BIGG'S DELI & BAR ~ Ottawa

The plan was to go out for dinner to a chain of wing restaurants in Ontario called Wild Wing. LJ and I have been there before in what I call one of my "Lost Reviews", where I have photos of the wings, but I lost the information on what I ordered and much time passed before I went to actually write the review (It was sometime last fall).

On the way back there, we ended up taking a wrong turn, and while correcting ourselves, I saw a sign on the deck "MONDAY to WEDNESDAY BUFFALO WINGS $6.99 lb." We've both been looking for an Ottawa local place that wasn't a chain, and I was sold on the wings, so we stopped into Bigg's Deli & Pub.

There was very few cars in the parking lot. After we pulled in I had reservations about the place. All I could think was a failing family restaurants that just served crummy food. LJ shared this concern, but we decided to brave it.


The atmosphere was just as I pictured it, run down family restaurant. It wasn't particularly clean (but the smell of cleaning product was strong when we first entered), furniture was at least 10-15 years old and was desperate for a make-over. Strange 'Famous Hollywood' dolls were perched around our booth, making sure we were always watched by these strange gargoyles.

The menu itself was a mish-mash of all day breakfast (their specialty), Italian, sandwiches and pub food. It reached out for a broad audience, seemingly to appeal to mom, dad, little Jimmy and Jenny and granny too. There was lots to choose from, but LJ went for a appetizer combo of wings, onion rings, zucchini sticks, perogies, and cheese sticks for $13.99. Here's how things turned out for her:

• Perogies: frozen store bought with fake yellow cheese - very touch to chew.
• Cheese Sticks: rubbery cheese, - very touch to chew.
• Zucchini Sticks: zucchini was way to overcooked and left a foul taste in the mouth.
• Onion Rings: good. Battered not breaded.
• Wings: her wings were hot but really lacked sauce.

It also came with a big bowl of sour cream and a garlic dip (which she liked). This did not mask the either over deep fried food or frozen vittles that was her meal. Of course, I went for the wings, and things were a bit different.

2008 THE SCORE 3.0: BIGG’S Deli & Pub ~ Ottawa

STYLE:	Deep fried then baked
PRICE:	$9.95 for 10 $13.95 for 15 $17.95 for 20
SAUCES:	Mild Hot (Frank’s) Suicide (3rd Degree) Honey Garlic	0/1
HEAT:	Hot is not, suicide has a tingle
SIZE:	Large to jumbo – impressive	3/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	Wet – the hot had sauce at the bottom, suicide was sticky	2/3
CRISPINESS:	Chewy-crisp	1.5/3
FLAVOUR:	Ok – nothing fancy here	1/3
SIDES:	None (despite advertisement)	0/3
CLEAN UP:	Napkins and a bone plate	2/3
WING NIGHT:	Mon-Wed 10 for $6.99	1/1
OTHER:	Patio, serve Pepsi, free refills
TOTAL:	Big wings with less than original sauces	10.5/20

I asked for 2 orders of wings, one of hot and the other suicide:


SUICIDE: above, was the suicide. Clearly 3rd Degree. Nothing wrong with it (love that syrupy suicide) but just nothing special.


HOT: the above photo was the hot. You can't see much sauce, because its at the bottom of the basket. And the hot sauce is just good old Frank's with some vinegar. Ok, but nothing orrigional.




The really good thing about the wings were their size. They were huge, without any fancy breading or dusting. Not super meaty, just large. They also seemed to bake their wings after they were fried. They were crispy, but a few were overdone. Mixed with their traditional sauces made for a wing that wasn't inspiring, but that I enjoyed eating.

Next to us was two older French people who also ordered their wings. I don't think they are used to wings at all. After they recieved their wings, they complained to the waitress Heidi, (who was really friendly and attentave) that they were "too salty. How can anyone eat these wings? They are so salty." Heidi wasn't sure what to do, explaining that salt wasn't used on them. She offered to bring them another platter of wings in a different sauce, but they didn't seem to understand the sauces. We left before I found out what they did, but I sure hope they didn't judge against these wings in general because of their wing ingnorance.

FINAL SCORE: While the pub food sucked, the wings were all right. Jumbo sized wings with plain Jane sauces. Oh, the menu said I was supposed to get veggies with a dip of either Ranch or Sour Cream (again with the sour cream!!!) but nothing came; it is possible that I got none because it was wing night (a lot of places do that) but overall, some veggies would be nice. LJ asked if I would ever go back again. I asked her: no. As for me, if it was Monday to Wednesday, maybe. They didn't really do anything wrong . . . but I just don't think it was done to the best of their abilities. 10.5/20

Bigg's Deli & Bar
1099 St Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa