UWO Eats- London, Ontario Cheap Meals

Jack's Sunday Night football fix- essentially free wings

2010-11-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Jacks on Richmond Row at Kent street, has changed up their Sunday Night Football wing special. I previously reported that the wing night was cancelled, and since the people at jacks have changed things up.

They are now offering $11 pitcher and wing deal. Which is one of the best I've seen in town. $11 gets you a pitcher of domestic beer and 10 wings.

Granted, 10 wings cost you $2.90 on almost every night at Jacks if you purchase a drink (which cost $2.50 a bottle).

This works out to a great deal if your goal is to get a bit tipsy for the game, but not so great if you want to eat copious amounts of wings. Though, even if you buy another 10 wings on the side, you're still coming out on top here.

The moment everyone's been waiting for

2010-10-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you've been waiting for a grocery store in the UCC at the University of Western Ontario since first year. At least that is what the University Student's Council will have you believe. That being said, yesterday was the first day Grocery Checkout's store in the University Community Center opened its doors- later than scheduled, but what else is new.

Thus far, people have been confused as to the point of the grocery store on campus, or have yet to check it out. My take is that I originally thought it was a waste of space before I went there today at lunch, however my mind was changed when I walked in.

The store has a large selection of either in season or cheap mass produced vegetables and fruit available for purchase by weight. I was able to grab an orange, plum and nectorine for $1.03, not too bad for a snack on campus considering I could grab a chocolate bar for $1.25.

What disappointed me was the current lack of protein options. I was hoping to walk in, buy a loaf of bread and some sandwich meat and walk out feeling like I beat the UWO Hospitality Services at their own game. I was told that this is only temporary as they're waiting on their shipments to come through to stock the rest of their refrigeration space.

That being said, I have yet to see condiments here, so we may have to add mustard to the list of things to bring to campus each day, or try and take some packets from the Spoke.

I still am not sure I see the point to doing your groceries in the basement of the UCC, however if you've got a stellar meal plan in your mind and you're on campus, you could definitely pick up the essentials there.

We'll see how this experiment fairs and hopefully it can do better then our USC and make a profit.

Jacks on Richmond Row: Cancelled their free wing Sundays!

2010-10-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

I have some disheartening news. Jacks has finally realized how much of a loss they were taking on their free wings when you buy a drink promotion and appear to have cancelled the promotion indefinitely.

If anyone could confirm this that'd be great. But the past 2 Sundays I haven't seen any of the buffet trays- or hotel pans as they're called in the industry, out and filled with overly spicy wings and super salty fries.

Personally I'll still go to Jacks, they've got super cheap wings nevertheless and the cheapest beer in town on a Sunday Night for NFL action.

Look out for a review on London's best Wings and if you have any suggestions let me know.

Cheap London Breakfast

2010-10-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA and so busy with life that food writing has taken a back seat. If you've come back since my last post to find nothing, I'm sorry. Though I doubt there are any fans of this blog. I digress.

Cora's Bluberry Pancakes

Recently I was told that I should write about great places to eat breakfast in London. Then I walked into Winks hungover one morning and realized that There definitely needed to be categories in what I am tempted to call ~~The Great Breakfast Debate~~, scratch that, it needs to be The Great, cheap, Breakfast Debate as we're students who want good food, dirt cheap.

I've decided that the categories that I will use to rate the breakfast joints are as follows: Eat only after hangovers, Eat after you spend $100+ on a bottle the night before, Acceptable to bring your one night stand to, and breakfast with the parents.

Let's start with the lowest category on the the breakfast totem pole; Eat only after hangovers. Be honest, how many mornings have you (and every other Western student) woken up feeling like you needed something in your stomach stat to absorb all the alcohol- that's what I thought. The best place I've found to cure that intolerable feeling is Winks. Don't get me wrong, I go to Winks sober sometimes too, but its their copious options from breakfast sandwiches to french toast and fluffy pancakes that make it so comforting the morning after a black out night on Richmond Row. Winks has two very distinct things going for it. The first is the fact that breakfast there stretches on all day, with a full breakfast selection until the joint changes over to pub fare at night and the second is that it offers a tonne of seating. This alone makes me more inclined to check Winks out on a weekly and sometimes daily basis compared to some of the other downtown breakfast establishments; throw in the new Winks VIP Card which gets you your 6^th Breakfast (or lunch) free and you can't beat Winks for mediocre food at a cheap price. I highly recommend the Peameal Bacon BLT.

Moving up the chain to the next category we come across the overall cheapest breakfast join in town. When I feel like I broke the bank the night before I usually try to head up Richmond to Christina's Pub. Get there before the 11am rush does and you'll walk right in and sit down on any day but Sunday and treat yourself to a potential breakfast under $5, or go all out and order the Linebacker for $9.99- its guaranteed to rid you of a hang over in one of two ways, I'll let your imagination figure that part out though. Christina's downfall is its size, its much too small to handle the demand of students from both Main and King's in the morning as it is walking distance from three residences and the surrounding student area of King's University College. The plus side is, the majority of students live by campus, so it shouldn't be a far walk to Christina's from your one night stand's place in the morning- i didn't say that. I like the Linebacker, but if you're on a budget from the night before go with the Basic.

Next on the list is a joint I would say is acceptable to bring ~~your one night stand~~ – i mean significant other to. I'm talking about Campus Hi-Fi. If you come from a long line of UWO relatives, you've probably already had this place suggested to you by your parents; or grandparents. In the mornings you can try a wide variety of food at very affordable prices from a few different cultural points. I usually go with the Ukrainian; fried kielbasa and perogi. Now that's a filling breakfast that will definitely hit the spot. The reason I say this is a great place to bring that lucky someone in your life- or at least in the morning- is because its a quieter place with a great family diner feel to it. I'm almost certain the restaurant is run by a family of Greek decent so you know the food must be good. Again though, the downfall at campus Hi-Fi is the lack of seating. Get there before 11 to walk right in and expect a wait any time after.

Last is the breakfast place you can bring your parents to when you want them to indulge you away from the hungover students. Cora's would definitely be my pick for cream of the crop breakfast restaurants in London, if all the locations weren't so far away. Not to mention the amount of people who frequent on weekends. That being said I love Cafe One on Richmond row between Jacks and the London Taphouse. The restaurant is definitely more expensive but well worth it when you aren't footing the bill. It'll make you feel healthy and your mom feel like she's taking care of you. Get the Bagel and Lox if you love smoked salmon.

Smoke's Poutinerie - Not your average fries and gravy

2010-06-02T09:51:00.000-07:00

Smoke's Poutinerie just opened its doors for the grand opening this week in downtown London, right on Richmond Row between The London Tap House and Jack's. Its website describes itself as the first chain of restaurants in the world - yes there are currently 6 locations, 5 GTA and 1 in London - serving strictly poutine in many different flavour combinations.

If they''re the only ones, I'd be surprised. This doesn't seem like a very hard concept for our provincial neighbours to the East to figure out, after all , Quebec is the birthplace of Poutine. That being said, Smoke's says their goal is to bring the "authentic Quebec classic to the world in its original and unique way". This is where my issues begin with Smokey's. How can something be original and unique at the same time. Frankly, I put Smoke's to the test, my roommate hails from France, has lived in Quebec and is an expert on anything French- Parisian or Quebecois. So, needless to say, on Poutine, I'd take his flavour palette over mine any day.

The first time my roommate ventured to the Poutinerie, I could not attend, but he told me that he would let me know how things went. Naturally, he ordered what Smoke's claims is the original: fries, gravy, cheese curds. I've used a term before that many students like myself know all too well, and my roommate agreed, this really does fill a void. He probably a 170 pound male, was unable to finish off a large original poutine, at $7.49, this could likely last you two meals, or one drunk night.

As for authenticity, there were a few obvious errors.

Sauce:
The gravy used at Smoke's is less than hardy. Be it that the new cooks in the kitchen are getting used to churning out batches of this all day, or that the recipe needs some fixing, either way, the gravy is flavourless and lacks any body. There is no mention of "homemade" or "made fresh daily" on Smoke's website, so we'll go with the fact that this is a powdered gravy. Smoke's staff, if you're reading this, please add less water to the gravy mix. The website, and the menu, also have a few other sauces, Curry, Vegetable gravy (Vegetarians read below!!) and home made meat sauce.

Fries:
Overall, the fries were pretty good. It's REAL hard to mess up standard fresh cut Yukon gold potatoes. I know for speed sake these potatoes are blanched and probably refrigerated, which cuts down on the final product's crispy nature most "fry connoisseurs" know and love.

Cheese Curd:
Apparently, this cheese curd is made in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and is as authentic is you can get. It tasted fine, and at least its curd, but the viscosity of the cheese was something to be desired. We want more melting action! (again, Smoke's Staff, please pour HOTTER gravy over these curds).

As mentioned previously as a warning to Vegetarians, my other roommate joined us on our second trip to Smoke's and ordered what we thought would be a completely vegetarian dish, the Veggie Nacho Grande. What he got was veggie nacho fries, with beef gravy. How dumb can you be!!! So make sure you specify Vegetable Gravy when you order your favourite veggie poutine.

Other combinations we tried were:
Country Style -mushrooms, onions, bacon and chicken, a good meal, be sure to order the small, as none of us could finish our small. It was pretty flavourful and a good deal for your money.

Pulled Pork - the pork was sweet, so if you don't like sweet bbq flavour, this isn't for you. I enjoyed this meal and would definitely go back for more.

Overall, Smoke's must thrive off of location, if you look at where they plan to open next, the cities are all student driven, Kingston, London, the areas in Toronto and coming soon, Ottawa. The food is decent grub for the price, but its by no means up to snuff for some serious poutine eaters, so essentially, Quebecois beware, this ain't Quebec. Look for Smoke's to fill that hungry void that snickers chocolate claims it can, and can't. Great location on Richmond Row means this joint will be popping till the wee hours and is open till 5am on Friday nights. I cannot wait to try this under the influence.

What I have in my cupboard right now... and you do too

2010-01-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

It's cold outside, I don't want to do groceries, so as we all do, I went to the cupboard to see what I had. I'm not one to enjoy soup by itself, I seldomly buy soup to just have a bowl, so I was unimpressed to see that I had 3 kinds of soup, all in cans; cream of mushroom, vegetable and onion.

This is where I like to get creative. I went to the freezer, and of course, living in a fraternity house, half my food is gone. All I have left -> 2 chicken breasts and a massive frozen log of pork tenderloin. Great. I'm hungry, and i'm hungry now.

Here's what I came up with. I also found cheap $0.99 fussili noodles, the small noodle with the tight spiral.

I took the vegetable soup, put it in a pot, and added twice the amount of water that the condensed soup required to be reconstituted. This will now essentially be my potching liquid for the chicken, however, if you've ever had chicken cooked in liquid, you'll realize it's not the best texture. Solution: do a quick defrost on the outside of the chicken and then brown the outside using oil in a frying pan.

I then put the chicken in the vegetable soup and put water on to boil for the pasta. Instantly, cheap and easy chicken "cacciatore" a la student.

Valentines Day is around the corner....

2010-01-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

So look out gentlemen of the world, the dreaded "holiday" fabricated by the greeting card industry is almost here. Don't worry though, in the coming weeks UWO Eats will help you wow your date (maybe get you a second date) on a budget.

If your plan is to go out on the town, look for a restaurant with a set Valentines Menu in advance. This will help you budget, as your date won't be able to order that $50 porterhouse steak (but if she orders that big a steak, should you be dating her?). Places like The Tasting Room (if they're reopened by then) offer outstanding appetizers that can be shared and paired with a wine flight each for under $60-$80 dollars depending on taste preference. Aroma on Richmond has in years past done a Prix-Fixe Valentines menu, a set selection of Chef's choice dishes that offer you a starter (usually a salad) a main and a, more than likely, chocolaty dessert.

If the plan is to stay in, I have the best recipe that will assure you look like a master Chef and won't hurt your wallet.

Chicken Marsala

What you'll need for a dinner for 2:

2-4 chicken breasts, depending on your and her appetite - $5-10

1/4 cup of flour - steal this from that friend who likes to bake those awesome cupcakes

1 lemon or 2 tablespoons lemon juice - if you have a tea drinking friend who claims they're British, they have lemon juice

1 chicken bouillon cube - $0.50-1.00 in a pack of 4-12. Bouillon is dehydrated chicken broth.

Salt and pepper - go to Saugeen caf and steal 2 shakers if you don't have them already

1 -1 1/2 cup Marsala wine - $12 at the LCBO for the bottle, don't drink it, but you'll want to make this again I promise.

Olive oil

1 large portabella mushroom - $0.50 - cleaned and diced

5 medium field mushrooms - $0.50-1.00 - cleaned and diced

How to make:

Boil water to directions on the Chicken Bouillon cube and add cube, stirring until all is dissolved. Set aside.

Mix the flour with 1 tablespoon each of salt and pepper.

Heat a pan to medium high heat and then add olive oil. (You should always preheat the pan before adding the oil - remember that one)

Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel and coat with the flour mixture.

Add the coated chicken to the pan, brown each side of the breasts to golden brown, and remove, placing on paper towel to absorb excess oil.

In the same pan, using the same oil (don't worry about clumps of flour) begin to cook the mushrooms over medium heat.

Once the mushrooms have began to soften, re-add the chicken to the pan and add the Marsala wine 1 cup for 2 breasts 1 1/2 for 4. Add the juice of one lemon and the chicken broth to cover.

Let simmer over medium to medium high heat until the liquid reduces by half to 2/3 or until chicken is white throughout.

Remove chicken and reduce remaining liquid to a thickened sauce, approximately 5-8 minutes over medium heat.

Serve this with roasted potatoes, recipe to follow or risotto for those who don't mind being more adventurous in the kitchen.

All this meal for <$30 for 2.

Enjoy

A nice PHO on a cold winter day

2010-01-06T07:20:00.000-08:00

Another killer deal, a change from the usual fast food we students eat, is PHO.

Phở ( in Vietnamese; in English, written pho and typically ) is a Vietnamese thinly sliced meat and noodle soup dish.

This dish combines aromatic broth with many different spices with vermicelli rice noodles and thinly sliced meat, whether that is beef or chicken with your preferred level of hot sauce to warm you up on a cold winter day.

I enjoy Pho when I'm sick, as it has a great punch to combat congestion and the like. I've recently been ordering though GrubCanada.com from Vietnam Taste which is located at 660 Wonderland Road. For $7.99 you can have a meal that, even for large appetites is far too much for one sitting. I'm a 200+ pound male, and I split this mean into two BEFORE putting the broth, noodles and meat together. This way, the noodles keep from going soggy in the refrigerator or the microwave the next day for lunch.

$7.99 for two meals is roughly $4 a meal, dirt cheap and very satisfying. Order with a friend and split the $4 delivery charge and save yourself not only time from studying to cook, but also from having to brave the winter air. A tip for most Western taste buds, order the medium rare or medium well Beef, stay clear of anything with "Beef Balls" or anything that doesn't sound tasty.

For the adventurous, there are other reasonably priced appetizers on the menu that can tantalize your taste buds.

The Game, a beer and some wings

2010-01-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

I just got back from Jacks.

Sunday nights after 9:30pm they have free wings and fries with the purchase of a drink. From what I'm told, this drink doesn't have to be of the alcoholic nature, but when you're at Jacks, a beer and a game of Football just seems right.

The food isn't great, but it fills a void. There are two options for wings - BBQ - they are usually over cooked and over caramelized, and what the server/security personnel was referring to as "extra-hot". These wings are meant to be mean. I love spicy food - I had a great dinner of Pho today from Vietnam Taste- more on that later - but these wings aren't a nice hot, basically, think Franks Red Hot poured all over, nothing to them but to make you thirsty. The free buffet is concluded with French fries. These, like the hot wings, are - it would appear- meant to make you need a drink.

That being said, these do fill a void, when you're hungry, and you live downtown, or on the 12 or 2 bus route and need a place to unwind on a Sunday night, head on over to Jacks, where for the budget conscious student, you can have relatively all-you-can-eat wings and fries for $2.25 - $2.50 (price of a Soft Drink versus a domestic beer). Just remember to make your second drink a cup of tap water, you may need it.

Look out for more cheap places to eat in London, as well as posts on cheap meals to wow your significant other, things like that. Enjoy.