LUCKY's SPORTS BAR & TENNESSEE's BANK ST GRUB HUT - Ottawa ON

#lotwsummercatchup - this review is from back in September. I'm catching up, slowly, but I'm getting there.

Here's the scene. It's lunch, I want wings, and I had passed on Bank Street a newish sports pub called Lucky's. This place used to be a Fat Albert's (an Ottawa based Sub and Pub chain) but clearly had done a change. What had originally struck me was the message board on the sign that had advertised a wing night on Mondays, but this was Wednesday, but as I pulled in, I saw the sign just said 1lb for $8.99. So who knew?

Like many of the eateries I visit, it`s in a strip-mall . I was kind of confused because there seemed to be two restaurants - Lucky`s Sports Bar and Tennessee`s Bank St Grub Hut. But they seem to split but I think they share the same kitchen.

Inside the place was a bit dark and my first thought was dive bar, but it`s not a dank, dingy place after all. There`s a variety of seating (bars, booths, tables) and even 2 patio areas outside. The walls are covered in flat screens and sports memorabilia.  I went right at opening, so there was only one other person patronizing the place, and he was just drinking at the bar I believe.

The bartender/waitress was Jenny and she was pretty awesome. Friendly, attentive and just cool. She took my drink order (they serve Pepsi products). She didn't bring a menu, but then she warned me: 'Just to let you know, the cook is late today ... so I can do wings or fries, onion rings I can do, but sandwiches, burgers etc I can't do.' Well that worked out, I was there for the wings! She asked if I wanted a pound, I said yes. She asked how I wanted them done, and since I didn't have a menu I had to ask. She listed off mild, medium, hot, sweet chili, BBQ, honey garlic, and hot and honey. So I went with hot.

Now the above photo is from Tennessee's take-out menu, and the price of the wings is the same, but the flavour choices are not. I'm not sure if that's because it's changed, because she remembered the sauces wrong or what, but I've listed both just in case. This is what happens when I don't have an actual menu, and Lucky's doesn't have a website or a menu on their Facebook.

She brought my drink and the clean up supplies (bone plate, wetnap, good quality napkins), and I commented on her being abandoned by her cook. She mentioned they were new and there was some mix up. She was clearly frustrated by the situation but was diplomatic. She said she could at least do the fried stuff, but she wasn't a cook. I wasn't going to hold it against her no matter what. After a little bit I could hear her take the wings out of the fryer, she brought them out, and they looked really good.

The wings come in either 1lb or 2lb orders, with about 8-9 wings in a Lucky's pound. The wings were pretty evenly split between flats and drums.

The order came with carrot sticks and sour cream dip. The carrot sticks tasted super off, and I should have said something but I didn't. The sour cream tasted a little extra sour, but I don't really care for sour cream as a dip anyway. If I had known I would have asked for something else.

The size of the wings were about a medium (maybe a few on the smaller side of medium), and the meatiness factor was about the same.

The wings are fried naked, so no dusting or breading, and they were fried just right. The skin was nice and crispy and were tender (even though I think they come from frozen). Just great texture. Jenny was nervous about them (as she isn't a cook) but I told her they were great.

They were also sauced really well. The wings were wet, and there was extra sauce at the bottom. They smelled like Buffalo wings, but I confirmed that it was just Frank's, but they just tasted really good.

I was very satisfied with this meal. When it was time to pay the bill, Jenny brought it out to me. The wings are $14 (which is crazy to me considering they are pretty simple. Good, but simple). I asked if there was a wing night, and she told me on Mondays it was $8.99. Then she peeked out the window staring off. Then she said sorry and she went outside. She came back in, went to the cash register and brought me a new bill. She said the board outside on one side says that wing night is Monday, but not on the other, it just lists the $8.99 price, so she only charged me the $8.99 price. She said she`s told 'them' they need to change it, and I joked that she seems to be doing everything around there. I gave her a good tip because I appreciate that gesture. Topped with the upfront notice and the all around good service.

FINAL SCORE:

I really enjoyed my wings and my experience at Lucky's thanks to Jenny. The wings are reasonably sized, but fried right and sauced well. Just really good hot wings. The sides were off. I'd definitely go back, but it seems like Monday's are the only reasonably priced time to go. 10/15

Lucky's Sports Bar
1571 Bank Street, Ottawa ON
facebook.com/Barluckys

LAKE COUNTRY GRILL - Orillia ON

Does #lotwsummercatchup count when you are into September? Well it's going to count since it was the last weekend of the summer, Labour Day weekend, and LJ and I took her dad out on a day trip into Midland Ontario. We didn't stop for lunch while we were there, but decided to on our way back coming through Orillia.

I had looked online before the trip for places to eat, something everyone could enjoy, but maybe someplace I could get some wings too. Lake Country Grill came up, and after reading some of the menu selections, we decided to check it out.

This place feels like it should be a stand alone restaurant, but it's in a large strip mall with ample parking. The weather was a bit dreary out, but as we walked up to the place we noticed a very dark opening - its a black mesh so that they can have an open patio feel, without letting the bugs in. You couldn't see inside, but from inside you could see out.

Inside, the place has a cottage theme going on. Big giant murals with down country feel (like on the dock at a lake), the chairs are like country farm table chairs, and nick-knacks on the wall like stuffed fish or snowshoes. It was clean, and big inside, but quite empty save for some seniors all sitting together at a long table.

Our server was Jenn, who was friendly and took good care of us. She brought us menus and took our drink orders. They serve Pepsi products, and I got a Diet Pepsi, but the drink was off so she exchanged it for a 7-up for me.

The menu is burgers, sandwiches, bar food etc. I took a look at the wing section (under Cottage Favourites) and was surprised at all the wing offerings. Then I got confused because there were so many different prices and options but Jenn was able to help navigate. You can read above, but this is what they meant:

• 1lb Wings (with veggies & Ranch dip) = $12, breaded wings = $13
• 1lb Wing Dinner (with fries, veggies & dip) = $16, breaded wings = $17
• 1lb Canadian Blizzard Wings - Breaded wings tossed in sauce and covered with Ranch or Blue Cheese = $15

Makes more sense, n'est pas?

So while I got wings, LJ went with the Fall off the Dock roast beef melt, which came to $17 with sweet potato fry upgrade.  It had grilled onions and aus jus on the side. The beef was a little tough and wasn't super flavourful, but decent enough. The crispy sweet potato fries were good and they came with a chipotle mayo which was great and I spread on a bit of the sandwich that I took a bite of from LJ.

My father-in-law got the schnitzel ($19); pork that's breaded, fried, with a mushroom gravy, and potatoes and a veggie medley on the side. He ate it all up and said it was good.

I went with the Wing Dinner, and got a good size platter.

What makes it a "dinner' is that it came with fries (or a salad but I went with fries). There was a generous heap of fries, but unfortunately they were not seasoned at all. Fortunately at the table was salt, ketchup and regular AND malt vinegar. I love a good malt & salt fry with ketchup. I was offered gravy but I passed on that.

There was also veggies and dip on the side. Fresh celery and carrot sticks, and a decent ranch for dipping. Nice. But the big question is, how were the wings?

Wings are served in orders by one pound. In a LCG pound is about 8-9 wings approx.  There was a pretty equal serving of flats and drums. For clean-up I was given a big metal plate for bones, wetnaps, and napkins.

The size of the wings were a good medium. You can get your wings fried straight up, but I went for the up-charge of having breaded wings. The breading adds a bit to the size but it's not crazy breading on there.

The wings were nicely fried, which meant the breaded wings were both crispy but lightly crunchy. That skin was spot on. But the chicken was also nicely tender and the bones pulled away easily. All around had a really spot-on texture to it.

To expand my flavour tasting and also knowing some folks at my table might want to sample the wings but not want the heat, I got them dry rubbed with the Cajun Dusting, and a side of their Flaming Campfire.

CAJUN DUSTED

The Cajun Dusted was predominately salt and pepper, with just a hint of that garlic/chili flavour that is Cajun. With the breaded crispy wings, this actually reminded me of Boston Pizza's salt and pepper wings. They were good and I would get these again.

FLAMING CAMPFIRE

While I wouldn't call this a suicide sauce, this was a nice HOT+ sauce. Their regular HOT is Frank's, and this is the Frank's with some Cajun seasoning, jalapeno juice, and maybe a few other secrets thrown in there. It was really tasty, a nice flavour with the jalapeno juice giving it a really nice zingy quality to it.

The photos of the wings I had seen online before coming had the wings tossed in sauce and they looked really good and I struggled when I ordered for getting the sauce on the side because of this. This sauce worked well with the Cajun breaded, but would be great sauced all around too.

FINAL SCORE:

The wings here were really good. Decent size, but tasted pretty fresh. They were crispy/crunchy, tender, and seasoned well. The Cajun was more salt and pepper, but good, and I would definitely get Flaming Campfire sauce for sure. The other food was good enough, but it was a pretty pricey servings as well. I'd go back for the wings, but I'd probably explore other eateries in Orillia the next time I'm there, especially since there is no wing night. 10/15

Lake Country Grill
425 West Street N, Orillia ON
facebook.com/LakeCountryGrill/*

*there is a website but it no longer seems to be working

LOTW Meme Monday = Woman Yelling at Cat about Wings

This is one of my big pet peeves. Yes all Buffalo Wings are chicken wings, but not all chicken wings are Buffalo Wings. Just like yes all Spaghetti is pasta, but not all pasta is Spaghetti. It matters on a menu when I am ordering to know what I am ordering. Bah. Don't get me started!

#nonwingsunday = Shanghai Noodle with Meat Sauce

Fried vs Baked Dry Srirarcha Rubbed Wings

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Sriracha Dry Rubbed Wings. I made a fried version last week, but these were a baked version. These were good, but baked is NEVER as good as fried. #lordofthewingsblog #lordofthewings #wings #chickenwings #lotwtestkitchen

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Nov 23, 2019 at 6:19pm PST

This was the Baked version. Later I posted the Fried version:

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Here's the fried Sriracha Dry Rub for comparison.

A post shared by LORD of the WINGS (@lotw_wingking) on Nov 23, 2019 at 6:23pm PST

Baked was good; fried is always better.

#fryday = Moe's Famous Suicide/BBQ Mix

MAIN ST. PUB - Stittsville ON

#lotwsummercatchup continues ...

Years ago a friend mentioned to me we should go check out this pub in Stittsville that has good wings, The Main St. Pub. I was like, sounds good, and for some reason we didn't go there. Then years went by, and this summer I was in Stittsville around lunch time and figured I'd finally check it out.

Located in a strip mall with like a pot store and a pizza place, Main St. Pub is nestled in the middle. It doesn't look like a pub, or at least that it was supposed to be a pub. I don't know how old it is, the signs are kind of fading and it seems pretty clear you are going into a dive bar.

And you are. It's dark (despite the high vaulted window at the front), the place feels like it hasn't been updated in ages. As I went in, the place was empty, except for one guy setting up the pool table. I thought he was staff as it was just him and I in the place, but it turned out he was just a customer playing pool by himself the whole time. There were a lot of long, group tables spread about, but I took a smaller table in the back corner (which turned out to be next to the ladies loo, but there were like no ladies, so no worries).

Eventually more people came, mostly older men, what seemed to be regulars, the old day time drinkers who are there everyday. The waitress had come out - she was the only one working out front so she was waitress, bartender, and I guess hostess. She wasn't very warm, but she wasn't rude or anything either.

She took my drink order, I asked for a Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi, and she said "ok," not confirming which brand it was. I looked over the menu and found wings right at the top. A little pricey for a pub appetizer in a dive bar, but just about everything on the menu is about $15. I was there on a Tuesday and I had read on the net that it was wing night, but nothing on the menu corroborated this, until I saw the waitress writing it on the chalk board ($9.45 and it's Sunday-Wed, wow!). She came back with my drink and took my order.

My drink tasted a little off. It was a bit warm (despite enough floating ice cubes). It had almost a creamy froth, but not much syrup. It didn't taste like Coke or Pepsi, and later on the bill I saw that it said "Diet Cola". I didn't complain, but now I know it was shite generic cola brand.

I didn't have to wait long, and my wings arrived.

Before the food arrived, my waitress brought out a bone bowl, extra napkins, and wetnaps, so that was appreciated. The wings come in one size order of about 9-10 wings, so that's what I got, and you get an even split of flats and drums.

The wings come with carrot and sour cream, but any self respecting wing connoisseur poo-poo's such a dip. So I asked if I could switch it out, and I went with blue cheese. The blue cheese looked like it was full of blue cheese chunks, and it had some, but not a lot. It also tasted ... wrong. Not bad, just not like blue cheese dip. I tried it again, and I'm pretty sure it's just ranch with chunks of blue cheese thrown in.

The wings that came out surprised me because they were pretty big. I mean round, meaty wings. They are also dusted in flour and fried, but they are still a hefty wing. They weren't very tender, but they weren't that tough either. Pulling apart the bones was not easy, but not super hard.

The wings were probably crispy when they were first sauced, and they were sauced well, but by the time I had my wings they had lost that crispness. But there was a decent amount of sauce for extra dipping.

For my wings I went with their Hot, with a side of Suicide. The hot was just typical cayenne based hot sauce. Probably just Frank's sauced and tossed.

The Suicide on the side, served in a closed plastic cup, was 3rd Degree I'm pretty sure. Good, but nothing special here again. Hot was ok, but this was good to bump things up.

FINAL SCORE:

The wings were ok. Carrot and blue cheese dip was ok. The service was ok. The atmosphere was ok. The cola sucked. I was happy that the wings were large at least, but they weren't as crispy as they should be, nor tender, nor as flavourful as they should be. I mean I'd eat them again on wing night because they are pricey, but this is not somewhere I need to rush back for wings anytime soon. 8.5/15

Main St. Pub
1408 Stittsville Main Street, Stittsville ON
facebook.com/Main-Street-Pub-159397160758641/