THE KOVEN - Ottawa ON

Not only is the review from the summer, I really wanted to post it last week just before Hallowe'en. It would have been appropriate.

For a while I've wanted to check out The Koven; a heavy/death metal Satanic themed restaurant in the Byward Market in Ottawa. I would never expect such a place in Ottawa, but here it is. And the place is awesome.

I came by on a Wednesday for an early supper (I had read that Wednesdays was wing night). From the outside you can't miss the place: there are huge macabre and grotesque art works for sale that is either going to send people away or draw certain types in. I went right in.

I'm not a huge death or heavy metal fan, but I really dug the atmosphere here. More art, more references to Satan, more goth. You can't help but head bang in here and want to throw up the devil horns. There is an upstairs 'Konsignment' store of items for sale, but I stuck to the downstairs.

I walked around and aside from a guy at the bar, I was the only one there. I had to duck under the stairs to come around to the dining area and I sat by the window. A big dude came from the back of the bar to get my drink order and bring me a menu. First off, the menu has lots of awesome names that harken to both goth and music alike. I mean you've got their 666 app platter, you're Machine Head grilled cheese, System of a Dawg hot dogs, or even the Iron Maiden smoked meat sandwich. Koven's thing though, is burgers. There are a lot of burgers that sound really good, like The Kreator (1.4lb burger, bacon, sauteed onion, cheddar, JD BBQ sauce) or one of their extreme burgers like Dimmu (1/2lb patty stuffed with spicy cheese curds, hot peppers, sauteed green peppers and onion with spicy havarti aioli). Don't even get me started on their Chaotic Cthuluhu burger.

I was here for the wings though, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of flavour offered. Some were plain and obvious like Buffalo, JD BBQ, or Spicy Maple, butI had no idea what GHOST, Satanik, or Dragula were. When the dude from the bar came back, I realized he was the owner, Medhi Galehdar that I had read about when I first learned about The Koven. He's a man of few words and so I didn't ask him to many questions. I did learn Dragula was Garlic Parmesan, but I went with Satanik, which is listed as their hottest wings. He said that it wasn't that hot, but it was really unique. Sounded good to me.

The serve Coke products, and I went with a Diet Coke. I was a little surprised when Medhi brought me a can of pop, especially after when I saw on my bill a can of pop is $2. Oh well. I didn't wait long until my platter arrived. I really liked the presentation: long black plate with lots of fries, wings, and a measuring spoon/ladle of sour cream? Ok.

The fries were fresh cut and looked like they came straight from a chip truck. They were crispy and cooked just right. I was surprised and bothered that they were completely unseasoned. Also, there was no condiments on the table, so no salt, not vinegar, no ketchup. When Medhi came back to check on my a little while later, I asked for ketchup. I didn't want to bother, but I should have asked for salt and vinegar too.

There was no side plate or bone bowl with my order, but I did get a good paper napkin. There were about 9 wings in my order, and it was pretty evenly split between flats and drums.

The wings varied in size; most were about a medium, but one was like 0.5 of a real wing. It was also scrawny, while the rest of the wings were fairly meaty, although not all.

The wings were very crispy. I could hear from the kitchen when the wings came out of the fryer and being tossed in that bowl and you can just hear that crispy sound. Some of the meat was a bit tough and the wings were on the verge of being overcooked and tough, others were more tender. It was not too easy to pull apart the bones to get at the meat.

The wings weren't saucy either. I don't know if it was just the type I got, but the Satanik wings were more coated in oil with a spice mixture. The colour was not like most wings - I would describe them as 'zombie-flesh' colour, which seemed appropriate given the location. I could smell the spice coming off them which was enticing.

There was a lot of dry spices mixed in with that oil. I was told there were over 10 different spices used, with Habanero being the hottest. I didn't find these wings hot, well maybe just hot, but nothing that I would expect to be called 'Satanik'. They were tasty, and while normally I detest sour cream as a dip with my wings, it actually worked well with this dry-oily wing.

FINAL SCORE:

I really like The Koven. It has such a cool atmosphere and concept. I definitely want to go back and try one of the burgers, or poutine, or even the wings. The wings were crispy, but a little inconsistent in size and tenderness. I would love to try one of their more saucy wings next time too.

Oh, I also asked about the wing night as it wasn't advertised or applied on my bill. Turns out it's only during September-April when the University kids are in town. I was in in July so that sucked, and I deducted 0.5 points from The Score, but because it's $6.66 (awesome), I had to give that half point back.  8.5/15

The Koven
93 Murray St, Ottawa ON
thekoven.ca