WING MACHINE - Cornwall ON

When I first moved to Toronto many years ago, I found a chain of take-out chicken wing joints which was unusual at the time, as only pizza places seemed to do wing take-out then. The chain was called Wing Machine, and the wings were unlike anything I was used to. They were seasoned and baked and they came with a suicide sauce that was just awesome. My future wife and I loved them and would get wings and wedges as a take-out treat. I didn't actually review them until 2007. Now I live in Ottawa and there are no Wing Machines here. But Cornwall has one!

We were staying overnight and had decided to just have a night in at the hotel. We had seen the Wing Machine signs in the past, and now was our time to go down memory lane with some loved wings. What was interesting was that it showed there was a drive-thru! So we pulled in and discovered the drive-thru no longer used. So I pulled up and went inside what was a shared Wing Machine/Double Double pizza/chicken location. In Toronto Wing Machine used to be paired with Pizza Panzerotto, then Gino's Pizza chains. Out here it seems to be with Double Double.

The location has been here for a couple of years I believe, but it looks new and space age in it's colouring. There is a lot more seating inside than I was expecting - the seat are actually big and padded, but I'm pretty sure they came from an older restaurant and are far from new.

Everything on the menu seems to be Double Double focused, so I wondered how this worked or if it really was Wing Machine. The Pizza Dude at the counter was super friendly and willing to explain how it worked. I ordered their Wing Nut Deal (saw online but not in store) and waited about 15 minutes for the food. While I was there, 2 middle aged guys working in Cornwall but not from Cornwall came in and were hilariously floored by all the options; they couldn't get over that they could get ribs or pizza, or wings or burgers or fried chicken or or or!

The Wing Nut Deal ($29.95) is 2lbs of wings (with sauce), fries (we got wedges instead), and 2 595ml drinks (Pepsi products). I also asked for some dip for the wedges which is normally an extra charge, but Pizza Dude was cool and gave it to me for free.

Pizza Dude also asked if I wanted the sauce on the wings or the side and I asked for side, so they came with 3 containers for the 2lbs.

The potato wedges were pretty big but didn't seem like the Wing Machine wedges I've had in the past. These were coated in flour I think and fried, and they were crispy and had a nice pillowy inside. But unlike other Machine wedges, these were quite under-seasoned. LJ found them blah, and they were a bit. Wing Machine's wedges used to be covered in spices, these were not.

As it would turn out, the wings wouldn't be like they used to either ...

It was obvious that these were not the same wings as the old Wing Machine. It's at this point I became very suspicious of what was Wing Machine and what was Double Double. I mean, these wings were breaded and crispy - nothing like Wing Machine.

I was really impressed with the size and amount of wings in the box. There were like 30 golden wings sitting in the box in front of me and I was super psyched.

The wings were a good medium and they were pretty meaty. Just a nice sized wing. They are breaded, but it's a lighter applied breading (as in quantity, in texture it's crispy and hard).

The wings are fried giving them a nice crunchy/crispy skin. It's a great texture. The problem is that the chicken meat is dried out. Fired wings aren't done at Wing Machine, but I did notice after reviewing my photos at the store it does say they can be baked. I ate a few of the wings just like this and they were good. LJ was not as impressed since they weren't super seasoned or taste like Wing Machine. For me though, these were a better wing on it's own.

So would the Suicide sauce be the same as what we remembered? Yes, yes it was. Their suicide is a really peppery sauce that has a great flavour, but a heat that goes after all parts of the mouth. It's thick and holds up to the fried wings. It has a really really good kick which turned out to be too much for LJ. I loved it but had a hard time trying to ration out how much sauce I had. 

We didn't eat all the wings (I think I'm getting old!) and I had a snack and a lunch out of the leftovers. I did ration the sauce well but I just wish I had a litre of the stuff.

FINAL SCORE:

So I don't know if it's just a shift in recipe since I reviewed these wings in 2007 or if it's because they are paired with Double Double, but the wings to me are much better. Bigger, crispier, but still with that thick stinging Suicide sauce. LJ found the wings under seasoned, and we both agreed the wedges were too, but they were still crispy. This is another example of a place I wish we had in Ottawa. 9/14

Wing Machine/Double Double
1610 Brookdale Ave, Cornwall ON
wingmachine.com