BRASS TAPS PIZZA PUB

It was a busy day, I was in a rush and I wanted to get a bite before a big night out with my students. I was in the neighborhood of the Brass Taps Pizza Pub (well, I wasn't near to this place, but I had a metro pass and therefore came into the area). I had passed the place several times and thought it looked interesting to try for wings.



I was by myself, which can sometimes be awkward when I am taking photos of my food alone. But when I sat down between a guy watching a movie on a portable DVD player and a crazy old lady drinking by herself, I felt that some guy taking photos of chicken wings couldn't be that bad (the old woman talked to someone who wasn't there, bringing up "oh he was in Soldier of Fortune magazine" and something about "cat games"). I sat down in between the two, did some planning for events and in no time my wings had arrived.

The NEW SCORE

STYLE: buffalo
SAUCES: mild/medium/hot/suicide/honey garlic/ ???
SIZE: pigeon -1 /2
HEAT: no heat 3/10
CRISPINESS: 3 /3
WETNAP FACTOR: not much sauce, pretty dry 2 /5
PRICE: $7.99 for about 8 (approx, my info sheet was lost)
SIDES: standard veggies and dip 2 /7
WETNAP/NAPKINS: both 8 /8
WING NIGHT: Tuesday if I recall correctly (maybe Monday)
OTHER/SPECIAL: nope

Its hard to be tough on a place for making poor wings, but that's how I felt. These were tiny tiny tiny. A bit crispy, but so little chicken on these wings it just didn't matter. The side of suicide was hotter than the hot, but the hot wasn't at all, which brings us back to nothing. There isn't much to talk about these wings. They didn't taste bad, but I don't know who's standards these would be up to.

I also ordered potato skins on the side. Also tiny, with barely any toppings and a very generic flavour that inspires nothing. Thank goodness my server was friendly and I can only hope the pizza might be good, because I was thoroughly disappointed here.

FINAL SCORE: TOTAL: 17 /35.
That is a pretty sad score.

Brass Taps Pizza Pub
221 College Street

100 Posts - LOTW Best & Worst Guide

It's been a long road

Getting from there to here
It's been a long time

But my time is finally near

And I will see my dream come alive at last

I will touch the sky

And they're not gonna hold me down no more

No they're not gonna change my mind

Lord of the Wings reaches 100 posts! Because we had faith of the heart - to get through pain, heartburn, and stuffed stomachs. The dream of finding the perfect wing, well, it still continues. But to celebrate meeting 100 posts on the blog, we are doing a recap:

THE BEST & WORST of the FIRST 100 POSTS

BEST TORONTO WINGS

BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS

BEST NON-WING PLACE

BEST RECIPE

WORST WING PLACES

BEST TORONTO WINGS

What makes these the best in the city? They all pretty much have

the same 3things in common: Big meaty wings, heat, and an overall great flavour.

1. Duff's Famous Wings

These are #1 and its simple: jumbo wings, all the heat you need,
crispy, tasty - everything great in a Classic Buffalo Wing (CBW)

2. Original Wing House

Unfortunately this place opened and closed in the same year.
They loved their wings - and with over 99 flavours, there was lots
to choose from. Small bust tasty, we were sad to see you go.

3.

Wheat Sheaf

Big wings, tasty sauce, great patio. Great variant on the CBW

4. O'Grady's
Old haunt from my undergrad days that still does a good wing.
Big wings, big heat.

5. Gabby's
Simple: tasty and big. Can't go wrong with that.

Lots of locations around the city.

6. Fox and the Fiddle

Also has multiple locations around the city. Big wings and lots
of very interesting flavours to choose from.

7. Casey's

Another chain around the province - they serve

good spicy wings with a tasty flavour and good service.

8. Shoeless Joe's

Can be hit or miss, this sports bar gives you
some choice in they style of wing and does

a great hot bbq type wing.

9. The Loon

Jumbo and crunchy. Needs to pick up the spice

but a savoury wing.

10. Red Charcoal

3 different styles of wings, open late, and unique

wing and sauce. There's room to improve, but

a late night saviour.

BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS

1. Moose Winooski's (Brantford, On)

Super sized, Super crunch, Super unique sauce.

2. Ned Devine's (Milton, On)

Crunchy and delicious - perfect after a ghost hunt.

3. Honest Lawyer (Windsor, On)

All-you-can-eat. Nuff said.

4. Ring-a-Wing 1 & 2 (London, On)

Great take-out/delivery wing. Large and

lots of flavour.

5. Anchor Bar (Buffalo, NY, USA)

More of an honourable mention. Birth place of the wings.
No heat, but meaty tasty wings.

BEST NON-WING PLACE

Korean Grill House

AYCE meat that you grill - brilliant idea.

A carnivore's delight.

BEST RECIPE

The Devil's Tandoori

Spicy, but with flavour not just the heat.

WORST WING PLACES

These places just didn't deliver the goods

1. Buffalo Wild Wings - BW3's (Canton, OH)

These Yankee wings were just terrible. Rubbery chicken - no hint

of crispy wings. So sad for what is supposedly a wing joint.
The Mr Pibbs was good at least . . .

2. Quaker Steak and Lube (Sharon, PA)

Another terrible wing place. This time, the wings were

too crispy. As for the Atomic, I had to sign a waiver for these?
Another sad entry from the Great Wing Tour.

3. The Red Room
The wings are an after thought at this place. Great Bohemian hang out.
Bad Wings. Small small small.

4. Deringer's Saloon (Ottawa, On)

I don't like being lied to. How this place was voted best wings,

I will never know. Awful suicide sauce.

5. Reiley's

Where's the meat? Hello? Hello chicken, where are you?

Pigeon wings. Sauce is not bad but its so tiny they are

barely worth it.

Chestnut Report - Part IX

"No animals were harmed in the making of this blog.

We tried, but that damn monkey was just too fast.

This is the Chestnut Report!"

Welcome back to Part IX of a XX part series, 'Better Know a Chestnut Wing'

Mission Accomplished.

We did it Wing Nation! Woooo! Woot Woot! We did it. And by we, I mean me. I brought back the great Chestnut Wing, The Fight'n Chestnut!

See, on this blog, your voice will be heard...in the form of my voice. If you recall, my voice called for the Chestnut Tree to get back on track and bring back the crunchy, tasty and spicy chicken wing we all knew and loved. I almost put these wings On Notice. Almost told the world that something might be wrong with these wings. But my voice was heard, problems solved and soon my belly would be full.

First, the Suicide Sauce made a fantastic return. People left and right were burning their tongues trying to taste freedom in sauce form. This sauce, chalk full of jalapeno pepper, onion, hot sauce, paprika, Mexican spice and so much more was a key to these wings taking off. For me, only a bowl full would do.

Of course, enemy to wings, Juliana, flaunted her turkey pita in front of the glory of the wings. Protesting against the deliciousnous of these crispy chicken digits and mocking everything decent that we stand for. That's it, Juliana, YOUR ON NOTICE! You'd be on the Dead to Me board already if you didn't keep me company in the caf on a regular basis.

So you may be asking, "Where is the proof that you caused this Wing King?" to which I would tell you, bugger off. A real Wing Nation citizen wouldn't ask that. They believe in what I say. Not because of facts or evidence, but because what I say comes from the gut. Literally. But I do it for you.

See, this blog is not about me. This program is dedicated to you, the heroes... the people who read this blog. You get it, and you come from a long line of it-getters. When I say something is not hot, its not hot, and you get that. And that's what I like about you.

But if I do have to answer the nay-sayers out there as to how I know it was me that brought the wing back, its because of my conversation with Chef Nathan. That's right. When I entered the caf he pointed to the bubbling pot of suicide with a sign warning of "extremely hot" and "no joking". He pointed to the pot and he said "that is for you." That's how I know he gets it.

What else brought back these great wings? The texture. They were crispy, crunchy. The way we like them. The voices around me, the plates after plates, we all knew it: the wings were back and better than before. I loved these just BBQ alone, but I of course had to dip them in the bowl-o-suicide.

Remember Wing Nation, if you stand strong and believe that a better wing can be, it will be.

Good Night.

PS: apparantly some animals were harmed in the making of this blog - and they were delicious.

Deep Fryer Test Day II

Day II and the last day for me to test out the Wing-It deep fryer before I hid it away for several months. I had a few wings left over, plus I loved the wings so much the night before, I went

out and got more.

But I didn't want just chicken wings - I needed something else to test its capabilities. After testing out the DF Ravioli, it was a success, so I decided to go for a DF Pizza ball.

DEEP FRIED PIZZA BALL

Ingredients:

• raw pizza dough
• pizza sauce
• mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• cornmeal
• garlic powder

1) I ripped small chunks of dough into golf-ball sized clumps, then needed them flat into a pizza shape. Sprinkle cheese in the middle, then a bit of sauce, then more cheese

2) the tricky part: folding the edges and making a ball without the sauce spilling out. Then rolling it to make a ball.

3) On cutting board, I spread out cornmeal and garlic powder. With Clin-Ton's help, we rolled the balls in the cornmeal and garlic creating a slight crust.

We also made 2 Pizza Logs to go in the oven to see if there was a difference between DF ball and Baked Roll

That damn Flying Monkey was watching, getting ready to cause trouble.

4) Once the deep fryer reached the hottest temperature, I tossed in about 4-5 at a time and cooked until they a) floated & b) had a nice golden colour.

These DF Pizza Balls turned out great. Cheesy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. I used a cheap brand of mozzarella cheese, so it wasn't restaurant grade, but it worked. I even liked them cold the next day. Julianna L came over and tested a Log and a Ball, and while liking both, the DFPB was the winner.

The biggest problem I had with the DFPB's was the deep fryer itself. Apparently (as can be seen from the picture above) I did not get the ball completely covered, causing sauce and cheese to leak out. This made a TERRIBLE mess in the deep fryer and when trying to clean the basket a day later, it was covered in black nastiness.

The wings on the other hand turned out wonderful. I had more than enough sauce left over from yesterdays wings, most of which I bottled. The rest, warmed in a pot and poured back over this fresh batch of wings. Magnifique!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

1) The Wing-It Deep Fryer is a wonderful, easy to use tool. Highly recommend it

2) Other things it can make very well include fries, chicken nuggets, DF Ravioli & DF Pizza Balls

3) It is clear, despite other's claims, that there is no real substitute when making chicken wings to deep frying. Yes baking & grilling is a healthier way of making them. However, the flavour, texture and overall wing is not up to par to a deep fried wing.

I AM MAN!!

I love this commercial.

Its wrong on many levels, but it totally speaks to me.

I'm willing it will speak to the Wing Nation as well.

Deep Fry-Day: Wing-It Deep Fryer Test

Well, over the hiatus, I was given the red, fiery beauty: the Rival Wing-It Chicken Wing Deep Fryer. My first thought when I saw it was "Oh YES!!!". My second thought was "this could be dangerous" - not in a burn yourself or the place kind of way, but how I might be deep-frying everything. So far as it stands, I will be starting back on my meal plan this Sunday and won't need to cook until the summer. But I have 2 days where I a) do need to cook, and b) can test out this baby.

The Wing-It deep fryer comes with a basket, tongs, a plastic shaking container and the ability to make my dreams come true. The directions are very simple to follow and in no time I was making dinner. I had company over, Nee, who brought some goodies with her to try and deep fry - which you can find HERE.

I decided that to break in the machine, I needed to have Buffalo wings. Nothing fancy so that I could see what this flaming red fryer could do.

CLASSIC BUFFALO WINGS:

STEP 1:

First, I cut the chicken wings, separating the drumette from the
wing, and then the tip from the wing.

STEP 2:

Drain wings in cold water - pat dry with paper towel

STEP 3:

Turn on deep fryer to max heat - wait until machine says it is ready

STEP 4:

In a sauce pan, melt 1 stick of butter and a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Sauce

STEP 5:

Place wings in fryer basket and cook wings until they are crispy - they will float to the top. This takes approx 15-20 minutes

STEP 6:

Remove wings into bowl with paper towel to drain excess oil. Remove paper towel and pour Buffalo sauce over wings and toss in bowl

STEP 7:

ENJOY!

These wings turned out perfectly!!! They ended up being a bit small, and I didn't have my Hot Sauce to butter mixture correct. But this was the first time I used real butter, and boy did it make a difference. The chicken had a great crispy skin. For a long time I have made wings in the oven, I have made them in a wok, but really, deep frying is the only way to make them right.

I was in heaven with these just plain. I can't wait to try them breaded!

This machine may just kill me.
But I will go with a smile on my face.

BLOGIVERSARY REVIEW: DANGEROUS DAN'S DINER 1 YEAR LATER

The day after New Years 2006, Dude, Ricky and I came for a NY feast of burgers wings and poutine at a divey little joint known as Dangerous Dan's Diner (see HERE & HERE). It was a fateful day because it was the day I decided I was going to give the Lord of the Wings blog a second chance. It became the first official review of the blog reloaded.

While it was a little rusty - the rating system was 1st being tested, and I had a hell of a time with the photos - this little dream of spreading the wing gospel has expanded to THE place to find out about chicken wings. One year later, coming back from New Years in Peterborough, Rick and I decided we should pay homage to this greasy site.

Not much has changed in a year: DD's is still across from a strip joint, the menu is exactly the same, and the seats are still made of car parts.

Like last year, Rick and I started out with some poutine. I don't know why I keep ordering it - its one of my least favourite poutines because the fries are frozen and the gravy is very weak.

Its much better then next day, cold. Rick on the other hand, thought the "poutine was good.. I liked the fries..they were cripsy but soft inside... but there was a hint of fish flavor like they were fried int he same oil that some fish had been fried in." No one ordered a Quadruple C burger, but Rick did get a Peameal Bacon Burger. I got wings, naturally.

The NEW SCORE

STYLE: plain deep fry
SAUCES: mild/medium/hot
SIZE: jumbo 2 /2
HEAT: no heat 3/10
CRISPINESS: very crispy to start 3 points, -1 for quick sogginess: 2/3,
WETNAP FACTOR: 2/5
PRICE: $7.75 for 10, $12.95 for 20
SIDES: veggies and blue cheese 2 /7
WETNAP/NAPKINS: 3 points for him specifically bringing napkins 3 /8
WING NIGHT: none
OTHER/SPECIAL: Coronary Burger is a must try once in your life
TOTAL: 14 /35

The wings were quite disappointing this time around. They came out very crispy but quickly turned to mush. The meat also became hard to eat and by the last few wings, I was leaving meat on the bone (I never do that! I usually suck wings dry). DD's is one of the unique places that leaves the tip on the wing, which is a pro and a con. Pro: a little bit of extra meat and skin. Con: they are a bugger to rip off and let you eat the actual wing.

DD's sauce was very disappointing. Its a homemade sauce, so I want to give them kudos, but it was so sad that I just couldn't. Its a BBQ base, with no heat what so ever. In the original pictures from last year it was a nice red colour, but this time it was an invisible brown sauce. I say BBQ base, but it wasn't really. I did my best to identify the flavour of the sauce, but it just wasn't worth it.

Ricky on the other hand, got a tasty peameal bacon burger. He described it as "just excellent... perhaps overdid it with toppings which made it a tad bit messy..but still delicious." The photo above doesn't show it very well, but there was a juicy beef burger and cheddar in that pile.

FINAL SCORE:
The wings were big and started off crispy, but the sauce seriously disappointed. 14/35 and a Nay vote this time. Hopefully I just caught them on a bad day. I guess some things did change in a year.

To see more pics, as well as the bird that invaded our car upon arrival at Dangerous Dan's,
click HERE .

Dangerous Dan's Diner
714 Queen St. East
dangerousdansdiner.com

THE NEW SCORE guide to reviewing wings

Ever tinkering with the process to give YOU, the Wing Nation, the best review possible.

===============================================================

2010 THE SCORE 3.2:

STYLE:	buffalo style, gourmet, frozen, pizza, Chinese, experimental, Colonel (kfc like)
PRICE:	$__ for ___# of wings
SAUCES:
HEAT:	Nothing/Tingle/Burning/PAIN* *(relative to Wing King’s tolerance) Scoville Units where available
WETNAP FACTOR:	· Mushy · Dry · Drizzle · Wet · Drowning
SIZE:	· Pidgeon/Small= -1/0.5 · Medium= 1 · Large= 2 · Jumbo = 3	/3
CRISPINESS:	· Mushy/Rock Hard= -1/1 · Crisp= 2 · Crispy/Crunchy= 3	/3
FLAVOUR:	· Bad= 0 · OK/Decent= 1 · Good= 2 · Great= 3	/3
SIDES:	Veggies Dip Fries Other
CLEAN UP:	Napkin Wetnap Wing Bowl/Plate Warm towel
WING NIGHT:	½ price AYCE 2-4-1	/1
OTHER:	Patio, pop refills
TOTAL:	0-2=Not worth it 3-5=ok 6-8=good 9+=GREAT	/10

========================================================

The BELOW are now the OLD SCORES:

========================================================

Here is the SCORE 3.0 - a new score for a new generation of reviews.

STYLE:	buffalo style, gourmet, frozen, pizza, Chinese, experimental, Colonel (kfc like)
PRICE:	$$ for how many wings
SAUCES:	More than 6 choices = 1 point	/1
HEAT:	Nothing/Tingle/Burning/PAIN* *(relative to Wing King’s tolerance) Scoville Units where available
SIZE:	§ Small =0.5/-1 § Medium =1 § Large =2 § Jumbo =3	/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	§ Dry = 1 § Wet = 2 § Dripping =3 § Drowning =1	/3
CRISPINESS:	§ Mushy/Rock Hard =-1 § Chewy =1 § Crisp =2 § Crunchy =3	/3
FLAVOUR:	§ Bad = 0 § OK =1 § Good=2 § Great=3	/3
SIDES:	§ Veggies =1 § Dip =1 § Fries =1	/3
CLEAN UP:	§ Napkin =1 § Wetnap =1 § Wing Bowl/Plate =1 § warm towel=1 bp	/3
WING NIGHT:		/1
OTHER:	1-7=Not worth it 8-11=ok 12-16=good 17+=GREAT	/20

=========================================================

MINI-WING REVIEW

NAME/LOCATION

COST:
WING NIGHT:
DATE/REVIEW:
WEBSITE:
RESULTS:

================================================
The following is now the OLD SCORE:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a new year comes a new score. Now what people like in wings is very subjective. For instance, what makes someone else cry will not cause me to cry (Stephen Colbert interviewed a woman who thought Ketchup was too spicy!)

Keeping that in mind, here is how we will be grading each places wings:


The NEW SCORE

STYLE: -so what kind of wings are they?: Buffalo style, gourmet, frozen, pizza, chinese,
experimental, battered etc
SAUCES: -what sauces - hot, medium, bbq etc
SIZE: -Jumbo(2 points) Large(1) Medium (.5) Smal (0) Pidgeon (-1)
OUT OF 2 Points
HEAT: - 1-4= nothing at all,
5=-starting to sense something
6= tongue tingle
7=-numbing lips
8= cough before consuming
9= sweat
10= long lasting pain
11 or above= stomach burning & days of pain OUT OF 10 points
CRISPINESS: soggy (1) medium (2) crunchy (3) OUT OF 3 points
WETNAP FACTOR: (hot saucy is it?)
1= dry to the bone
2= some sauce
3= half dry half sauce
4=saucy
5=drowning OUT OF 5 points

PRICE: How much will it cost???
SIDES: Were there side dishes? veggies (2), fries (5) OUT OF 7 points
WETNAP/NAPKINS: napkins (3) wetnaps (5) OUT OF 7 points
WING NIGHT:
OTHER:
SPECIAL:
TOTAL: 2+10+3+5+7+8= /35
FINAL SCORE: the total out of 35 and a Yea or Nea vote.

Of course, bonus points may be added. Normally, it will look like this:

The NEW SCORE

STYLE:
SAUCES:
SIZE: /2
HEAT: /10
CRISPINESS: /3
WETNAP FACTOR: /5
PRICE:
SIDES: /7
WETNAP/NAPKINS: /8
WING NIGHT:
OTHER/SPECIAL:
TOTAL: /35
FINAL SCORE: