). After multiple additional pop-ups, Matty's Patty's Burger Club officially opened a fixed location on Queen West and Niagara in late 2020 with considerable hoopla. As much hoopla as late 2020 could provide, at least.

 

  

It took me four years to finally try this place... but I have my excus-I-mean-reasons! Mainly that I don't live anywhere nearby, it isn't pizza, and I generally don't like most of Queen West. *coughs*. However! I consistently get a warm nostalgic feeling once I'm on Queen west of Bathurst. I played many a bar-level softball game at Trinity Bellwoods as a teenager, and seeing those distinctive gates to the park again right across the street from Matty's Patty's brought back some memories. 

Helping the warm vibes of the day was also the general sense of freeness (totally a word) you get with a sunny, pleasantly temperate late-afternoon Sunday in late September. Plenty of people, many couples, were out just going for walks, hitting ice cream spots, or unsurprisingly drinking wine in the large park across the street (I did not go to investigate that last fact, we all know it's true). 

The inside of this 'Burger Club' is quite small, with about three tables should you want to stay in with your order. All the walls have a smooth, sleek wood paneling to them... like cottage cabin meets modern basement rec room. The lady who took my order was quite chipper, which while my long grizzled instincts of similar service work made me think this was a bit of a showtime face... friendliness is friendliness and it's far better than the opposite. Anyhow, my order was ready quite quickly (maybe seven minutes?).

 

       

Obviously the lead photo gives it away but regardless here's what I got: their single patty cheeseburger with the "Matty's Sauce" (they offer three sauces and the signature one made the most reviewable sense)... and their chili cheese fries because... it's chili cheese fries.

Also, isn't there just something inherently 'summertime' about chili-cheese fries? The tomatoey beef smell with the saltiness of the fries... something about it just reminds me of being a little kid going down with my parents to the old Lick's Burgers in the Beaches (long long before I lived down here)... the open kitchen with the employees singing out the orders and the names of the customers, with that same smell of their chili in the air. Mid-1990s simple innocence and summertime.

So yeah, no pressure Matty. 

 

    

Somebody get that thumb out of the way! So these are Matty's Patty's chili cheese fries and as you can see, it is quite a heaping portion. There is, no lie, at least an inch of cheddar cheese as that top layer... it's madness! At ten bucks... quite a solid amount for what you're paying for. 

Where does the cheese end and the rest begin? It's in there somewhere! Yeah, Matty likes his cheese clearly. This is a serious layer of fromage, folks. Taste-wise, it's a typical orange cheddar flavour (not gooey like an American processed cheese... this has more of a real flavour) and it's quite bright and heavy. 

The chili itself... a classic beefy-tomato union that smells wonderful. Very simple, not spicy whatsoever... an accessible topping designed to please and does just that. Hearty, is how I'd describe it... some hint of onion within but it's mostly beef cooked within tomatoey goodness. And it is plentiful: what impresses me most about these chili fries (once you excavate past the mantle of cheese) is how well layered it turned out to be. The chili seeps through into the bottom portions, and meanwhile there is so much damn cheese you're not gonna run out of that. 

How about the fries? They remind me of McDonald's (whom I'm famously not very fond of)... but McDonald's done right. A light crisp, basic salty flavour, but without that weird processed oily taste that convinces your brain to eat more of them while your mouth disagrees. You can taste potato here, unlike whatever the hell the golden arches are using as potato-like substitute... and these are quite tasty fries. Hold up on a reheat as well (yeah that was too much cheese for a pre-work meal heh): frying pan with a bit of oil and none of this was dry or stale at all. Good stuff!

 

 

Now, it's burger time. I got a single patty as I most often do (yeah yeah yeah) and I'll say right off the top here that this is a cheeseburger worthy (and perhaps wanting) of that priceless additional patty. Okay a second patty isn't exactly "priceless" from a customer standpoint but you know what I mean.

The beef of it is really nice: not really any of that decadent greasy edges stuff you normally get from a smash burger, more of a tender chewy taste within (in a good way). For a beef burger cooked to medium-well, this is about has juicy and flavourful as you can make that. It's a compliment from me, typically a medium-rare-to-rare guy. 

The burger itself needs more, but it's still plenty tasty. The 'Matty's Sauce' is essentially a mix of mustard with diced onions and pickles... which blends in with the classic American cheese so much that it's hard to discern where one ends and the other begins. Matheson really likes his cheese and onions... I wonder if this band ever inspired him...

 

  

When you think of a classic, typical old fashioned American-style cheeseburger... this burger here is definitely close to that image you're thinking of. A simple but very good beefy texture and flavour, combined with that irresistible plasticly cheese flavour and a distinct mustardy sauce filled with the sting of diced onion and pickles. 

It definitely works, and is a damn tasty burger. But as I alluded to above... something is missing. The crunch of a lettuce perhaps? The seductive saltiness of bacon? Mayo? To be honest I'm not sure... there's a gap in here that I can't quite pin down, but it is there and it keeps this objectively good cheeseburger from being truly exceptional. Definitely needs something more and I can't quite imagine what that is. 

 

  

Overall! Yeah they are worth a visit, and will not disappoint. Love the sesame seed bun, especially love the very beefy taste of the patty itself (ground chuck and brisket according to their site) which really shines through. 

Alas, this has been the (accidental) summer/autumn of the cheeseburger in these parts... and the competition is stiff. Is Matty's better than those three I mentioned above? Friday Burger Co, or Harry's Charbroiled, or Burger Drops, or even Rudy? (which I reviewed a couple years ago). The answer is, unfortunately, no. It is a little step below all of those. 

This is no slight to Matty's Patty's at all... those are all ridiculously good burgers and this is like being the guy batting behind Shohei Ohtani. Mookie Betts is a helluva player and probably going to the Hall of Fame, but come on. He's no Shotime.

What I like most about Matty's Patty's is the bare bones approach to the burger, which is simultaneously (and ironically) it's weakness. Heavy on the sauce and cheese, you can taste the beef, and that's really it. I'd recommend trying them for sure... but expecting it to be a mind-blowing "best burger in all of Toronto" will not quite happen. It's merely very good. 

 

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How To Get Dead In Advertising

Found this article pretty interesting, as somebody who finds old adverts endlessly charming and (in this case) horrifying. Can't wait for the piece in fifty years admonishing all of us for keeping these smart phones so close to our vital organs.  

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/what-were-we-thinking-the-top-10-most-dangerous-ads?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

 

Burger Dropped

I'm a fan of Andrew Rea's YouTube channel (wherein, if you don't know, he attempts to recreate food items from famous cartoons or films... often the most dutiful re-creations end up revolting, like 'rum ham' from It's Always Sunny, and he changes them up for the sake of appetites). 

He also has an offshoot series explaining how easily you can mess up a recipe, and since we're doing a cheeseburger this week in my particularly weird corner of the internet... it seems fitting to share this video he made about screwing up a cheeseburger on a grill several times. It is hilarious.  

 

Tuesday Tune

Saw these guys at History this past Friday night (great venue, first time there, and it helps when you know/work elsewhere with the bartender heh) and even these days later I'm still thinking about the show. So the song has to be a deep-ish cut from what I think is their best album (which they played a whole lot of). I was maybe five feet from the stage and goddamn. So fun. 

 

 

That's it for this week! Plenty more coming up this month and in November, next week will be a big one... as will be the 100th episode! It's coming soon don't worry, and I have something special in mind... but until then: stay cool, stay safe, and don't spill that mustard. 

 

       

The Tuesday Taste - Shelby's Legendary Shawarma

 

 

But when that last guitar's

been packed away

You know that I

still wanna play

So make sure you got it

all set to go

Before you come

for my piano

 

Another Tuesday... another Taste! This week we're trying something 'legendary'... an Ontario shawarma chain that does some unusual things. 

Founded by a pair of college friends in London, Ontario... Shelby's has expanded to two dozen locations throughout southern Ontario in the span of less than a decade, including multiple new-ish outposts here in Toronto. One assumes much of this success has been fueled/aided by an extremely strong social media presence and voice, with over two million YouTube subscribers and hundreds of millions of views on TikTok. Hell, they made the world's longest shawarma at a London Ribfest, certainly the type of feat that garners this kind of attention.  

As with any chain restaurant that expands so rapidly, there is some lamenting about the diminishing quality from London residents ("it used to be so good!") which is a similar refrain I've heard said about Osmow's ("you've gotta go to the original spot in Mississauga!") Regardless of all that, and in lieu of a random road trip to London Ontario (yeah I've got other shit to do, sorry)... I checked out the location on Bloor West near Runnymede subway station. 

 

    

Shelby's likes to proclaim they invented the 'shawarma poutine', a claim I find highly dubious (I went to enough random hole-in-the-wall shawarma places in my 20s to know a few of them offered something similar enough). 

Nevertheless, this is a menu that likes to experiment. A mac n' cheese with shawarma? A bacon caesar chicken shawarma wrap? Shawarma burrito? What is happening here? I'm not gonna lie, this all leans more into "weird for the sake of weird" rather than endearingly quirky for me.

Still, their 'bites box' is a intriguing concept I'd never before seen: a shawarma chopped into six smaller, more bite sized portions... accompanied with sides and fries. So here is the chicken one, ordered spicy:

 

  

Tight and boxy. Uh, right, lets start with the supporting pieces.

 

 

Here, from left to right, you've got some coleslaw, a garlic dip (you can choose the dip and shocker, garlic was my choice) then some pickled turnips. 

As accompaniments, these are definitely quality. The garlic dip isn't heavy on that distinctive roasty pungent sting that I love so dearly... rather more of a creamy taste with the garlicky flavour in the background. A bit like the famed Pizza Pizza garlic dip, if you're looking for comparison... only this has less unnatural sheen and is, ya know, significantly better. Really a perfect dip for these fries (more on those later).

I quite liked this coleslaw as well. Some solid crunch for a lighter, creamier slaw... but also a nice hint of a sweeter vinegar, along with the subtle bitterness of the cabbage... and a secret hidden spice to it? I swear I detected a bit of a chili heat lingering about, even just in the back of my mouth. Regardless if my taste buds were imagining things, this was a very tasty slaw.

Finally the pickled turnips. Here's the thing: I've never been able to eat these simply by themselves... that intense pickled sweetness and thicker firm texture has never quite clicked with me (a similar reason why I'll never eat a pickle just itself... give me a pastrami sandwich please). These turnips are quite good and flavourful for what they are, especially when combined in a bite with something else. A bright, sweet and sharp flavour to them consistently throughout.

 

   

Quickly on the fries: I'm a fan. After trying so many damn crinkle-cut fries earlier this summer when these weekly reviews were on a smash burger run... it's been refreshing to encounter both here and Tut's doing standard, semi-thicker cut fries in such a well done way. While I prefer Tut's more beer-battered offerings to Shelby's here (plus their unusual seasonings)... Shelby's fries are on point with their light crispiness, the level of salt, and the fluffiness of the potato within. And (at least within this box) you get a whopper of a portion. Fresh from the fryer with a side of that garlic dip? Pretty darn magical. 

 

 

Where these fries don't work quite as well are within the shawarma wrap itself (those lighter spots on the bottom left are french fries. Now, I understand putting french fries in a wrap is actually a common practice: plenty of Greek joints will throw them in their gyros for example, so this isn't a completely unique or crazy thing to do. 

My issue with it: you put them inside a wrap that's still hot? You're getting soft french fries. Hey, if that's your thing and you just want that particular taste of potato mixed in there... go for it. I'm just personally very lukewarm on it: it's just a blah taste and texture that adds almost nothing for me. 

What also stands out to me about these shawarma bites are how simple they are in terms of fillings. Really just those fries, the chicken itself, and a helluva lot of pickles. See my point above how I regard pickled things more as an enhancer than their own solo thing, and here is exhibit A because while pickles here indeed dominate the taste of these little bites... they do make them so much tastier. 

 

 

What you've got here is a simple concoction where the key elements make the flavours bigger by how well they all work together. Very glad I opted for the 'spicy' option for the chicken because the result (beyond giving these greasy chicken bits some needed punch beyond greasy taste/texture) is an earthier spice that tends to grow and linger on the back of the tongue. A manageable heat, really more of an "extra taste" than anything like a fireball from the depths of hell (the kind of spice I do like on occasion). 

Meanwhile you get plenty of sting in the front of the mouth thanks to the pickles, the bread (firm enough to keep this all from being a disastrous mess, yet still soft enough not to be remotely chewy) adding its own distinct grilled taste, all while the fries within act as a flavour muter for everything.

These are indeed odd yet simple tasty little things. Not at all close to the best shawarma I've ever had, but without question one of the more interesting. They are fine on their own, although by the fourth bite the temptation to start dipping them into the garlic sauce was too strong to resist. Unsurprisingly, this made them better (the sky is also blue).

 

     

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Overall! Kind of a half-recommendation from me. I think I liked the innovation more than the actual product. Everything was indeed tasty and satisfying enough, especially the supporting pieces. The shawarma bites are neat (as long as you're into lots of pickles) but the chicken was pretty ordinary by shawarma standards in terms of seasonings or distinct taste. 

Because their fries are actually good... not gonna lie but if I do go back (and I just might... the Bloor West one is very close to my Saturday baseball league)... I'm probably going to try one of their shawarma poutines. Yeeeeeah. 

I am a poutine snob too (much like pizza, I have standards damnit) because once you've had the Quebec stuff it's nearly impossible to accept any substitutes. With poutine I think there's something similar going on to the Guinness Theory, wherein the further away from Dublin/Ireland you get... the worse (or less authentically good) Guinness will taste. 

So here's the Poutine Theory! Basically, the further away from Quebec you are, the worse the poutine. Which... makes me wonder how a Middle Eastern fast food chain, based and operating in southern Ontario... well yeah. Totally not sure what to expect, and beyond those good fries... my sights are not high (I think the term "high" may need a different context to enjoy this, potentially). 

Regardless, maaaaybe a bonus Shelby's review someday? Anyhow for now (pardon the rhyme) they're entirely fine-to-good I'd say. Won't disappoint, won't blow your mind. Far more interesting for their funky menu ideas and genuinely funny viral marketing videos.     

 

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Tuesday Tune

Tonight is the final concert of the season at my summer gig (or office, as my friend likes to call it) and this is always a sad one for me... much like the end of baseball season it's a certain sign that the summer has officially reached its end.

As such, this song just feels so damn fitting... and it's a darn good tune even without that context. We wanna play just a little bit longer...

 

 

That's all for another week! Now that it's October... bundle up I guess? While November is easily my least favourite month (sorry Scorpios) I'm bittersweet on October. Halloween and the NBA season starting are all super cool things, and this is an objectively pretty month for the visual-minded with all the leaves changing colours. I dunno.

Hey though, what will likely happen this October... the 100th Tuesday review! We're closing in on it fast so stay tuned for that. Until then and until next time, stay safe, stay cool or warm, and don't spill that mustard.