BRUYERE'S RESTAURANT ~ Cornwall

Tagging along with LJ to Cornwall Ontario for the second time, I've was desperate to find chicken wings. I don't know Cornwall very well. What do I know?

• Its a border town with the US
• There is a Native reserve
• It has a pulp and paper mill
• It is home to the Cornwall Jail (supposedly haunted)

The last time I was in town I went through the former jail, which was an amazing experience. But I still didn't know chicken wings. I scoured the internet. I asked Chowhound (no one responded). I even walked the streets of the downtown. Could Cornwall be devoid of chicken wings???



On both occasions we didn't have a lot of time. The first excursion there was no time for lunch. On this trip, there was but I still didn't find a place to check out in time. On our way out of town, we spotted a place that I had come across in my research that was supposed to be a great family restaurant and breakfast place. I gave up on my wings, but looked forward to hopefully good meal at Bruyere's.

Inside, Bruyere's looks like a family restaurant that hasn't changed since the 80's. The chairs, the wall paper, the table cloths, the customers: on the walk in I noticed all the senior citizens eating at the joint. Usually that indicates a) the food is good and b) the food is cheap. So there was no hip atmosphere at all, but people seemed to be enjoying their food. Our server Pam was friendly and performed just the right amount of service.

The menu is an interesting hodge podge of everything. Ribs, pies, pasta. They had some great lunch specials (soup/salad, special, and dessert for $7.99)! But the main event here seemed to be the breakfast items.




LJ went for the "Hungryman" breakfast: 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, 1 bacon slice, 1 sausage link, 1 ham half, 6 toast halfs, home fries and a coffee for $7.69. LJ asked for the eggs sunnyside up and Pam told her that according to new rules, eggs could no longer be served sunny side up. I don't know what these 'new rules' came from, but poached eggs it was.




I decided to mix things up a bit. I got a cup of homemade pea soup. It was hearty and flavourful and would have been great on a colder day. The only thing it was missing was ham hock. Would have made it.

I also ordered a small Caesar salad. When it came out, it was on a huge plate and I figured that I got the large salad. According to the bill at the end of the meal, I did get the small! It was a crisp salad and was nice and creamy, but the lettuce was kind of bitter.

And to my surprise, there was chicken wings on the menu. Well, sort of. I breezed through the menu the first time. No wings. Second time, I saw an appetizer combo of mozza sticks, something else, and wings! So I scoured the menu looking for the actual order of wings. Some restaurants put it in appetizers. Others main course. And even others give wings their own section. But here, there was not mention. LJ pointed out that the combo could be split into individual orders. So I was set.

2008 THE SCORE 3.0: Bruyeres Restaurant ~ Cornwall

STYLE:	??? fried, possibly pan-fried
PRICE:	$6.99 for approx 12
SAUCES:	Mild Medium Hot Honey garlic (maybe waitress wasn’t sure)	0/1
HEAT:	A little tingle
SIZE:	small	0.5/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	Wet but oily	2/3
CRISPINESS:	Barely – kinda chewy	1/3
FLAVOUR:	Not great	0.5/3
SIDES:	none	0/3
CLEAN UP:	Napkin,	1/3
WING NIGHT:	none	0/1
OTHER:	Pepsi refills NOT free
TOTAL:	This is a breakfast place, not a wing joint	5/20

The wings came out and I just stared at them. I didn't understand them. They looked . . . boiled. They looked terrible. They looked small, and shriveled and, well, gross. I mean, not so gross I wouldn't eat them, but one of the worst looking wings I had ever seen.

They were kind of crispy, but mostly chewy. The wings weren't boiled, but they didn't seem deep fried either. Nor baked. They were sitting in an oily hot sauce. The only thing that I can think of how they were cooked was pan fried in oil, with the hot sauce tossed in during the frying process. I have never come across anything like this before.

There was a hint of heat, which made the wings tolerable. I don't know how to explain the flavour of the wings - minimalist in sauce, but the chicken meat was decent tasting. If that makes sense.

FINAL SCORE: Well, probably the worst wings I may have ever eaten. They were small, crummy and not that tasty. The breakfast, salad and soup were not bad. But avoid the wings, at all costs. Cornwall must have someplace to get good wings!? 5/20

Bruyere's Restaurant
1225 Brookdale Avenue, Cornwall, ON
613-933-4800