THE GEORGETOWN SPORTS PUB ~ Ottawa

RIP - THE GEORGETOWN is NOW CLOSED

More terrible weather! More rain, more grey, more blah. Actually there is a bit of an advantage with the bad weather; nobody wants to go out. So while I was running errands, everywhere was empty. No lines at the bank, no lines at the library, no lines in stores. It was great.


When I decided to stop for supper at a pub with a wing night, I was surprised to find that the pub was pretty empty as well.



I stopped at the Georgetown Sports Bar, located in what I refer to the Lower Glebe area (I don't know the official boundaries of the Glebe. I love saying that name. Glebe.). This place is a sports bar, and what a sports bar. You want soccer? Football? UFC? Hockey? They got it all. They even have a giant blackboard outlining whats going on when and where. Want to watch a sports event other than the main event? They have private rooms with separate TV/Screens.



On this Monday afternoon/evening, there was curling on when I went in. As you know, I'm not a sports fan, so I plunked down at the window and watched the people in the rain. There was no crowd at all in the bar, just a guy at the bar reading the paper, and later a couple of students (who also got wings). Nobody wants to be out in the rain.

My waitress Kristin greeted me from the bar as soon as I came in the door. She took my drink order quick, and was back stating "Here for wing night tonight?" I was caught a little off guard, wondering if I had been recognized, and before I had even looked at the menu. Of course that's why I was there though. I looked over the wing choices, and they have some interesting flavours. Orange sesame? General Tao? Crazy, but it sounded good.

I also noticed on the menu there was mild/medium/hot as well as Frank's Buffalo. I asked Kristin what the difference between the two were. "Nothing" she said. "I don't know why they have that on there, they are the same."

Armed with that knowledge, I decided to branch out slightly from my regular wing fare. So I decided to go with an order of General Tao, and throwing caution to the wind, an order of suicide.

In no time, I had two baskets of about 18 wings waiting for me to scarf down.

The advertisement for wing night says 'Jumbo Wings', which isn't entirely true. Yes, these are a large and meaty wing, but they are not what I would consider jumbo.They were crisp, and the menu says that they are baked in their 'secret' seasoning, then deep fried. Well, however they do it, the wings had a great crispy/crunch while maintaining a soft, meaty inside. Excellent chicken.

As stated before, I got two orders to sample some sauces.

GENERAL TAO
I'm going to be straight up with you - these are not the wings I expected. I know General Tao has no unifying recipe, but when I think of General Tao, I think of spicy with some sweetness. This sauce was a Chinese honey garlic. It might have been their honey garlic with hoisin or teriyaki sauce added, I don't know.

Now as many of you know, I do not accept Honey Garlic as a chicken wing. It just isn't. It shouldn't be allowed on the same menu as real chicken wings.

Now, that being said . . . these were not bad. The 'Asian' influence made it acceptable. Now I wouldn't get these again, but it was a nice change from the usual wings I've been having. But for those of you that do like HG, you would like these. But they are not General Tao.

SUICIDE

I figured since the Georgetown had some interesting and original flavours, suicide was going to be something special. And they didn't disappoint. It was a very original unique take on suicide, and like nothing I've had before. It was a mushy/goopy sauce that had a lot of different flavours going on. There was hot sauce, chili peppers, and some sort of seasoning, like a Montreal steak spice or something.

I asked Kristin if she could divulge the secret of their suicide, but she said she couldn't. "We don't have a set suicide. Its just whatever they guys in the back decide on each night". So basically a kitchen sink sauce. Again, very interesting flavour going on, but not that spicy either.

FINAL SCORE: The chicken wings here are good. Large, crispy and meaty. The basics were down pat. As for the sauces, some very interesting choices. They were done well, but they were not flavours I would normally go for. I would definitely go back to try some other flavours. 8/10

The Georgetown Sports Pub
1159 Bank Street, Ottawa

georgetownpub.ca