RING A WING - London

Here's another review from London very own, Ricky Patel:

I had seen ring a wing many times but always passed it by, never thinking that it could be good….but then one day I saw some people eating an order of take out Ring a Wing's and I thought I'd give them a shot.

Ring a Wing is , as the name suggests, a purely take out wing place. Apart from some appetizers and miscellaneous salads, Wings is what they do. I phoned my order in and within about 40 min my wings were at my door, nice and hot thanks to their foil lined boxes. The wings themselves are a "special recipe". It seems like they're battered, deep fried and then coated in sauce.

They have a good range of sauces, from the usual mild, medium, hot ,honey garlic, to sauces like sweet and sour, teriyaki, cajun dry spice and then the formidable Spontaneous Combustion. All the sauces in the menu are rated with a "pepper scale" (more pepper means hotter, but necessarily, read on) with mild being giving an one, and the Spontaneous Combustion the only 4 on the menu.

Here's the score:

SIZE of WINGS: big and meaty (about 8 in a pound)
HEAT: 3/10 – Spontaneous Combustion, I don't think so…
WET NAP FACTOR: 2/5 – The wings weren't swimming in sauce, I think it was just enough… PRICE: 1lb – $7.95, 2 lbs – $15.45 (order sizes range from ¾ lb to 5 lbs)

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: mild/medium/hot/suicide/honey garlic/Sweet & Sour/Teriyaki/Cajun
Dry Spice/Thai Sweet & Spicy/Jamaican Hot/Spontaneous Combustion
SIDES: No Sides…. Carrots/blue cheese for $0.49 plus various other sides at additional cost
WETNAP: None, I didn't ask for any and since It was take out/delivery, I can shower
aftterwards if necessary
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: Battered, Deep Fried, sauced
WING NIGHT: None…every night is wing night… it's all they do!

My order consisted of a pound of Spontaneous Combustion, and (probably to the chagrin of the Lord of the Wing) a pound of Honey Garlic to balance out the Spontaneous Combustion. However, that was completely unnecessary.

The Spontaneous Combustion was somewhere between a medium and a hot… nowhere close to Spontaneous Combustion. The wings themselves, were very good…. They were big, and moist, I really enjoyed the crunch of the battered wings…and a nice coating of sauce.

Ricky Patel

Ring A Wing (various locations in London)
http://www.ringawing.com/

RECIPE: BRAMADA's WingFest PART II

Weekend at BRAMANDA's continued to Saturday, where a feast was begun. Amanda was going to prepare her famous Vegetarian Veggie Free Lasagna, while Brad bought enought chicken wings to feed a small army. He had a variety of ideas for preparing the wings, but he also looked to me to come up with some ideas. Together, we forged 6 different recipes, with mixed results.

To start with, the wings were the full size wings, so we had Joe cut the wingette from the drumstick. While he was doing that, Brad and I developed the 6 different sauces, which were marinated for several hours in batches of about 6 wings per sauce. After the marinade, about 3 wings from each sauce was put into a dusting of flour, garlic powder, sweet smoked paprika and a bit of kosher salt, then baked for about 40 mins, turning the wings over about 20 mins into cooking.

Here is the approximation of the recipes and their small review. Please keep in mind we didn't measure, nor record exactly what we put in. A splash is a lot of something, while a dash is several drops. I know, very scientific. These pictures are the marinade process.

1) Jonny Walker BBQ Wings

-Jonny Walker Red Label (splashes)

-Ketchup (splashes)

-HP Sauce (splashes)

-Balsamic Pepper sauce (dashes)

These wings turned out pretty good. BBQ is hard to do badly, and these were a tasty sauce.

I think the JW and the Balsamic Pepper sauce got lost in the HP and Ketchup, which was a good base to start with.

2) Viper Wings

-3rd Degree Sauce (splashes)
-Sweet Smoker Paprika (heavy sprinkling)

This is a quick sauce that I did at the end with 2 flavours I really didn't fit into the recipes.
I personally liked them and would have liked to strengthen the SSP which was overpowered by the 3rd Degree, but its one I would do again. Not so popular with the others though.

3) Thai-Indo Wings

-Tandoooir powder
-Sichuan sauce

This sauce probably worked out the best. It looked great, its dark red colour, and the flavour combo of heat and sweet was great. Definetly the most popular wing.

4) Soromon Wings

-Dantes Sauce
-Red Cayenne Pepper
-Crushed Red Flakes
-Red Chili Pepper
-Sichuan Sauce

We tried to create the hottest wing to rule them all. We failed. This wing had bite, but not as much bite as it should have had, considering the ingredients we used. The flavour wasn't anything to write home about.

5) Sweet Garlic Wings

-Chili Garlic Sauce
-Plum Sauce

These were my least favourite wings. I was not a fan of the chili-garlic sauce, and the plum sauce made for a sweet wing, which is not usually my favourite.

6) Dragon Wings

Sweet n Spicy

-Tangy Thai Sauce
-Honey Garlic Ginger
-Dantes Sauce

Based on a wing sauce at a restaraunt in Cambridge I think, this one had the most difficulty working. Despite being submersed in marinade, it did not stick, and in cooking the sauce drained off easily, leaving a bare wing in the oven. These were basted again for a second cooking. That helped, but I think following the same methods Ricky did in his Indian-Thai Fusion Wings was probably better way to go.

IN THE END, the lasagna was good, the wings tasty and the hours of Halo playing were enjoyed by all.

To see more pictures, go to lotwphotoalbum.blogspot.com

RILEY's OLDE TOWNE TAVERN

WINGS IN PETERBOROUGH, PART 1

Invited to Brad and Amanda's, or Bramanda's this weekend to their new place in Peterborough, on the Friday night we decided to try out the local cuisine. After going to one very nice place and facing a 40 minute wait, we ventured to a pub Bramanda have been to frequently lately, RILEY's Olde Towne Tavern.

Quite large inside, with lots of pool tables and a very friendly wait staff, Rileys seemed like a great local pub in the down town core. I wasn't sure if I was going to try the wings as Brad had suggested, as I had wings Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But once I looked at the menu, I knew what I was getting.

THE SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: large

HEAT: hot was a decent heat, 6/10, suicide was good, but not killer (except for Brad) 8/10

WET NAP FACTOR: 4/5, wings were soaked well in sauce

PRICE: didn't write it down(I'm bad), but about $13 for 2 pounds (about 18 wings)

I will get an update from Brad about the prices

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: mild/medium/hot/suicide/ (more, Brad will inform!)

SIDES: none

WETNAP: 2 with napkins!

DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: deep fried and tossed in sauce

WING NIGHT: none advertised

OTHER: n/a

Overall, good wings, good flavour, and a bit of bite to boot. The wings were meaty, with a slight but crunchy skin, and lots of sauce, which I love. The suicide had a decent bite to them, but Brad had some difficulty breathing for a while. They also does great lattice fries as well. Overall, Riley's Olde Town Tavern wings come recommended and with the excellent service, its definitely a place to check out the next time your in Peterborough.

Riley's Olde Towne Pub

251 George Street North, Peterborough

The CHESTNUT TREE

Now how many people get excited to go to a school cafeteria, let alone for Chicken Wings? Well in the case of my residence dorm, I am, and I had a few people with me who agree.

Justin & Yashi enjoyin the wings

Jane, just happy to be there

The Chestnut Tree is the cafeteria for my residence, 89 Chestnut (there is a real lack of imagination in naming things). Formerly the main restaurant of the hotel, our Caf now serves the best food in any university I've ever been to. Why is that? For beginners we have a master Chef (Jaco Lokker) in charge of making restaurant grade food for nearly 1000 students, and Chef's like Nathan who's special attention to detail and care make a great product. And the wings are definetly one of my favourites in the caf.

Now unfortunately, for those of you who don't live in rez with me, you're not going to sample these wings; but I can tell you what you are missing. Now a cafeteria is difficult to put into a review because its an all-you-can-eat meal plan, so no prices, its basically a buffet, and no service. But we will give it a go.

THE SCORE


SIZE of WINGS: small to medium
HEAT: difficult to explain, see review below
WET NAP FACTOR: 2/5, not much sauce overall
PRICE: included in rez fees, so it feels free basically. About 5 wings in an order.

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: bbq/spicy with spicy sauce (see below review for explanation)
SIDES: fries on the plate, but technically what ever you want at the buffet
WETNAP: none, but unlimited napkins
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: seasoned, baked then tossed in sauce
WING NIGHT: BBQ/Spicy wings are Wednesday Night of Week 3 Rotation (of a 5 week rotation) there is a Honey Garlic wing lunch on Thursday of Week 5, but loyal readers know the deal with honey garlic
OTHER: all you can eat, and when is that not good!?

I have to start off by saying that although the wings are good, they were done better at the start of the year when they were crispier and the sauces were better defined. A regular order is 5 wings with wedge fries. On nights like tonight, fries are just filler, and I want killer, so I started off with a double order of Spicy and a regular order of BBQ. Later, another double order (see pile of bone pics below).

As you can see above, the wings are spiced, then baked, which is healthier to the regular deep fry, but also allows the caf to produce much more wings for so many students. The wings are great on their own, especially for a cafeteria, but there is more to wings than seasonings.

The sauce. Aye, there's the rub. You see the choices of BBQ (which is not the more classic bbq they had earlier in the year) is lacking, and Spicy, well spicy was seasoned, and on the side they had a butter-hot sauce to pour on (but I am not a fan of this weak sauce). I know I cannot get the wings of the heat level I prefer, because the caf has to cater to the needs of everyone, and despite many people's claims to be able to eat spicy, they cannot. Now the caf has various hot sauces like Tobasco, Trinidadian, and Vietnamese red sauce with the Rooster (I dont know the name!),but I brought my own hot sauce, 3rd Degree (a review will come later on that one).

nearly 30 wings, DESTROYED!!!

In the end, while I might be a bit more critical, these wings are truly a crowd pleaser, and being all you can eat, with all you can drink coke, how can I stay mad at these wings? Thumbs up!

The Chestnut Tree
89 Chestnut Street
http://www.chestnutresidence.utoronto.ca/index.html

The UNICORN PUB ~ Toronto ON

The Unicorn Pub

You've never heard of it? Ya, neither had I until I had done a little research on the old Inter-web. The Unicorn Pub is an Irish Public House near Yonge and Eglington. While searching for chicken wing deals for a Tuesday, I came across this pub.

It was actually near Chick'n'Deli, another place I had checked out before the blog (not a good experience, but that's a story for another day) tucked away pretty good. I went in at around 2pm and it was dead inside, except for a few seniors watching the Olympics. The place is quite large inside, and I believe has live music fairly frequently. I can see a place like this being very packed on a weekend.

There was only one waitress/bartender for the whole restaurant, but unlike many places, I still got good service. The Unicorn Pub has similar decor to pubs all over the GTA, but despite having an entire section to myself, I still felt very comfortable and at home. But enough of the place, lets get down to the wings:

THE SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: small but meaty
HEAT: (4/10) suicide was a very weak, peppery sauce
WET NAP FACTOR: 2/5, the top wings had little sauce, but the bottom was swimming
PRICE: I went on wing day, but normally: 1lb for $8.50, 2lbs for $15.95 and 3lbs $22.95

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: mild/medium/hot/suicide/honey garlic/curry
SIDES: No sides on wing day, but the pic on the website shows veggies and dips
WETNAP: 2 wetnaps and a pile of napkins, the way it should be
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: traditional pub deep fried wings
WING NIGHT: Tuesday all day: 1/2 price wings!!!

Unlike many other places on wing night (or day in this case), not only did the waitress inform me right off the bat that it was 1/2 price wings, but she encouraged lots of wings. Most places tend to hide their wing specials I find, and when I normally just order just an order of wings, they are like, nothing else? The Unicorn Pub could see my wing potential and ran with it.

However, my actual review of the wings were not great. Not bad, but not great. I could tell that if I had ordered the hot, the flavour would have been classic pub good. The Suicide here falls into the trap that many places have when trying to make wings hotter, by adding a peppery sauce which just ruins the taste in my opinion.

The onion rings were quite good (would have been excellent with Ranch dip) and my coke was good - I don't know if there was a problem with it or not, but it had a roasted caramel flavour to it, which was wonderful; not like there was too much syrup, but a caramel shot added to it. Nice.

Overall, The Unicorn Pub would be a place I would head to as my local pub, if it were local to me. Its not, and the generic wings were not good enough for me to warrant another trek out in search of mythical creatures.

The Unicorn Pub
175 Eglington Ave East, Toronto
http://www.theunicornpub.com/index.htm

The Big Slice, again

Before I get into a review, I've got some explaining to do. First, this is my wing week apparently, because I got wings tonight (unexpectedly), I'm getting wings tomorrow (probably) and the caf here in rez is serving wings on Wednesday. It may be post/review overload, but oh well, that's what the blog is about.

Tonight I got wings unexpectedly, as in I didn't expect to. Why, well I had a pretty bad evening. After having some personal issues, I was late for dinner and had to speed eat a small plate of Chestnut Tree Style Shanghai noodles to get to a meeting. I got to the meeting, only to find it was cancelled. I could have been doing something better, and had considered skipping class but I didn't for the meeting, and bam. So I took my sweet ass time getting to school, super pissed now. I get to class, talk to a few people, see people reading frantically. Then I ask someone what's the deal, since I missed class last week. EXAM. Wow I was not impressed as I had not studied or done readings for 2 weeks. Worst exam ever. So to try and cheer myself up, I stopped by The Big Slice for pizza and wings.

I know I've reviewed them before, but that was before the re-launch of the blog, so here is a more up-to-date version.

SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: medium
HEAT: (4-5/10) they have a generic hot sauce that has no strong bite, but is tasty
WET NAP FACTOR: 3/5 they drizzle the sauce on just after frying
PRICE: $5 for 10 wings, $10 for 20 wings, $13 for 30 wings, and $16 for 40 wings
(pretty good prices for the size of wing)

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: hot (which is more medium,even mild, and I didn't see any other choices)
SIDES: Nope , well blue cheese or ranch dip was $0.50 extra
WETNAP: no wetnaps, but its a pizza place, I'll forgive them
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: deep fried, very simple
WING NIGHT: again, take-out pizza, no special nights
OTHER: They had Cherry Coke, and that puts them in the tops in my book

There's nothing fancy about The Big Slice, but its cheap (my giant slice of pepperoni pizza was $2.50) and its one of the best pizza's in the city. I love the grease factor that's involved in this thin crust masterpiece. While there is seating in this horrible aqua and yellow colour schemed place, its usually thugged out or filled with late night clubbers. I took my food on the go, but it is a great place to get food reeaaalllly late.

So is this the one Wing to rule them all? No, but it is a good classic chicken wing and a damn good slice of pizza.

The Big Slice
385 Yonge Street

SMITTY's FAMILY RESTARAUNT

Here's a review from the Fellowship's very own, Brad Thorpe

Hello fellow wing lovers, Brad here. I'm the hobbit of the group, I can't handle the suicide wings like the rest of the fellowship however that doesn't make me less of a man errrr Hobit. I love the medium to hot wings, and hold the opinion that these types of wings provide more flavour to savour, instead of burning and yearning for water.

This is my first wing review for Lord of the Wings, and the first restaurant to be reviewed; Montana's. Oh what's that, it will be a 80 minute wait? I think I'll go somewhere else thanks.

My first wing review is at the chain of family restaurants favoured by the greyer haired members of society; Smitty's! Known for their excellent breakfasts and healthy portions.

The very pleasant waitress came, took our orders, and had our drinks served quickly. Did I mention she was nice? A little too nice. That variety of "nice" you see in people who work with the elderly. Much like Jason Swartzmans character in Rushmore; she will find becoming a senior an easy transition.

I ordered a small flatbread pizza and of course, wings. Now I'm not a big fan of wings that you have to dip, but these were pretty good!

THE SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: medium to small
HEAT: Even for me, the Hot was not quite there (2.5/10) mild after-tingle
WET NAP FACTOR: 0/5 - since you are dipping the wings, you can avoid saucy fingers
PRICE: $4.99, half order of 6 wings, $8.95 for 12

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: hot/BBQ/Teryaki
SIDES: No sides, unless you plan on eating the bed of soggy lettuce they came on
WETNAP: 0 wetnap, 1 napkin
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: an especially crunchy house batter, then deep fried
WING NIGHT: no wing night advertised
OTHER: They gave a very large bowl of sauce

This restaurant really doesn't specialize in chicken wings, but considering this, they did a good job. The crunchy wings were tasty, and the sauce was not bad. The sauce was a sweet / jalepeno flavoured sauce, very generic but good.

The final word; retirement home atmosphere, good quality food, but not for the Fellowship of the Wing.

(Jeff's Addition: what's with the giant lettuce on the plate of the wings???)

Smitty's Family Restaraunt
139 George Street North, Peterborough (and various other locations)
smittys.ca

RECIPE: Ricky Patel's Thai/Indian Fusion Wings

Inspired by the last post, Ricky Patel, a member of the Fellowship of the Wing, sought to make a similar but tastier version of Rachel Rays. And he just might have succeded. Here is his step by step guide:

RICKY PATEL's THAI/INDIAN FUSION WINGS

INGREDIENTS:
12 Chicken Wings
The Keg Chicken seasoning
Club House, No salt Chicken Seasoning
Vegetable Oil

GLAZE

PC Memories of Thailand: Chili Pepper Sauce
Maggi Tamarina - Tamarind Sauce
Water (for dilution)


INSTRUCTIONS
Season wings with seasonings
Brown in frying pan, 3-5 mins each side
Mix glaze ingredients
Transfer wings to baking pan and pour glaze over
Put wings into oven at 400 F; Bake wings in oven for 10 mins
Turn wings and baste with glaze
Put back in oven for 10mins
Pour sauce off wings into stove top sauce pan, reduce sauce
Continue to bake wings until sauce reduced, pour over wings
Enjoy

Seasoning of Wings

Frying Wings

Thai/Indian Fusion Glaze

Fried Wings in Glaze Transfered to Baking Dish

The Finished Product

When asked how they turned out, I was given simple but to the point descriptor: Tasty
But when probed further, this is what I got back:

"Tasty, the chili pepper sauce gave it some kick, while having a sweet taste too. The tamarind sauce added a bit of sourness to the mix, for a full round sweet/sour/spicy flavour... the wings were juicy thank to the browning and cooking in the saucethe pre seasoning gave the right mix of salt pepper and a hint of dill flavour"

Overall, it sounds like a hit.

Recipe: Rachel Ray's Asian Glazed Wings

I just watched an episode of Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals and saw this recipe for "Asian Glazed Wings." Now the kitchens here at P.R.A.X.I.S. Industries have yet to test it out, but it looked good, despite my aversion to sweet flavoured wings. This recipe also looks good because of the economical timing of keeping the wing whole cuts down on prep time. Also, you don't need a deep fryer for these wings (again, deep frying would be my method of choice in most wings, but I have yet to purchase a fryer). Frying then baking these wings seals in the flavour. Or it should, again this recipe has yet to be tested.

I do have one cultural comment for you foodies and socio-political observers to note: the trend of using 'Asian' as the title of a dish, when A) this dish is not from Asia B) it makes it sound as if Asian cooking is homogeneous C) what's in this dish that makes it 'Asian' - the plum sauce? the ginger? the soy sauce? What are your thoughts?

Anyway, here's the recipe:

ASIAN GLAZED WINGS

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
12 whole chicken wings, drummers and tips
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup plum sauce
1/2 cup orange juice, eyeball it
2 inches ginger root, peeled
3 tablespoons tamari, dark soy sauce, eyeball it
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, medium heat to extra spicy
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven 400 degrees F.

Preheat a large oven safe skillet over high heat with the oil. Liberally season the chicken wings with salt and pepper. Once the skillet is screaming hot add the wings in 1 even layer. Brown the wings for 3 minutes per side. While the wings are browning, assemble the plum glaze: in a small pot over high heat combine the plum sauce, orange juice, ginger root, tamari and hot pepper flakes. Bring up to a simmer and lower the heat, reserving it until the wings are done browning. Remove ginger from glaze. Pour the simmering plum glaze mixture over the browned wings. Place the skillet in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, flipping the wings once half way through the cooking time.

Remove the wings from the oven, if the glaze is not syrupy and thick, place the skillet of wings on the cook top and turn the heat on high, allow the glaze to reduce for about 1 minute. Toss the wings around in the glaze and finish with the fresh cilantro and basil.
Serve hot or room temperature.

Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals
Uber Munchies episode
ASIAN GLAZED WINGS

JACK ASTOR's ~ Toronto ON

Ah Jack Astor's

With Dude on his last night in TO, we decided to hit somewhere we knew we'd get a decent meal in a very social atmosphere, and with Jack Astor's only a few blocks away, we were off. No longer the crazy family restaurant of yore, JA's seems to be following the trend of other similar restaurants (Kelseys, Caseys etc) of leaving behind the families and looking at the 20-30 something crowds. Trying to be chic, the atmosphere was loud and sociable, but the playing of the entire Nickleback album was not necessary.

The service was good, although being told the specials by both the hostess and the waiter was a little much. Just like when I go into a store, I do not like to be bothered until I ask for help. Do not suggest an appetizer; if I want your opinion I will ask it.

JA's has your traditional fare of burgers, pastas, with the ever increasing fusion of Indian, Asian salads etc. Dude went with the Burger, which looked grilled to perfection, but to his misfortune, was a little pinker in the middle than he would like. I ordered their Cheese Garlic Pan Bread, which is a butter soaked garlic loaf, and while looking beautiful, it had a faint yeasty/chloriny taste that left an aftertaste in the mouth. And of course, I ordered wings. So here's the deal:

SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: medium, almost small (see complaint below)

HEAT: Hot was not (2.5/10) not even a tingling

WET NAP FACTOR: 1.5/5 - butter sauce that makes the wings juicy, not saucy

PRICE: $8.95, Regular(approx 8 wings)

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: mild/med/hot/

SIDES: came with celery/carrots and a mayo/blue cheese dip

WETNAP: 1 wetnap, 1 napkin

DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: flour dusted in a butter sauce

WING NIGHT: no wing night advertised

OTHER: free refills on pop

The wings were not bad, but not traditional in any sense of the word. Actually, those strange people out there that normally don't like wings would probably enjoy this mild, butter flavoured wings. I was NOT impressed with the false advertising on the menu that stated "Jumbo" wings, which were clearly not.

So in the end, nice atmosphere, decent food, but not a wing for the Fellowship.

Jack Astor's
144 Front St. W Toronto (and various other franchised locations)
http://www.jackastors.com/

Problems with the Blog Con't

Ok, for some reason I cannot get all the photos to work, so until I get this problem solved,
you can see the rest of the photos at http://lotwphotoalbum.blogspot.com/ which will
follow a post if there are more pictures to be seen.

I apologize for the problem and I assure the people at P.R.A.X.I.S. Industries are working hard to fix the issues at hand.

Thanks

Philthy McNasty's

Yes Virginia, there is a Philthy McNasty's.
Although the name gave the impression of some sort of harlots den, or a Hooters type place, this replacement for the former Peel Pub really was more of a sports bar than anything. Service was friendly (both male and female) but not super efficient,considering the place was nearly empty. It was Monday night, and I imaginethat on a Friday or a game night, it would be packed.

Accompanied by Dude, we sat at a booth equipped with cable television,in the case that we didn't really come out for each other's company but the food.

The food is typical sports bar fare: burgers, wings, sandwiches etc. Butagain, I was there on a mission. Before going into the score of the wings, I was excited by the fact that they had Foolish Wings, in which I was required tosign a waiver . . .

SCORE
SIZE of WINGS: medium at best
HEAT: Hot flavoured was less than medium (4/10),
Foolish was a slow, peppery burn, 81/2 /10)
WET NAP FACTOR: 2/5 not a wet sauce
PRICE: Wing Dings(w/fries) $10.79, Regular(approx 8 wings)
$8.99, Large(16 approx) $14.59, Team Wings 34.99


EXTRAS Info
SAUCE CHOICE: Cajun, honey garlic, mild/med/hot/suicide, Foolish
SIDES: came with celery/carrots and blue cheese dip, fries extra
WETNAP: no wetnap and few napkins
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: battered wings, tossed in a
light sauce
WING NIGHT: Wednesday Nights 1/2 Price

Although I had to sign a waiver, it was not needed. It was a good burn and itlasted after the meal, but the flavour was not tasty. Dude did not handle the Foolish wing well (see photo). The Hot wings were nothing to write home about.While I wouldn't really recommend Philthy McNasty's wings, the Perogies that Dude had were the best Perogies in North America I've had yet.

Philthy McNasty's
276 King Street West
http://www.philthymcnastys.com/

FAQ for the LORD OF THE WINGS

I am on the search for THE BEST chicken wing. Chicken wings are the closest I’m going to come to a religious experience, and I’ve devoted myself to finding the ultimate chicken wing: super hot, super flavourful. Crispy, meaty, big. I don’t know if I will ever find it, but I’m searching. Ontario – Canada – The world. If you have a chicken wing, and no one else can eat it, maybe you can call . . . THE WING KING.

LOTW is a blog about chicken wings. Reviews, Recipes, News on all things wings and a few things that are not. It’s updated relatively frequently. I’m based out of Ontario, Canada but my reviews and news are global. If you are looking for information on Honey Garlic, I’m sorry, but that’s not a chicken wing and you won’t find anything here on them except scorn.

MISSION STATEMENT

The Primary Goal of this Blog is to review Pubs, bars, restaurants, recipes etc about Chicken Wings - looking for the best chicken wing out there. Along the way, I will look at other menu items at various places, news about wings, and other food related topics, such as suggestions for non-wing lovers and/or vegetarians out there.

FAQ for the

LORD of the WINGS
(in 3 parts: PERSONAL, BLOG, WINGS)

PERSONAL

So who are you and where do you live?

I am the Wing King. I am the Lord of the Wings. As for where I live, well I’ve been all over Ontario, Canada. Right this moment (Summer 2009), I’m residing in Ottawa Ontario.

What do you do?
I eat chicken wings and write about it. Outside of that, I work in education, media and other freelance endeavours.

Are you a professional critic? Chef?
Nope.

So what makes you think you know what your talking about?
I write about what I know. In my cooking, I make mistakes, and everything is a work in process. As for my reviews, I knows whats I like.

Lord of the Wings – is that a Lord of the Rings reference? Are you a huge fan?
It is a reference . . . I enjoyed the book and the movie, but really, the name was just catchy, that’s where the connection ends. There's also a Dr Strangelove Reference up there too.

Lord of the Wings, Wing King – did you get these titles because you can eat the most wings? Eat wings the fastest?
No, there are people who have been recorded as eating more and faster than me.

Then did you get the title because you can eat the hottest wings?
No – I can eat hotter wings than most people, but there are others that can eat hotter than me.

So how did you become the Lord of the Wings?
In a bloodless coup; I took the titles and named myself. I am the Lord of the Wings because my encompassing passion of all things wings.


But don’t famous people like Drew “Wing King” Cerza already have those names?
When I started out, back before the blog really started, I didn’t know anyone doing what I was doing or titling themselves LOTW or WK. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle. Plus, there are only so many chicken wing monikers out there. I guess I’m the ‘Canadian’ Wing King.


Why Chicken Wings?
They have always been my favourite food. Since I was young, if we went out for dinner or I was on a trip, I wanted to try each places wings because they are different everywhere. And wings are an accomplishment food. Whether it’s eating ridiculous amount all at once, or eating the hottest wings on the menu, your meeting a challenge. There’s a sense of accomplishment. You can’t get that from hamburger.


Are you trying to become famous?
Would I say no to a book/tv/movie deal? No. But I’m more interested in finding the best wings out there.


Have you ever been recognized?
Yes, just last week I was getting some t-shirts made and the guy had read the blog. I’ve had a guy at a bar recognize me too. But I’ve never been recognized by a restaurant while doing a review. I was in a Chinese restaurant in Toronto and this guy from the States thought I was Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), but that doesn't count.

THE BLOG

Why a blog?
In the early part of the new millennium, I had planned on making a chicken wing website, but my web-building skills were pretty weak. Eventually, Blogger came along and everything was easy. Well almost, but everything evolved.


But WHY?
Really, this is just for me. I was sick of going to a place and not remembering whether they had good wings or not. Coming up with a score and photos, I had something to look back and could reflect on what was good and what wasn’t. Plus people would ask where to go, and now, they can just look to the blog.


Why do you do your reviews anonymously?
I want honest wings that haven’t been doctored up for some media coverage. Obviously some places are going to have an off-day, but you can generally tell when a place cares or not.


Do you make money off of your blog?
No. Lots of people say I should have advertisements or that I should tell restaurants to get free wings, but I feel that compromises my integrity. Not to say I haven’t accepted a freebie here and there, which I will note in the blog, but I would only ‘endorse’ something that I really stood behind.

I will review products or places when invited, with the clear understanding that I will be honest in my review. In general, I try to look for the positive in things, but that’s not always possible.

Do you do your own photography or does someone do it for you?
No it’s mine. It’s nothing special and I use a plain point-and-shoot camera. Sometimes my friends will take photos and I post them too, and I credit them where appropriate. I have/do steal the occasional image from the net, but I now try to credit my sources (like from a restaurant website), especially after I found someone not crediting one of my photos.


How long does it take to make a post?
A long time actually. An hour give or take for the meal itself and photos. Uploading the photos, picking the best photos, and photoshopping can take up to an hour or so. Then uploading to blogger. Then the writing, figuring out what the story or angle exists in the review, then actually writing. Then formatting with the photos and the text: all of that can be over an hour long. Then, actually editing (sometimes I skip this and do it the next day when I actually re-read what I wrote). So about 3 hours, give or take, to do one post. That’s why I can get behind pretty quick.

WINGS

What is your favourite chicken wing?
I like a wing that is dusted, deep fried, and tossed in a Buffalo-style sauce that is hot enough to make ME cry. But it has to have a lot of flavour.

Where was your best wing? Worst?
There are many places I love wings, for different reasons. Duff's in Toronto On/Amherst NY for Buffalo Wings, Moose Winooski's in Brantford On for breaded jumbo 'campfire' wings to name two.

As for worst, 3 places come to mind. Sizzlers in Toronto, ON, where my wings were tiny and overcooked.
Fat Albert's in Ottawa On, for expensive wings that were tiny, and from a grocery freezer. And finally, Bruyere's in Cornwall On, which were shrivelled, tiny, and possibly boiled.


What is your biggest pet peeve concerning chicken wings?
MISINFORMATION! People baking a chicken wing, or breading a wing, and then calling it a Buffalo wing.

Also, people who half-eat a chicken wing: they eat down the centre, but leave meat on the ends or everywhere, and then complain that chicken wings don’t fill them up.

Also, people who refer to Honey Garlic as a chicken wing.

What’s the hottest wing you’ve eaten?
I’ve eaten wings that were rated as high as 300 000 Scoville units, but I’m pretty sure that’s very inflated rating from the restaurant.


How can you eat that spicy? WHY would you eat something that spicy?
Some people feel that when something is super spicy, they can’t taste anything. But once you build an immunity to the heat, then you will find other food becomes bland. The best wings I have had are super hot, causing me to cry, but still have a lot of flavour.

You can reduce heat by having some sort of milk beverage, or bread. But bear, pop and water will NOT help cut the pain.

As for why? Well, there is the accomplishment of doing something others can’t. When you eat spicy food, your body sends out endorphins, which act like a drug, and give you a natural high. That’s awesome too.


So do you just eat spicy wings?
No, I like BBQ sauced wings, dill wings, honey mustard wings, Cajun, tandoori, well, pretty much anything. Just no honey garlic. Not a wing.


What is the best beer to drink with chicken wings?
First off, I don’t drink, so I don’t know. For me, Cherry Coke is the perfect accompaniment. But beer is like wines, and different beers can be selected to match the type of wing to really bring out the flavours of the sauces.


Blue Cheese or Ranch with your carrots and celery?
I like both, but blue cheese would be my first choice. Actually a good dill dip is good too. Just don’t give me sour cream (Ottawa, I’m looking at you).

END

Dangerous Dan's

DD Jeff Wings

DANGEROUS DAN's

The first time I went to DANGEROUS DAN's, I'll be honest, I was a little scared.
With a strip club across the street, and a grubby appearance, DD's looked like a dive. But, looks can be decieving. Also, the first time I went there, Dude felt bullied there when he tried to order the Quadruple C, but we will get to that later.

On this particular occasion, New Year's day, Ricky, Dude and myself went to DD's to endulge in fried foods, grease, and other foody goodness.

Ok, the Chicken Wing Low-Down on DD's
SCORE:

SIZE of WINGS: large, they don't skimp out, and they include the tip
HEAT: Hot (the hottest they had), which was a 6/10, dissapointing
WET NAP FACTOR: 4/5, wet, but I have had them wetter here before
PRICE: 10 Wings for $ 7.45, or 20 Wings $ 12.95

EXTRAS Info
SAUCE CHOICE: Mild, Medium, Hot, Honey Garlic, Honey Mustard
SIDES: came with celery and blue cheese dip
WETNAP: yes, but with the amount of sauce, more napkins please
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: deep fried straight up

OVERALL: Good wings. The hot flavour has a BBQ hint to it, which gives it some distinctness from other fried wings. I endorse these wings. But lets be honest, most people don't come for the wings ...

DD con't

DD Randy Hot Hamburger

. . . You really come for the BURGERS.
Dangerous Dan's is famous for 2 burgers: The Coronary Burger (2 8oz Patties, 4 Slices of Bacon, 2 Slices of Cheddar and yes, a Fried Egg on top with Fries, Gravy, a can of pop for $ 12.95 and the even more impressive and scary, the QUADRUPLE C: a 24oz burger with a quarter pound of cheese, a quarter pound of bacon, and 2 fried eggs,large milk shake and a small poutine for $ 20.99!!! also known as the "Colossal Colon Clogger Combo". I have yet to see the CCCC, but the Coronary Burger is a ridiculously tall burger, that's tasty, and will probably give you a heart attack. But its so worth it. The Poutine is descent, with a more than generous serving (see pictures below of Rick and Jeff with one. Randy was eating a Hot Hamburger)

Dangerous Dan's Diner
714 Queen St. East at the corner of Queen and Broadview
http://www.dangerousdansdiner.com/