A new dessert destination called Mister Wheel opened its doors in Toronto earlier this month, just steps from the North York Centre subway station, bringing a fresh take on Taiwanese-style wheel cakes to Toronto’s food scene!
These crispy-on-the-outside, gooey-on-the-inside pancake-like pastries (also known as wheel pies or red bean cakes) are traditionally made in round moulds that give them their wheel-like shape. Each one is filled with rich ingredients tucked inside the golden shell, ranging from classic red bean paste to custard, chocolate, cheese and even savoury options.
While several Toronto eateries already serve wheel cakes, most notably bubble tea shop FormoCha (55 Eglinton Ave. E.), Mister Wheel stands out with a menu dedicated entirely to freshly made-to-order wheel cakes and specialty drinks.
The cakes are made on a special iron griddle, where the chef pours in a layer of batter, adds filling to the centre and tops it with more batter before sealing the halves together. Instagram users recommend eating them hot right away (that’s apparently when they taste the best) and have praised flavours like Earl Grey milk tea, Matcha with Mochi, custard, pistachio, black sesame, savoury bacon with potato and even a limited-edition Canadian maple sugar wheel-flavoured cake!
You may have to wait a few minutes for your order, but customers love that “[e]very pie is prepared fresh right in front of you” and that you can expect “fluffy pancake-like dough with crispy exterior and generous amounts of fillings that aren’t too sweet.”
Wheel cakes originally hail from Japan, where they’re known as imagawayaki, and date back to the Edo period. Throughout the years, they’ve become popular street foods in Japan and Taiwan, so these delicious treats will bring Torontonians a nostalgic taste from East Asia.
Mister Wheel was founded in Taiwan in 2017, and the North York branch marks the brand’s first location in North America. Visit Mister Wheel at 5317 Yonge St., North York, inside the Upper East Food Club.
