It was a Monday night and LJ had a meeting/dinner to attend. I dropped her off and decided since I was going to be picking her up in an hour and a half roughly, I was going to take advantage of a wing night (Monday is by far the biggest wing night in Ottawa). I was also hoping to explore somewhere I had never been before. I checked my wing night rolodex, checked my location, and found Quinn's Ale Pub seemed to fit the bill.
This pub is located down in an area of Ottawa known as Old Ottawa South, which is just South of The Glebe. "What is a glebe?" you ask. Well ...
"The word "glebe" means church lands, and the area was originally known as "the glebe lands of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church". When the area was opened for development in 1870, real estate agents began to refer to it simply as "The Glebe"." Wikipedia
Huh? Who knew a blog about wings could be so educational! I never really knew the difference as it all just seems like The Glebe to me, but the Rideau river is the border for these two communities. I have passed Quinn's many times but never been in. It is a very cool pub, which I'm not entirely sure of, but became part of the Ashton Brewery group, which includes other gastro pubs like Patty's Pub and the Ashton Brew Pub. Back around 2014/15 it had a colour rebranding to red and their side patio was expanded as well.
From the outside, Quinn's doesn't look very big. From the inside, it looks even smaller. It feels like what I imagine (as I have never been) what a traditional Irish pub looks like. It was full of an older crowd that reminded me of professors and academics (Carleton University is nearby). It's a tiny pub inside and it was PACKED on a Monday evening. Space is at a premium with not much distance from one table or chair to another. It's loud with talking, and you are going to listen in on other conversations whether you want to or not. Despite that, I really dug the vibe.
I was dining solo, and often I will not do a review and just leave a place when my space (and lighting) are challenged. But I was a) on a time crunch b) already there c) wanting to go there for years, so I tried to find a table that was not right next to people, in decent light (because it's very dark inside), and I could take photos of the food without looking weird. I found a small table for two, but the chairs were wingback chairs that sat very low to my wobbling table. Due to the arm rests, I also couldn't pull myself very close to the table. It was a comfy chair that would be great for just drinking, but was very awkward for sitting.
Online it said Quinn's had a wing night on Tuesdays, but you just never know. Lots of places do not keep their websites up to date. So I was happy when I saw the sign out front advertising Wing Night with a smiley face. The bartender Ryan came to take my drink order; I felt like I was disappointing ordering a Diet Pepsi when this is a big ale house, but I don't drink, so oh well. Ryan did not make me feel that way and he was very friendly and willing to answer all my wing questions, like how does wing night work? "You get 10, after tax it's $9, before tax it's $8, and we have like 20 sauces and their friggin' good" - I loved that enthusiasm!
I said I had some questions and he was like "ya sure, let's go through them man!". Here's a quick rundown of what we talked about:
- ABC BBQ - 'it's the one we make, put it on our burgers too'
Ryan then asked me if I really like BBQ, is that my 'wheelhouse'? Then I would really like:
- Wings Gerard - Mixture between honey garlic, BBQ, little squirt of mustard, chili flakes, & mustard seeds
- Smokin' Gun - Smokier BBQ sauce and JD Maple (both bought sauces)
- Donny's Special - Honey Garlic, BBQ, & Curry Powder
- Suicide - we make it, it's pretty hot
There were a lot of unique flavours to choose from and I was pretty excited to sample these homemade sauces.
I waited a little bit, then I had a wing feast brought in front of me.
For clean up, I was brought napkins and a wetnap. No bone plate or bowl so all my discarded pieces just went into the serving basket as space became available.
The wings are ordered normally by the pound but I was told for wing night you get 10 wings. I assume that means there are usually 10 wings in a Quinn's pound, but not too sure. There's no sides with these wings (at least on wing night) but I did order an extra sauce on the side, but I was told up front it was an extra charge (which came to $0.50).
The wings were medium in size, mostly length. But they were a really meaty wing for their size.
These are a breaded wing that is deep fried, making for a very crispy/crunchy skin. Like really crunchy. I liked them, but if you are not a breaded wing fan, you will not like these. The meat was actually pretty tender and the wings pulled apart nicely, suggesting a fresh wing.
My sauced wings were very well sauced - very wet. They were just covered in sauce which was great. I also got a dry rubbed wing and it was heavily coated in seasoning. This is awesome.
I did my classic maneuver for wing night and got 2 orders of wings - one order of the Wings Gerard, and one order of Dusty Cajun, and then I went with a side of their suicide sauce.
WINGS GERARD
He talked them up so much that I decided to try these out. Remember these are a mix of honey garlic, BBQ, mustard, chili flakes, & mustard seeds (and probably more). Wow, these were really really good.
It's sweet, its deep, savory. So good. Knowing there is mustard in there I can detect it, but if I didn't I'd be pretty lost at what made this sauce so unique. For me, this sauce would be even better if there was some heat spice in there, but I would definitely get these again.
DUSTY CAJUN
I didn't want to do much experimenting with flavours (in case I wasn't a fan) so I went with the dry Dusty Cajun rub. These wings were coated big time in the seasoning, and I gotta say, this was one of the better Cajun dry rubs I've had on wings.
It was super fine in texture and it tasted spicy, garlicky, salty. So good. Look how much was leftover! You can see that it's quite the mixture.
Wing Pro Tip - when I have dry seasoned wings and there's lots left like in the photo above, I love to take a bite and pull off the skin. I eat that, and depending on if I have a flat or a drum, with a flat I remove one (or both of the bones) and re-dredge the meat exposed part through the seasoning. The moist meat clings to the chicken meat, and boy do you get a special dose of flavour.
SUICIDE
I was told the Suicide were hot and homemade so I thought that would go well with the Cajun. I was shocked at this sauce. It wasn't spicy. Like, at all. No heat. Actually, it didn't really have any flavour. I couldn't believe it.
It was orange in colour, and my guess is it's a scotch bonnet or habanero blended with something, but it just was so bland, it honestly tasted like nothing. Not salty, not fruity, nothing. It's a thick sauce, but it must have been a sad batch of peppers that day.
FINAL SCORE:
Well, Quinn's has jumped into one of my favourite wing places in Ottawa. The wings are crispy/crunchy, breaded, meaty, tender and very well sauced. Many of the flavours are homemade and there are a ton. And they are really good. Dusty Cajun was good. Wings Gerard was really good. Suicide was bland (never thought I would write that). But overall these were quality wings. And the service by Ryan was awesome*. I will definitely be back on wing night again.
11/15
*he was so awesome. When I was about half way through my meal I got the call for pickup and had to get going. Ryan checked in on me and I asked for the bill, stating I had to go to pick someone up soon. He asked if I was going to finish in time and I said I didn't think so, so he got me a take-out container for my un-eaten wings. Maybe it's ok at Quinn's, but generally take-out wings on wing night is usually a no-no anywhere, so I really appreciate the rules being bent in my time of need!
Quinn's Ale Pub
1070 Bank Street, Ottawa ON
quinnsalehouse.com
