LORD of the WINGS (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the suicide)

WWWWWW #67 Ancient Aliens

2012-05-09T11:27:00.000-04:00

Yes, World Wide Web Wacky Wing Wednesday. WWWWWW. This is where I will surf the Web, and find other people talking about chicken wings. The world is full of chicken wing stories, wacky and otherwise. Recipes, restaurant reviews, eating contests or whatever. Today's Blog relating to wings in some shape or form:

Ancient Aliens (on quickmeme)

This guy cracks me up. His name is Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and basically, everything accomplished in ancient Earth history was because of aliens. I saw this meme and it I had to include it.

Here are some of his classics - check out his hair:

Star Wars Day - May the 4th Be With You

2012-05-04T01:06:00.001-04:00

http://www.neatorama.com/2011/05/04/happy-star-wars-day-2/

Happy Star Wars Day 2012!!!

Here is some Star Wars & chicken related material to celebrate:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricko19/48577130/

Mmmmm, giant chicken wings! I've got a ~~bad~~ good feeling about this.

http://www.vivaboo.com/alright-stormtrooper-prepare-the-chicken-nugget-for-dipping/

This isn't the chicken your looking for . . .

http://www.dorkly.com/picture/13124/boba-fett-chicken-cosplay

From Family Guy - Ernie the Giant Chicken as Boba Fett.

"Oh, no way. I will give you all my Star Wars guys if it is. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! Except Boba Fett. No matter how sure I am, I never risk the Fett man."

―Peter Griffin

http://www.flicksandbits.com/2012/04/10/the-force-is-with-you-young-skywalker-but-you-are-not-a-chicken-yet/23996/

Egg Troopers?
"Close the carton doors....open the carton doors! Open the carton doors!"

And then there's this stop motion video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsS7cCDbkxE

This has nothing to do with Star Wars/Chicken - I just know if this could be a real pet, I would get one:

And finally if your in Toronto today, check out the the Underground Cinema which is hosting Star Wars Day:

http://starwarsdayto.com/post/16444430285/star-wars-day-toronto

WWWWWW #66 Meat Hook's Buffalo Style Chicken Feet

2012-05-02T21:52:00.000-04:00

The Meat Hook

"What is the Meat Hook, exactly?
Well, we’re a lot of things but, at our core, we are now what we were the day we opened the shop doors for the first time: three best friends jumping into the void and trying to figure out not what a butcher shop was but what a butcher shop could be.
What we came up with was the idea that a butcher shop could sell local, properly raised meat from small family farms but without all the piety of the farmers market and without all the preciousness of boutique restaurants who served that meat to the dining elite. Good meat, we decided, could be fun. Everyone, it seemed, had a fancy påte with a pedigree but we wondered if there wasn’t a bigger market for a hot dog you could feel good about feeding your kids? As it turns out we now make both fancy terrines and grass-fed hot dogs but the hot dogs outsell charcuterie twenty to one.
The Meat Hook is a pretty strange animal, even in the context of a city full of strange animals. It is a chimera that is equal parts NYC restaurant culture, psychedelic rock band and old-school butcher shop. Its structure is a democracy, a dictatorship and pure anarchy depending on the hour of the day and the only law is that whoever has the best idea at the time is in charge."

Pretty cool eh?

Above is the Meat Hook's Buffalo Style Chicken Feet.

I thought I love all things Buffalo . . . but this might be pushing it. Kudos for it being attempted.

Would you eat Buffalo style chicken feet?
Have you had chicken feet before? What is it like?

WWWWWW #65 Stealth Hunter 2

2012-04-25T11:46:00.000-04:00

Stealth Hunter 2

In a moment of free time, I was playing a casual computer game by RAC7 at Arcade Bliss, called Stealth Hunter 2. You play a secret agent who infiltrates a secret base, sneak past guards, hack computers, evade cameras etc. Its a fun little game.

The game contains a lot of humour and funny situations. For example, you get to hack computers (typing nonsense furiously on your keyboard) learning about stolen sandwiches etc. You also have achievements like snapping enough necks or washing or not washing your hands after going to the washroom.

What does this have to do with chicken wings? Well on one level I snuck into a washroom where an enemy guard was talking to himself . . .

Away for a bit

2012-04-22T23:44:00.000-04:00

Hey All,

Sorry for the long period of absence.

Work has been busy with a wind down to the end of the year. Personal life has been busy with different guest coming down and visiting for the weekends, a quick trip home to visit the folks, and a death in the family also happened.

Suffice it to say I've been busy, and when I've had a free minute, I just didn't feel like writing. Don't get me wrong, I've been eating wings, making wings, and doing wing things. Just not actually writing.

Tonight I caught up on a few weeks of comments. I'm catching up now with writing and photos and hope to have some posts up soon, but the next week and a half is going to be busy as well.

Thanks for sticking in there. I appreciate it.

LOTW

WWWWWW #64 - Fail Blog's KFC Pricing Explained

2012-04-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

FAILBLOG: KFC Chicken Wing Pricing Explained

Chris over at Nibble Me This sent this to me. It shows how important it is to really pay attention when ordering food:

Terry Peters - Making All Meat Wings possible @ Boston Pizza

2012-04-09T11:18:00.000-04:00

This is Terry Peters:

Who is Terry Peters?

He is a man who does the impossible. Think 1/3 Tony Stark, 1/3 Steve Jobs and 1/3 Richard Branson. He's out there doing it. He's changing things. He wears a suit.

"Terry Terrance Peters, Esquire is a world-renowned food innovator, best known for creating over 400 new foods.

Biography:

EARLY LIFE

Peters was born in Hay River, Northwest Territories. As a baby, Terry was diagnosed with megapapillaetis, a one-of-a-kind condition that gives Terry over 900% more taste buds than any other human being on Earth.

CAREER

After graduation, Terry started Terry Peters, Inc., and converted his parents’ garage into a food laboratory/culinary school without their knowledge. By 1986, working on a shoestring budget of $40, Terry made a breakthrough by bioengineering the seedless watermelon. Speculation over the seedless watermelon caused so much frenzy when Terry Peters Inc. launched its IPO that it made Peters a millionaire overnight.

Monetary success wouldn’t slow Peters down. His next innovation, “Piggies in a Blanket,” commissioned by the British High Council, would spark “TerryMania” across the UK in the summer of 1987.

Peters would continue to innovate and elevate food, becoming the first person to wrap a scallop in bacon in 1990, and the first person to “mix greens” in 1993. He’s been credited with inventing beer-battered onion rings in 1995, adding the second deck to the double-decker sandwich in 1996, and popularizing skewered food from 1997–1998.

In 1999, he helped NASA develop a new menu for the space program, creating full meals in pill format.

BOSTON PIZZA/AMW

In 2011, Boston Pizza, one of Canada’s largest casual dining chains, approached Peters about creating a new kind of chicken wing, one that would revolutionize watching hockey and drinking beer with buddies. The result was what many, including Terry, consider his crowning achievement: the world’s first all-meat wing. “Terry Peters took the bone out, and put more meat in. Genius. And, you’re welcome,” says Terry Peters.

CURRENTLY

Terry Peters is on tour promoting the new ALL MEAT WINGS to sold-out venues across the world. If you can’t see him live, you can try his latest innovation, ALL MEAT WINGS, at your local Boston Pizza. Find a location at BostonPizza.com."

Here is a timeline of some of his accomplishments:

As of today, Boston Pizza is unveiling Terry's newest creation: ALL MEAT WINGS.

I was fortunate enough last week to get a sneak preview of this creation and commercial - and Terry wrote to me personally:

What does an ALL MEAT WING look like?

Like this.

And this.

And these.

You can talk to Terry Peters on Twitter. You can follow him on Facebook. You can read my experience with All Meat Wings HERE.

Thanks Terry Peters. Thanks.

Boston Pizza New Wing Menu Advanced Tasting

2012-04-08T23:47:00.000-04:00

Not long ago I received a very interesting e-mail/invite:

"Hi there,
What do seedless watermelon and piggies in a blanket have in common? They were both devised by world-renowned food innovator Terry Peters. Well, Terry is at it again, but this time Boston Pizza has enlisted him to help create a new item for its menu, so prepare your taste buds for a true flavour feast!
As a passionate wing lover, I wanted to reach out to you about an exclusive invite to try Boston Pizza’s latest food innovation. Boston Pizza is unveiling the new food item and serving up an all access tasting at the downtown Front and John Street location next Wednesday April 4th and they want YOU to be one of the first in Canada to try it!
WHO: Boston Pizza

WHAT: Exclusive tasting preview of their secret new menu item

WHEN: Wednesday, April 4th at 6:30 p.m.; special screening at 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Boston Pizza at Front and John Street"

I was intrigued, flattered and very excited. Secret new menu item? Special Screening? Me? How could I not go?

I asked my staff if anyone wanted to go, and Kathy was available to go. We trekked on down to the Front & John Boston Pizza, which I didn't even know existed. It was quite nice inside, and when we arrived the young host took us on a tour upstairs. The feel of the place was more upscale crowd than the usual family oriented BP's.

We were led back downstairs, through the bar area to a private dining room, which had these huge glass doors and a big long table with lots of swag.

I met Kate from High Road Communications who sent me the initial invite (face covered in this photo), and Brenda the regional marketing manager for BP (pinky/peach blouse), Perry the director of communications for BP (standing in the suit). I don't know how Joe (blue hoodie) was connected to BP. The other guests included Emily (I think from Bloorp) and Steve Tilley (from the Toronto Sun) and The Food Fella (not in the pic).

We were handed envelopes that were marked "TOP SECRET," which I won't lie was a little fun. OK a lot fun. And I'm about to reveal these secrets to you now. That's right, you lucky readers you, you are about to become the first (after our little group) to hear about some new things at BP (cue James Bond music). The official campaign hasn't started yet even amongst BP staff.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Inside my folder were several documents and a gift card (awesome). There was a letter from Terry Peters, the new mascot for BP:

Terry Peters. He's described at 1/3 Tony Stark, 1/3 Steve Jobs, 1/3 Richard Branson. We watched a TV commercial starring Terry that only a handfull of people have watched. I'll have more on him in and the commercial on here in another post, but basically, he's invented BP's ALL MEAT WINGS.

Yes, their newest release is ~~boneless wings~~ All Meat Wings. Chicken breast that's breaded and deep fried and either tossed in dry rubs or 15 sauces:

New Rubs & Sauces

Spicy Asian Sauce
40 Creek Whiskey Sauce
Classic NY Buffalo Sauce
Cinnamon Maple Sauce
Mediterannean Dry Rub
BBQ Ranch Dry Rub
Ragin' Cajun Dry Rub

The room had a lot of the marketing material for the launch. For example, above we have one of those triangle shaped table top ads for beer and boneless wings.

One of the sides had more info on Terry Peters. Who is on Twitter too. And Facebook.

There were also some new items on the menu. But we stuck to the wings.

Actually we did have an order of Cactus Cut Potatoes, which were good. Like a thick potato chip that had a bit of a bite to it. And a tasty dip.

It wasn't long before our friendly server Lauren and the product specialist Ola were bringing out our first samples. They came in three waves, the first having 3 'All Meat Wings' (AMW) and 2 classic style wings. Above you can see the traditional wing on top and the boneless wing below. It even looks like a flattie.

The chicken is an actual piece of breast meat that is breaded and fried, then tossed in sauce or rub. I asked how the chicken is prepared (if there was a big cutter mold) but I didn't think there was because they were not uniform pieces. They weren't sure, but explained that it wasn't ground chicken product molded. Each piece was a crispy from the breading, but very meaty and very tender.

Part of their concept targets people on their lunch break who won't order wings because they might get messy for work, or those who don't like gnawing off the bone and want to use a knife and fork. But you can totally still eat these with your hands.

We also sampled some traditional wings (some baked, some fried) in some new sauces too. It was quite the feast.

ROUND 1:

Rajun' Cajun Dry Rub All Meat Wings

Right off the bat - it was hard to visually keep track of the All Meat Wings - despite the different rubs, they all looked identical.

The flavour reminded me of All Dressed potato chips - a little spice, a little tang. It was good, but I think the rub could have been more liberally applied - I would have liked it stronger.

Mediterranean Dry Rub All Meat Wings:

The dry rubs have like a potato chip flavour to them. This was like a Greek seasoning.

It was also not as bold a seasoning as I would have liked. But I really enjoyed the texture of the breading and the breast meat that really shone through.

BBQ Ranch Dry Rub All Meat Wings:

A little bit BBQ chip, a little bit Ranch. It's very simple.

OK, this All Meat Wing looks a little lick a chicken nugget. Let's be honest, it is a chicken nugget - but premium nugget for sure.

Honey Garlic Oven Baked Wings:

We had some traditional wings too. As you know, I'm not an HG fan - but lots of you are. So I had one. Just for you. Hope your happy. I didn't hate these, the baking gave a bit of a char flavour.

Classic NY Buffalo Baked Chicken Wings:

OK, for these to be really classic Buffalo, they should have been deep fried . . . but over looking that, they tasted pretty good. They normally have hot, medium etc from Frank`s sauce, but these definitively have that buttery tasted to them. Because these were baked, they too had a char taste that was a nice touch.

Spicy Asian Sauce Breaded Deep Fried Wings:

This was the classic yin-yang balance of sweet and spicy. Now they already have a spicy Thai sauce on their menu, so I would be curious to try the two to compare.

This sauce worked very well with the breaded fried wings, but I think it would go well with the All Meat too.

The first round was a great set up, and I was satisfied at this point. It was hard not to clean the plates completely, but I knew more were coming and I didn't want to over-do it. We talked about all things wings, food and blogs. Soon, it was time for Round 2.

ROUND 2:

Classic NY Buffalo Sauce on AMW:

So I think this sauce was made for these chicken bites. The sauce was thick and absorbed into the tenders. It's not spicy, but it is very rich.

I don't think I captured the size of the AMW. These were a big chunk of meat.

Whiskey BBQ:

OK so I am certain I heard Ola say these were 40 Creek Whiskey wings - but on the menu it just lists it as Whiskey.

If you've had a 40 Creek Whiskey BBQ - you know what this tastes like - a little sweet, but a little sour from the Whiskey. I'm not crazy about whiskey BBQ sauces, but if you are, you will like this.

Salt & Pepper Fried Wings:

These snuck into the new tastes parade - they have already been on the menu. That doesn't mean they weren't welcome.

Deep fried and tossed in (sea?) salt and pepper. No sauce. These were good. A little salty (I know, they should be). It makes for a nice contrast to the saucy wings.

Cinnamon Maple Sauce on AMW:

OK, I actually had these in a traditional bone-in wing too. And I know what your thinking because I was thinking it too. It sounded sickly sweet and I don't like a lot of cinnamon so these had a lot of potential to be not up my alley. But I was wrong. They BP's said this was like a 'dessert wing' and that was the perfect description. They were sweet, but just enough and the cinnamon supported, rather than trumping the maple. It gave a warm feeling after eating and if I was eating several orders of wings, these would be a nice plate to end the meal - bone-in or out.

We were pretty stuffed at this point (at least I was), but we still were not done. They were saving the 'best' for last. But it was a mystery. What would Round 3 be?

ROUND 3:

Ola brought out two amazing platters and I was caught off guard by what I was seeing . . .

Nacho Wings. Yes. Nacho wings. This is a starter sized platter ($12.49) that was a layer of nachos, about 8 All Meat Wings, and the fixin's.

This was quite an amazing little product. I looked at it and thought it was colourful and beautiful, but the idea made me hesitate. While I took pictures, the others dug in, discussing how you have to get a good chip with all the toppings and a AMW. And you have to get messy.

After hearing the sounds of people enjoying them, I dug in too and I really liked it. It may seem like a strange concept, but it really works. If I hadn't eaten so much before I would have polished this sucker off on my own. As for the AMW, you can get them sauced however you like, but ours came with medium sauce (good choice). The Santa Fe Ranch was really what topped it off - it's creamy and rich and so good.

My favourite All Meat Wing was also with the new Classic NY Buffalo Wing Sauce. But I also liked the Spicy Asian. And it was really different, but the Cinnamon Maple was just unique. The Nacho Wings just tipped the scale into complete awesome. My only constructive criticism is that the dry rub on the AMW's needs to be bolder and they could use a dipping sauce (but if they come sauced, you are golden). I personally am a bone-in wing guy, but if that's not your thing, All Meat Wings will be up your alley.

This was an awesome night. The staff at BP made us feel like mini-celebrities and treated us to some behind the scene events, some great food, and a great time. I really enjoyed just chatting it up, learning about the process and the launch. And it turned out that Perry and his buddy started a website over 10 years ago called torontochickenwings.com (now defunct) that was an inspiration for this blog when I first moved to Toronto.

Thanks for the free food and drink, the sneak peek, and for all the hospitality! I love anything wing related and I think the All Meat Wings and the new sauces and rubs will go over well. And I'm excited to hear more about Terry Peters - he sounds like quite a character.

Boston Pizza's Countdown
BP Front and John

See a few extra photos over at The Wing Bucket (yes it still exists)

WWWWWW #63 ~ Emma Janer

2012-04-04T10:42:00.001-04:00

Emma Janer or E-J

E-J has a cool sketch blog that she no longer updates. Which is a shame, because she has some cool sketches. I personally, like her chicken wing sketch.

She was out with friends on the 4th WorldWide SketchCrawl:

"My late al fresco lunch of fried chicken wings found itself the subject of a final sketch (done rapidly, so please overlook the wonky ellipses). I’m counting this as EDM #87: Draw your lunch. Though very tasty, these were almost cold by the time I ate them. How I suffer for my art!"

I understand . . . my wings get cold from photography.

WACKY WINGS ~ Mississauga ON

2012-03-28T11:23:00.000-04:00

I live and work at the same place, so lately it's been important to me that I get out of the downtown core and explore a bit. On St. Patrick's Day I found myself out in Mississauga for the later part of the day. Last year when the Wing Wars were raging on (Buffalo Wild Wings from the USA vs Wild Wings Canada), a third contender jumped into the ring - also from Canada: Wacky Wings. Originally from up North in Sault Ste. Marie, this cottage themed wing joint was setting up to stay, and they asked me to come see them.

Well, I wanted to go but had no real means. So a year later I had access to a car, I was in Mississauga, so this seemed like the natural dinner decision.

Finding them was a little confusing only because they are in the back corner of a strip mall - but once they come into view, you can't miss the giant chicken or the neon palm trees. Walking up to the front entrance I saw stuffed chickens in the window staring in. Some might think this is a little morbid, but I think it's awesome.

The restaurant is HUGE inside, much bigger than I thought. On one side is a massive factory/industrial looking bar side with huge screens and loud music (Irishy music since it was St. Patrick's day). The dining side that I sat on is all cedar wood with deer heads on the wall, cedar tables, cedar walls. Each booth in my section had a TV (I put on the Food Network and watched Eat Street). Most people were on the bar side but there were a few families in the dining room.

My server was Robert and he was friendly helpful and knowledgeable. He was always refilling my drink or answering questions about their 100 different flavours of wings.

I was set at my table with a big roll of paper towels and wetnaps. They also were advertising their AYCE wing special on Wednesday. This was a Saturday, so I was a little sad. Like most wing joints, you have to order a LOT of wings to split flavours, which is hard because you want to try a lot, but keep it economical. I went with their Bone In Wings Sample Platter ($22.99) which is 20 wings split 4 ways.

What a great looking platter of wings. I'm hungry again just looking at it.

The wings come in orders of 5, 10, 20 etc. The wings themselves have a breading/dusting on them that makes for a crispy/crunching coating.

The wings come with a side of carrots sticks and dip. And because it was St. Patty's day, they greened up the ranch dressing. Fun!

The wings themselves were a mix of small and medium, but more on the smaller side. They were a medium meatiness but were very tender chicken. I could pull the bones out pretty easily.

I had a hard time choosing my 4 flavours for the platter. But eventually I narrowed it down to 4 different flavours - a hot flavour, a spicy bbq, a pop flavour and crazy jalapeno dill. All of the wings were quite saucy and the sauces themselves were thick.

SIGNATURE HOT

I was looking for a classic hot sauce - I had my eye on Hot, Jalapeno Hot, Feelin' Hot Hot Hot, and Megan Fox Hot. But then I saw their "Signature House" sauces, so Signature Hot sounded good. I told Robert and he gave me a disclaimer that their signature sauces contain actual blue cheese in the sauces, which can turn some people off. I won't lie, I thought about switching too, but then I thought, no, let's see what they have to offer.

It was definitely a unique sauce. I got a stereotypical chicken wing flavour with the hot sauce matched with the blue cheese that one might dip their wings into. It was well balanced so that the possible pungent blue cheese did not overwhelm the taste buds. I liked it, but I think I would try one of the other variants next time.

JALAPENO DILL

This was another sauce I made some inquiring. I was looking at their dry dill wings, but I saw on their menu the jalapeno dill. I asked Robert how this combination worked, like was the sauce a creamy dill or dry? He said it was dry dill mixed with the jalapeno.

They looked festive for St. Patty's day. They also did not taste as I expected. It had a small bite from the jalapeno, and only faint taste of dill. Actually the taste was more like an Indian pickle which was more of a sour taste. I liked the first few wings, but after that I wasn't a fan of the flavour. Next time I would go with straight dill.

Dr. PEPPER MEDIUM

I thought this was pretty straight forward - a medium sauce mixed with Dr. Pepper pop. Funny, there was no Dr. Pepper available to drink.

This was my favourite of the flavours. It was a medium heat, but was still sweet. But sweet in a savoury way. Does that make sense? Basically a hot and BBQ sauce. I liked it and would definitely get it again.

BLAZIN' BBQ

I figured this was a spicy BBQ sauce . . . and it was. It was more BBQ than Blazin' though. It was very savory with a bit of sticky sweetness. I liked it, but I would experiment with other BBQ flavours.

FINAL SCORE:

Wacky Wings is quite the place. It is a monster facility for both families and sports fans. I don't know if it was the holiday, but there were a ton of servers. My server was great - always there for what I needed. The wings aren't huge, but they are tender and crispy. The sauces on the wings are thick and well coated. There are a lot of choices, and some where hits for me, others . . . I'll try something different next time. If I lived in Mississauga I would definitely be coming on Wednesdays for their AYCE wings to do more sampling. 6.5/10

Wacky Wings
1248 Dundas St East, Mississauga ON (and other locations)
wackywings.ca

WWWWWW #62 - Wings & Beer The Movie

2012-03-28T11:13:00.000-04:00

Wings & Beer: A Comedy of Errors

I came across this film directed and written by Khaldoun Aldhalie on IMDB. The description:

"Sam is a shy, single guy, who meets a girl on a dating website. He is pressured by his two best friends to sleep with her on the first date. A comedy of errors back at his apartment leads to someone being injured and cops being involved. He soon discovers that no matter how perfect you plan a date disaster is only one minute away, and fate has its own plan for him. "

Their website is no longer up, but I did check out the trailer (which I can't embed here - sorry). I won't comment on the acting or lighting or writing. What I will comment on is the clear lack of chicken wings in the entire trailer. Seriously, where are the wings? Batman had a bat-man in it. Jurassic Park had a dino-park in it. Mary Poppins had a Mary Poppins. Where's the wings?!

This movie came out in 2009.

But another movie called Wings and Beer came out in 2010. Maybe it has more to do with wings. Doubtful though,

The Burger's Priest ~ Toronto ON

2012-03-25T20:10:00.000-04:00

I have been wanting to go to The Burger's Priest for a long time now. I have heard how they are one of (if not the) best burger joint in the city. The Burger's Priest (TBP) isn't close to me either. So I set out to try their burgers. 3 Times. And failed each time.

The first time I went, it was Sunday. Of course a Christian themed burger joint is closed on Sundays. The second and third times I was faced with this problem:

http://normalgourmand.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/lineup.jpg

http://tipsareincluded.blogspot.ca/2012/03/burgers-priest.html

Line ups. Snaking their way out the door. Huge. And with no place to eat inside, and no place to eat outside, I gave up again and again. Well, the fourth time was the charm. I had a Zipcar for the day, and found myself at TBP with only a small line-up. But that didn't mean I enjoyed my experience there.

I got in; just barely squished inside the door. The small space was crammed with people and no room to manuever. It was chaos in my mind. I am socially claustrophobic (not medically, that's just what I say) - that is to say I hate (HATE) being in crowded environments with people (malls, I'm looking at you). I begin to hate humanity in these situations.There was no distinction of who was in line and who was waiting. Two parents with their toddler sit at the wall counter that has signs up everywhere saying something along the lines of "No Eating - This Area for Waiting" after asking the staff if they could eat there but they got no answer (because the staff is too busy) so they sat down and ate. I also saw two individuals get the wrong order. I also had to overhear every conversation because I am steps from everyone.

I'm also glad I had read about TBP before so I knew what to expect, somewhat. For someone walking in off the street it isn't clear. Like the fact that they only take cash (the guy ordering in front of me waited 10 minutes to order, ordered, then had to leave because he didn't have cash on him and couldn't see the "cash only" sign because people were in front of it). Or what is on the menu (the menu board has items like "The Option" which if you don't know already, is a mushroom filled with cheese and fried as a burger) and because it is soo busy and soo jamed, there's no time to ask. On top of that, they also have a Secret Menu. Good luck.

But I could see the ground beef coming out - big meaty balls being smashed on a griddle. They looked so fresh and so good. I also watched the fries be fried, then put on a baking sheet, the baking sheet put on a rack, where they waited until someone ordered them. And because so many people were ordering, the turn over is quick and nothing has time to sit and wait.

So I ordered the Cheeseburger ($5.29) with bacon ($1), fries ($3.29) and a pop ($1.29). I waited with people I was close to snapping on, but I didn't have to wait too long before my order came up and I ran outside to freedom. The line was now twice as long as before. I relished the air outside. Then I got in the car and drove to the lake to eat in privacy and unhampered conditions.

First I opened my drink. Yes they had your usual brand pops, but they also had Colt Black Cherry, and as you may know, I love my cherry colas.

At the top of my bag were the fries. These were crispy but soft inside. They were unseasoned and I only managed to get 2 packets of ketchup before getting out of TBP. Some salt and vinegar, and these would have been awesome.

Digging down farther into the bag was my burger. Despite the ordering process, I was very excited to try this burger. I mean, all of those people were ordering in droves for a reason.

When I pulled the burger out, I wasn't impressed with the size - I guess I expected it to be bigger. But it looked great, juices dripping down from the sides.

I had my burger loaded up with all their toppings, which were fresh like everything else. If I could put a theme on everything to do with this burger, it would be fresh, fresh, fresh. When I picked up the burger the bun was so soft and . . . fresh. The veggies . . . fresh. The beef . . . fresh.

The freshness was great. That aside, I was was really underwhelmed by the burger. Yes the meat tasted . . . fresh, but it didn't really do much for me. The bacon was good - but again no strong flavour. It was also quite limp (I prefer my bacon crispy). It was a good burger - and very . . . fresh. But nothing stood out about it.

People in that area must be sick of the other burger options, because I can't imagine myself standing in line for so long and so squished for the burgers there. I built up this burger in my head and felt there was too much hype. The Burger's Priest makes a nice fresh burger, but not worth the effort to get it in my opinion. If there were less people and a place to sit, I'd consider it. The price tag of over $10 for a small burger, regular order of fries and a can of pop didn't help much either. I think The Burger's Priest place just re-affirms my stance on organized religion - a lot of people lining up because someone said something and never questioned them. I'm not anti-Burger's Priest, I'm just not a convert.

The Burger Priest
1636 Queen Street East, Toronto ON
theburgerspriest.com

SCOTLAND YARD PUB ~ Toronto ON

2012-03-25T16:42:00.000-04:00

My lady had been in town for business, and then she had to fly home. I dropped her off at the Island Airport (taking the world's shortest ferry ride) and then I took their shuttle service to the Royal York. It was a beautiful day, so I walked down to the St Lawrence Market/Esplanade area.

I was feeling a bit hungry, so I started looking at some outside menus. I came across the Scotland Yard and Sunday was their wing night(day). So of course I went in.

The first thing I thought to myself was "this place is awesome." It was dark inside, it was busy, but I loved the old pub feel. Yes there were some tv's (and one old school projector tv), but this place was well worn but not worn out. Scotland Yard is not hip, it is not stylish - but it has character. Old books, old photos, old school bar but a fairly young crowd.

My waitress was Paula, and she was great. She was really warm and friendly - I really felt welcome in the pub because of her. She brought me refills on my Coke and answered my wings questions, which did not take long to come out.

Wings come in orders of a pound, which on my plates equaled about 9-10 wings.

The wings are deep fried, then sauced. Or not. I had one ordered of Buffalo wings, and the other was Dry Cajun Rub - so it was, well, dry.

Each order came with short cut carrot sticks and blue cheese dip. The dip had chunks of blue cheese too. Tasty.

Size wise these were ok wings - about a medium in length, and about a medium in meatiness. The skin was nice a crispy from the deep frying. My sauced wings were nice and saucy, but there wasn't much leftover on the plate.

BUFFALO

The name says it all. Scotland Yard has both Hot and Buffalo, so I asked Paula the difference (just to make sure) - and she confirmed Buffalo was Hot with butter added. And since these wings were deep fried naked, they truly were Buffalo wings.

Dry Cajun Rub

These were ... just ok. Nice and crispy and good texture, the Cajun seasoning was too mild in flavour. The hints of flavour I could pick up were good, but more seasoning was necessary.

Suicide

On the side I went for the hot stuff. The suicide actually had some heat. It was a good burn. It was a vinegary sauce and my only beef was that it was cold. I dunked my Cajun wings in these to jazz them up.

FINAL SCORE: I really liked the Scotland Yard Pub. The atmosphere was old school pub and I dig it. Paula was an awesome waitress. And I had cheap wings. Buffalo was good, Cajun was a bit weak, and suicide had some kick. I would like to come back for sure. 6/10

Scotland Yard Pub
56 The Esplanade, Toronto ON
scotlandyard.ca

WINGPORIUM ~ Etobicoke ON

2012-03-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I went on a personal field trip out to Etobicoke. See I live right downtown Toronto, and I live where I work, so I only see downtown Toronto. But I love taking little adventures and because I knew nothing about the West End, I jumped on the subway and went exploring. Eventually I went to the Montgomery Inn Museum, a cemetery and checked out some historical murals. This was a cool little area with some interesting stories. But the first thing I did when I got there was go for lunch. Which means I went for wings.

A place called Wingporium has got to be good, right? Found in a mall plaza, I didn't know what to think of the place.

Inside it looked like a standard pub. I had the freedom to sit where I wanted, but the best seats for taking well lit pictures in private were taken. So I went with well lit by the window seat. It was pretty quiet inside - a few couples, and individual old men. My waitress was Ana, who was also the bartender. I was worried service was not going to be good because she was the only one on deck, and she was talking a lot with a patron at the bar, she took care of business efficiently and friendly and she was able to answer my wing questions.

Questions like the banner for the Wall of Flame. If you can eat Wingporium's hottest wing, the Black Mamba, you go up on the Wall of Flame (physically and on the web). I asked how many the "Commander" had eaten, and Ana thought it was around 46. That's impressive - if not for shear quantity. I did not try the Black Mamba, so I can't comment on the heat level.

I was ready for wings with my giant roll of paper towel, my bone bowl and moist towlette. Now I just needed the wings. Fortunately, they did not take long.

Wingporium has 88 flavours of wings, which makes for choosing a good flavour overwhelming. I mean I want tot try some classic flavours, but I also want to try something a little crazy. So I tried to do some sampling.

Wings are

"lightly dusted and sauced, however you may also have them . . .

non dusted

naked with sauce on the side

sauced, then grilled (add $1)"

I decided that I would stick with their way of doing them with the lightly dusted and deep fried. I went with one order of Buffalo Style, one of dry Dill Pickle and a side of Bubba's Backfire.

The size of the wings were decent: they ranged from Medium to Large in length. They were relatively meaty and relatively tender. They were deep fried perfectly with skin that was crispy and tasty. There was a little crackle every time I bit in. So good.

Buffalo Style

This sounded as classic as possible next to Hot. I actually asked Ana what the difference was between Hot and Buffalo Style - and she said Buffalo had butter added to it. Well that sounded just right.

This was a great sauce. It didn't taste like your standard Buffalo sauce - the hot sauce had more depth to it with chili's and peppers mixed in, but the butter made for a rich layer to the taste. It wasn't that hot, but the flavour was great.

Dill Pickle

This flavour is wacky if you haven't had it before. I have, and have made it myself, so it's not crazy. But who ever first decided to put popcorn seasoning on hot crispy wings was a genius. For this to work well, the seasoning has to have a lot of flavour. Fortunately, these did.

The dill seasoning was zingy, sour and tart. My mouth was bursting from that sour burn that strangely works well with the salty crispy chicken skin. They also really coated the wings well; some places that do this do it lightly, but you need to go big and bold when doing chip flavours.

Bubba's Backfire

To try one more sauce, I went with this spicy BBQ flavour. BBQ is one of my possible go-to flavours that I felt would round out my hot/dill round up. It was a good BBQ, a savoury sauce with a bit of sweet, but not that 'spicy.' I would get it again, but then again, there are a lot of sauces to try again.

FINAL SCORE:
I was really impressed with the wings here. I was worried this place might be a mass-produced wing joint, but it felt like they really care about their wings. The meat itself was good - the skin was perfect with the dusting and the deep frying. The sauces were quality - Buffalo & Bubba's Backfire were both good. But I found the Dill Pickle to be irresistible. Wingporium does some awesome wings. I just wished Etobicoke wasn't as far away as it is. 8/10

Wingporium
1000 Islington Ave, Etobicoke ON (Toronto)
wingporium.ca

GEORGE's DELI & BBQ ~ Toronto ON

2012-03-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

I've been waiting a long time to go to this place.

George's Deli & BBQ is one of those dive-y kinda places that I imagined had good food, but looks run down and has some shady characters. After rejecting a few other places, I decided I was going to get some chicken wing take-out and that George's was going to be the place.

It was around 8:30pm on a Saturday and the place was empty when I went in. There are actually two store fronts, one is George's Pizza, and the other is the Deli/BBQ. It looked like it was run by a 'Ma & Pa' elderly couple, with the man (was this George?) unloading the rotisseries and cooking in the back, and Ma dishing up and running the till.

Now I knew they had chicken wings. In the past doing research on George's I had seen an old menu uploaded (but now I can't find it) with it on. But when I went in, there was just the boards from the 1970's above the counter that had little on it. I started to panic . . . I mean the rotisserie chicken looked good, but I had my heart set on wings. I knew there was more than meets the eye, so I asked 'Ma' if they had a take-out menu . . . and they did. And it had wings. And all was good. Now you too can see their current (Winter 2012 ) menu.

I ordered my wings and stood and waited. There is a bit of counter seating, but this place is all about take-out and delivery. Soon after I ordered, 'Pa' came in and was unloading the rotisserie that sits in the window. I counted something like 10-15 chickens and this was 8:30 in the evening. I said to him "wow, how many chickens do you go through in a day?" and he replied "not nearly enough" with a smile and a laugh. I didn't get my answer, but he seemed like a nice guy.

It didn't take long for people to be coming in for chicken. One guy was ordering a couple of quarter chicken dinners, another a whole chicken, another chicken sandwiches. All were getting them with fries and requesting the gravy . . . which sounded like it was good.

I may be a little judgmental, but they looked a little sketchy. Ok a lot sketchy. But everyone seemed to know 'Ma & Pa' and all were friendly. This was a truly neighborhood favourite. I was also really surprised by the amount of people coming in for chicken at this time.

I watched 'Ma' take out my wings after frying for about 15 minutes, toss them in an old feta cheese bucket and pour a lot of Frank's hot sauce from the commercial sized jug. Into the Styrofoam container and into a bag and I was off. They smelled great, and I knew it wasn't just me because I overheard people on the streetcar and people in my building's elevator commenting to one another about the great "chicken smell" or "mmm something smells good."

I rushed up to my room, opened the container - and took a moment to take in the wonderfully orange-y/red colour, the warm steam rising up, the vinegary spicy smell. My senses were alive. But what about taste?

I was hungry and ordered a Double - 26 wings. It seemed like a good deal, but I feared that the 26 wings would be absolutely tiny.

The container held a bounty of wings, The wings are straight forward Buffalo wings - non-breaded chicken deep fried, and tossed in Frank's. They were quite saucy with sauce to spare at the bottom.

The length of the wings ranged from small to medium - but the chicken meat was quite thick. The skin was crispy, the chicken tender.

As I mentioned, the sauce was straight out of the jug, but it was good. I'm curious how they do Medium or Mild sauces if Hot was straight up Frank's . . .

FINAL SCORE: This is a local place I will support again. I'm pretty sure this is my new go-to take-out wing joint. The price was reasonable, the service friendly. Yes the neighborhood is rough around the edges, I could see this place was popular for a reason. The wings themselves were slightly small, but big on meat. Crispy skin, lots of sauce - these were good Buffalo wings. At some point I will try the rest of the chicken besides the wings . . . 6/10

George's Deli & BBQ
254 Dundas Street East, Toronto ON

WWWWWW #61 CartoonStock Chicken Wing Jokes

2012-03-21T11:54:00.001-04:00

CartoonStock: Chicken Wing Jokes

It's pretty straight forward. Some cheesy and corny jokes around chicken wings. Enjoy.

THE OFFICE PUB ~ Toronto ON

2012-03-20T19:35:00.000-04:00

A weekend or two ago my buddy Ricky from Fuzzification came down to Toronto for a visit. It was a good time with us catching up, then getting food, then catching up, then more food. We also watched all of the Epic Rap Battles of History videos - funny stuff. Rice-a-roni Jabroni - instant classic.

We went out to try a popular Thai place, but as it turned out, it was too popular. We did a brief wander around the Entertainment District and saw a pub that caught our eye - The Office Pub. It was decided before going in we were just going to get some appetizers. So we went in to check it all out.

The Office Pub was half empty when we went in. At first I didn't know what to make of the atmosphere - it was kind of pub like, but it was also kind of hipster chic with some fancy chandeliers and funky tables. I don't know why it's called The Office - its a little too fancy to be your watering hole after work. Ricky and I both liked it the joint, but it was not your normal establishment.

Our server Evan was interesting - he was very eager to serve, I think he was bored considering it was a slow evening. He was always nearby and looking for something to do. Another drink refill? Why not.

We both thought the menu was really interesting - lots of tasty sounding options like their Wild Boar Sausage, or the Tandoori Drums, the Fire Alarm Burger (wait, why didn't we just eat here?). Rick went with Goat Cheese Bruschetta ($7). "Diced tomatoes, red onion, basil, goat cheese, and salt and pepper with a balsamic glaze." They were really loaded up. I'm not a bruscetta guy, but this was not bad.

I went with the wings. (surprise surprise).

The "Office Wings" came on a long platter that is a little more fancy than your average pub wings.

For $9 you get about 7 wings, which isn't a great price. The wings are breaded in flour and are deep fried.

On the side are carrots, celery and blue cheese dip which was thick and creamy, but not actual chunks of blue cheese.

The lighting was very dim, so I had to use candle light at the table to help. The wings themselves were a medium in length and about a medium meatiness. They are breaded but lightly, so that doesn't add much to the size. The wings started out crispy but softened with sauce over time.

I went with an order of Hot, with a side of suicide. The hot was a traditional cayenne based hot sauce. Nothing original, but they were tasty.

The suicide sauce on the side had a nice kick, but a bit sour for my liking.

FINAL SCORE: There is definitely an identity issue at this pub, but it somehow works. It's like a pub, it's like a night club. The food is mixed with pub favourites and slightly fancier fare. The wings were good. I'd like them more if there was a wing night. They aren't mind blowing, but they aren't treated like an after thought. 5/10

The Office Pub

117 John Street, Toronto ON

theofficepub.ca

PS: you gotta check out the opening video on their website. Go look at it. No really, check it out!

WWWWWW #60 - Origami

2012-03-14T20:03:00.000-04:00

CHICKEN ORIGAMI

Google today is honouring Akira Yoshizawa's birthday for his creating the modern origami (you know, Japanese paper folding). I thought 'lets piggy back and see what the internet had to offer in the way of "chicken wing origami"'. Turns out, not much.

Origami Wrapped Chicken Wings - Sounds Tasty?

Joseph Wu's Roast Chicken

Want to make a chicken? Here's How:

You can read that right?

So very little chicken wing origami.

OK, my challenge to you - can you make a chicken wing folded paper art? Send it in and I'll post them up.

Andre Leonard's Thai Orange Sriracha Wings

2012-03-07T10:21:00.002-05:00

I asked the other day on my Twitter/Facebook if anyone was #WINGING?

Andre Leonard took up the call and sent me some of his awesome wings: Thai Orange Sriracha Wings

"the wings are store bought frozen, about $3.50 for 2lb, and are flour dusted then deep fried to a light crispiness."

"for sauce, use butter, ketchup for base (to cut the spiciness of the sriracha), sriracha and orange or marmalade jam."

Looks mighty tasty to me!
Thanks Andre for sending them.

So who else out there is #WINGING ?

CBC Radio: Restaurant Reviewers

2012-03-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

Recently the food critic for the Ottawa Citizen, Anne Debrisay, was asked to leave after 20 years. This has brought up the topic of the relevancy of professional food critics now when blogging and food review sites are everywhere.

CBC Radio interviewed one of my blogger friends Don over at FoodiePrints and some Ottawa chef's to talk about the issue. Take a listen:

My thoughts are that there definitely is a place for professional food critics. I would echo Don here, the only difference is that I personally don't go 3 times to review a place - I have neither the time or the money. But I am glad to hear my practices of trying to be fair and anonymous are similar to Debrisay.

WWWWWW #59 - Worlds Largest Chicken Wing

2012-03-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

World's Largest Chicken Wing

In Madeira Beach Florida, the Hooters there have erected a monument to the chicken wing. They built the World's Largest Chicken Wing. Awesome. Now here are some photos.

From Bacon Realty.

From Roadside America.

This photo of Hooters is courtesy of TripAdvisor

From TV & Burgers.

Have you seen it?

Have you seen a bigger wing?

Switzerland Juice Dip Chicken Wings in Xi'an China

2012-03-06T19:35:00.002-05:00

Here's a guest review from my buddy Randy in China:

Dear Wing King:

It was a lazy Sunday and Vicky and I decided last minute to go the hot springs and relax for the afternoon. It was 6pm and we were pretty hungry. Nothing relaxing to make you hungry eh! We went near the city's center, near the accent Bell Tower to find some grub. We decided to check out this Hong Kong restaurant located on West Street. I saw wings on the menu and of course thought of you. Most wings in this city, Xi'an, are all the same. These were actually different and caught my attention. Switzerland Juice Dip Chicken Wings. Switzerland....in Xi'an...in a Hong Kong restaurant....I was getting pretty confused. However, had to try them!

They looked pretty good at first...but after the first bite I was disappointed. The size was ok, the meat was right...but the sauce. Oh the sauce was just not right. It was this strange sweet taste that I really cant explain.

I had maybe 2 of them and couldnt go for more. Vicky loved them though! Maybe because she was using chopsticks to eat them?

Vicky gave them a 8/10

I gave them a 4/10

Just goes to show that people have different tastes eh?

Good or bad, a review is a review right??

Take care WK!

MILL STREET BREW PUB ~ Ottawa ON

2012-03-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

In Toronto Mill Street Beer has had an establishment in the Distillery District for several years now. I have never been. But in Ottawa they just opened a new location in the old mill at the Portage Bridge, and LJ and I thought it was a good time to check it out.

This location was converted into a restaurant several years before I had moved to Ottawa a few years ago now, but apparently failed miserably, and closed. When I came to the capital region, I remember on several urban explorations I came across the abandoned site, sad that its potential was lost. But now, it has been found.

Mill St. has done an amazing job fixing this place up. LJ and I went on a Monday night (a holiday mind you) but it was packed. The place looked like a chic pub. I usually prefer old classic pub looks, but I had to admit that this place looked stylish and functional. The place is multi-story. I was kind of hoping for a seat either near the water looking out (although it's dark and maybe we wouldn't see anything) or near the windows that face the side building, illuminated green (seen in the bottom photo above).

We sat in the bar area to begin with and decided to sample some of the beer. We went with a sampler, and when the beer came, our table was ready and we moved to our booth. Our waitress was Veronique who was friendly and super busy.

So how was the beer? Let me preface this:

I am NOT a beer drinker. I don't drink alcohol in general. I acknowledge it is strange for the wing lover to not, but I don't. It's not religious, it's not political, I just don't.

That being said, there are occasions that I will because it just seemed right. When I turned 19 and could order alcohol for the first time, I did. When I was in Germany, how could I not? And being at a beer inspired pub, I felt it was important to. But I don't know beer, so don't take my word on whether these are good or not. Here are the descriptions from the menu since they can express it much better than me, but with a few of my thoughts added:

Helles Bock: "A pale orange colour (Helles in German means pale), strong lager brewed with 100% organic malt and hops. A big white head gives way to a sweet malty note which is quick;y followed by the aroma of alcohol. A rich malty flavour with hints of current and oranges is found on the first sip. The hops have a gentle bitternes to balance the malt. The alcohol is not a dominant flavour, but you'll feel it after a glass or two." Of all the beers we sampled this was the most boring. But then again, the others were unusual beers.

Vanilla Porter: "Pure, organic Mexican vanilla extract adds a very smooth and rich (but not over-powering) vanilla aroma and palate. Slightly fruity with plum and smoke notes. These flavours in combination with the vanilla produce a very subtle aroma reminiscent of sweet pipe tobacco." -This one was unique. The vanilla flavour came across very clearly.

Belgian Frambozen: "Brewed with our Belgian wit beer yeast and given a secondary fermentation on whole raspberries, the result is a naturally carbonated, garnet-red beer with a fresh raspberry aroma and plate and a clean, dry finish. This is the traditional Belgian method for producing this style of beer and we are very proud of this beer. A blend of European and Canadian malts give this beer a smooth, creamy body, and unlike our Wit beer, this brew is filtered to show off its intense red colour." - It was ok. I did not get a raspberry flavour, but I found it easy to drink.

Coffee Porter: "This unique porter is rich and robust, imparting an intense coffee flavour. And yes, it's made with real roasted Balzac's beans in every batch! Aromas of burnt malt and dark roast coffee; notes of chocolate, coffee and malt with a light bitterness" - yes it tasted like coffee. I don't drink coffee either. Actually it was interesting and not too bad.

So again, I am not a beer drinker and cannot effectively review these.
Also, now having come back home, writing this review, I was on their website and saw they brew their own root beer. Now that's my kind of beer!

Monday night is 5 for $5 - five different appetizers for $5. So LJ and I did some sharing. We were going to order the Drunken Crab and Spinach Dip . . . but they were out. So we ordered the Smoked Chicken Poutine.

I really liked this. The cheese curds were fresh and squeaky. The fries (Yukon gold potatos) were crispy and good. The gravy was smooth and the chicken was smokey. LJ wasn't excited by it, but I thought this was a good poutine.

Next was the Calamari. It was a tall cone of perfectly cooked squid. Calamari is a tough dish because it can easily go wrong - but the coating was well seasoned, crispy and the meat itself tender. The marinara dip was like any other (I didn't taste the chipotle in it), and the beer mustard aioli tasted like just simple aiole, but good.

LJ was going to order the Brewmaster's Mussels, but those too were sold out. So then we ordered the Piggy Delight flatbread (BBQ sauce, pulled pork, smoked pork belly, chorizo sausage and mozzarella cheese). We started eating it, and we thought it was strange that there were blueberries on it (we didn't remember blue berries). LJ questioned the BBQ sauce, and I was thrown off but figured it was just really light. And there was a meat that was a little too gamey for us, which we assumed was the pork belly. Then it dawned on LJ - we didn't get the Piggy Delight, we got the Duck and Mushroom. Veronique had mentioned earlier about some mix ups in the kitchen (they are still new and working out kinks) so we realized there was a mistake. We didn't report it though.

I don't like duck or mushrooms, FYI. I do like pork and chorizo. So a little sad here. It was well executed, if your into duck and mushroom.

Fortunately, I had wings to get over all of that.

I had heard good things about Mill St. wings from the Toronto establishment, so I was excited to try these here in Ottawa.

Wings come by the pound, with about 7 wings in their pound. The wings are dusted, then deep fried and tossed in sauce. I went with a pound of Hot, a pound of Jamaican Jerk BBQ, and a side of Habanero.

On the side were carrot and celery sticks. The dip was blue cheese. This dip was thick, and rich, but not a single chunk of actual blue cheese.

Size wise, these were a roughly medium in length, but these were pretty meaty wings. The dusting made these crispy wings that matched the tender meat inside. The coating also held up nicely to the thick sauces.

HOT

This was a good hot sauce. Nothing original, a cayenne based hot sauce but nice and saucy.

They had the mildest of kicks, but I was happy with these hot wings.

JAMAICAN JERK BBQ

I was curious but nervous about ordering them. Jerk is a flavour that is interpreted very differently and can be not so great. But LJ seemed interested in this flavour, so I thought, why not. Thank goodness for LJ!

These were great wings. The jerk flavour was definitely the secondary taste to the BBQ sauce, but that was a good flavour strategy. Sweet, slightly smokey, with the spices from the jerk accenting the chicken very well. They were saucy and sticky and I liked them. A lot.

HABANERO

Whoah. This was a spicy sauce. Suicide for sure. It actually took me by surprise how spicy these were and it knocked me back a bit. Heat aside, the sauce was very thin, and it had a vinegary/habenero taste to it. I think it was best having it on the side, and kicked it up nicely.

FINAL SCORE:

The Mill St. Brewpub is a great addition to Ottawa. I won't speak to the actual beer, but the food was good. There are still some growing pains, but I have confidence that it won't take long for things to smooth out. My highlights include the calamari and the smoked chicken poutine. Also, the wings. Not huge, but crispy, saucy and tasty wings. Thumbs up to the heat of the Habanero and to the flavour of the Jamaican Jerk BBQ. 7.5/10

Mill St. Brewpub
555 Wellington St., Ottawa ON

ottawa.millstreetbrewpub.ca

SUSHI 168 BUFFET ~ Ottawa ON

2012-03-06T19:03:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a ~~strange~~ unique individual with different tastes. I am not a fan of sushi. I cannot stomach the seaweed wraps, and the rest . . . just doesn't appeal to me that much. But I do love AYCE sushi places. Strange yes, but the reason is that I do enjoy other aspects of Japanese cuisine, or their North American counterparts anyway.

Ottawa has several AYCE Japanese buffets, but a new one opened up about a year ago and it became LJ's and my favourite. 168 Sushi is a chain from the Greater Toronto Area. Inside the place is clean, sleek, and always packed.

It has a good size menu, with lots of non-sushi items for me to pick. A few other things I really like about this place is that pop is included, and the service. One of the challenges that AYCE places have I find is that you order dishes A, B, C, D and E, but after you hand the sheet in, you end up getting A, C and D. B & E never show up, or if they do, it's after you've ordered it again, and then you get double. Sushi 168 seems to get things right 90% of the time, which is pretty good.

It didn't take long for our bounty to arrive. The first few dishes I forgot to take pics. We were hungry after all.

97. Beef Fried Noodle. Nice big udon noodles with beef. A plain dish that I always get, and then kick up with sriracha sauce.

126. Kalbi. Beef ribs. LJ and I love this tender, sweet meat.

104. Spicy Tofu (pan fried). Stir fried veggies in a 'spicy' (but not really) sauce. Healthy right?

Ah the tempura basket:

133. Sweet Potato Tempura
141. Shrimp Tempura

What can I say, crispy, light and scrumptious.

In the background you can see 159. Seafood pancake. It was interesting, but not something I would order again.

151. Garlic Bread. Who knew a hot dog bun that looked burnt would actually be tasty garlic bread. What? hot dog bun garlic bread isn't Japanese?

146. Yakitori (chicken kabob). This is really more like a chicken karaga, which is basically breaded deep fried chicken. So good. Especially dipped in hot sauce.

92. Chicken Fried Rice. I know - I'm crazy adventurous. But this rice is sweater than say Chinese fried rice.

We also ordered a bunch of other dishes, but I didn't get snaps of them all. I did get pictures of my favourite that is only available at dinner. And that is 156. chicken wings.

Technically, there are two pieces in an order. But AYCE is ALL YOU CAN EAT - so I had a ton of these.

Lightly coated, then deep fried. That is it. They came out piping hot; it was very difficult to sit and wait for them to cool down.

The wings themselves were small to medium in length, and medium in meatiness. The skin was very crispy. The meat, very tender. The chicken was juicy. They were slightly greasy, as they should be.

These are just crispy, hot wings. A little salty. It shows how simple chicken wings can be great on their own.

I did dip a few in sriracha, but I pretty much stuck to the plain wing.

FINAL SCORE:

I can speak about the sushi, but the other food here is good. But my favourite is the wings. So simple, yet so good. Crispy, salty, hot and good. And always AYCE (at dinner time). 6.5/10

168 Sushi Buffet

1651 Merivale Rd, Ottawa ON (and other locations)

168sushibuffet.com

Texas Roadhouse ~ Watertown NY

2012-03-06T18:46:00.000-05:00

Everytime LJ and I go to Watertown NY, my folks always ask if we went to Texas Roadhouse. They love it, but LJ and I always go somewhere else. Well on a recent trip to Ottawa to visit LJ, we headed South of the border we decided it was time to try them out.

We went for a late dinner after some shopping, but the place had been consistently packed from 5pm-9pm. Since we were coming in after 9, we didn't have to wait, and in no time we had a table.

I don't think I've ever been to an authentic roadhouse, but this is a good commercial replica as I see it. This place is known for its steaks and when you come in there is a grocery store counter where you can pick your beef (if you want to). Country music on the radio, neon signs on the wall, oh, and an interesting addition to the floor:

At each table you get a bucket of peanuts to munch while you wait. Awesome. I think people waiting in line might get them too. And then you put the shells in a bucket ...

... or onto the floor. Or, the wait staff go to the table after patrons leave, then throw those buckets of shells on the floor. Everywhere. The entire establishment is peanut shells. Now I've been to a bar here or there that has this, but not a family restaurant. It is still a fascinating experience.

Our server was Angel, and he was awesome. Really friendly, interactive and genuine. He talked a lot with us, and while sometimes a waitstaff member that chats a lot can be annoying, Angel was fun and a blast, answering questions, joking around and great service (never had to ask for a refill on my pop for example).

Also brought to your table is fresh baked buns that come with cinnamon butter.

The buns are warm and fresh. I didn't think I would care for cinnamon butter, preferring a savoury flavour over sweet, but this really worked.

LJ and I also ordered up some appetizers. I had to try the Fried Pickles ($3.99 USD). These pickles were cut in a chip/coin style, different from Ontario where fried pickles come in a spear shape. It comes with ranch or Cajun horseradish but Angel said it was good with both, so both he brought.

The pickle coins were crispy yet soft. They had a tang to them as well. And they were great with both dips. This new way of having of fried dill pickles had it's pros and cons. I did like that there was more surface area for breading and it was easier to dip and to eat for sure too. But I prefer the flavour and style of spear pickles. Both are good, that's what I'm getting at.

We also ordered a Cactus Blossom ($4.99 USD). I hadn't had an onion blossom in years and was excited for this. If you have never had an onion blossom, you have missed out my friend. A contraption splits an onion and removes the core. Then the onion is seasoned and battered, then tossed in the deep fryer. What you get is something like a straight tasty onion ring that you pull apart and dip into the creamy Cajun horseradish dip. So good.

As if we weren't full already, we actually had meals. Each of our meals came with two sides, and this is what LJ had:

Caesar salad. Decent but nothing special. Crunchy fresh lettuce and a slightly zippy dressing. Real croutons used too.

Mashed potato's that were "loaded" aka added cheese, real bacon bits and sour cream (for $0.99 USD). I didn't have any, but LJ enjoyed them.

Her main dish. Originally she ordered the Country Fried Steak, but considering we came in near the end of the night, they were out. Country Fried Chicken ($10.49 USD) it was. "Tender, all white meat chicken breast, hand-battered, golden-fried, and topped with made-from-scratch cream gravy." LJ found it a little plain, but I really liked the chicken. I'm not crazy 'bout gravy, let alone cream gravy, but this was good too in my opinion.

On to my own meal:

My first side was the chili. Filled with chunks of beef and beans and topped with red onion and cheese. This was claimed to be homemade, and it sure didn't taste from a can. It could have been a lot spicier but at least it was hearty.

For my main course I went with the ribs, with fries as my other side. I'll be upfront - I did not care for the fries. They were double fried, but had no potato inside - just overcooked.

Fortunately the ribs were better. "FALL-OFF-THE-BONE RIBS • Our award-winning ribs are slow-cooked with a unique blend of seasonings and our signature BBQ sauce. Served with your choice of two sides. Available in half-slab or full-slab. You can even make your meal into a Texas Size Combo by adding Pulled Pork, BBQ Chicken, Sirloin, or Ribeye for just a few more bucks."

OK, so authentic BBQ folks are going to balk at that first line - because real ribs shouldn't be fall-off-the-bone. But sometimes taste trumps authenticity, and these were some tasty ribs. I went with the half-slab (yes, half-slab, did you not see all the other foods above?).

They were fall-off-the-bone indeed. Very tender. The sauce was good too - a little smokey, a little sweet. Tomato based. Next time I go back, I just might get them again.

Texas Roadhouse was great. The service was excellent, the food was good, the atmosphere was fun. It was a great night out and neither of us would hesitate to come back again. No wonder they are packed every time we drive by.

Texas Roadhouse

20790 NY State Route 3, Watertown New York, USA (and other locations)

texasroadhouse.com