The Original WINGHOUSE

(The Original Winghouse is NOW CLOSED)

Ladies & Gentleman, in this corner, the heavy weight wing champion of Toronto: Duff's Famous Wings. And in the other corner, new to the scene, the contender, The Original Winghouse.

Lets get ready to rumble

And rumble we shall. First of all, I have to thank Hannah for telling me about the poorly advertised Original Winghouse (OWH). Thank you. Thank you. thank you thank you thank you. When she told me about OWH I was skeptical but excited: I've been in Toronto for nearly 6 years now, and Duff's (still to be reviewed here) has been the top wing joint. But a new wing place in town meant I may have another chance at tasting greatness.

There are some ups and some downs though, don't get me wrong. First, Dude and I went to check this place out for lunch, only to find its not open for lunch on weekdays. Right. Second, I was not a fan of the wicker chairs for sitting. They are great for relaxing in, but not serious wing eating. Other problems included no delivery, no website, and they do not accept credit cards or debit. OWH lost some points for these features. But, lets get on to the good stuff: the wings!

THE SCORE

SIZE of WINGS: medium to small
HEAT: my flavour combo was about a 5/10, but I ordered conservatively
WET NAP FACTOR: depends on your sauce choice, but 4/5 for mine, perfect
PRICE: 10 wings ($6.95), 20 ($12.95), 30 ($18.95), 40 ($24.95), 50 ($30.95), 100 ($54.95)

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: OVER 90 flavours!!!! and you can mix and match. click HERE & HERE
I went for "Home of the Brave" with "Homicide"
SIDES: 1 celery stick and 1 carrot stick with ranch dip, sit in only
WETNAP: none, but paper towel-like napkins
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: lightly dusted in flour, then deep fried
WING NIGHT: Tuesdays - Buy 10, get 5 free
OTHER: great pepsi (for pepsi that is), bone bowl, and EXCELLENT service

These wings were amazing - and I don't use that term very often. First, one of the two guys running the place was quick to explain what the 90 different sauces were. He asked what kind of flavour I was looking for and customized my order. We also talked to another owner(?) who talked to us about the place, the wings etc. These guys care about wings, and it shows.

I asked for a Buffalo-style sauce with kick, and it was suggested I get the "Home of the Brave" sauce taken up a notch with the "Homicide" sauce. The result: pure chicken wing goodness. The sauce had a small kick (just a bit of numbing of the lips) but the flavour was so wonderful, I was almost euphoric. The meat basically fell off the bone. The sauce was syrupy and stuck to the wings, like 3rd Degree sauce, not a Frank's butter sauce.

We had had a late lunch, so Dude only tried one wing, which he found spicy, but he also could not get over how good it was. "How good could it be?" you ask, well, we almost went back later that night, and if Dude was sick (unrelated illness) today, we probably would have gone back.

OWH still has some things to improve on to come into its own, but Duff's and other wing places definitely have some competition . . .

The original WINGHOUSE
1063 Bloor Street West, Toronto
416-539-9141

See HERE & HERE for menu and more pics