JULUCA's BISTRO CAFE - Barrhaven ON

#lotwfallcatchup

So I was down in Barrhaven, and while I was down there I thought I would check out somewhere for lunch. I did some quick internet researching and came across a little independent eatery. But they were closed (but the hours suggested they should be open). Drat. Not to be undone, I decided to find another independent place, and Juluca's seemed to fit the bill.

From my brief internet search Juluca's seemed to be a pizza place that served up wings. But the photos showed what looked like a pretty fancy little bistro, or Bistro Cafe as they advertise themselves. I was curious as to what Juluca was; was it a name? Some place in Italy? A style of food? The only thing that came back besides the restaurant was an AIDS medication. Ummm ok?

Barrhaven is basically a suburb community for Ottawa, and Juluca's was in a very suburban area. Surrounded by homes and schools, and apart of what looks like a condo facility with business's on the ground and apartments above in a building called 'The Station'. It looks relatively new, my guess is built around 2016.

I parked in the back, and walked around noticing their very large patio (which was basically packed up for the season). I walked inside and first noticed the decor; the place was very nice inside. Very clean, chic/posh feel, with a fire place, exposed brick and fancy bar. But on the other side, while there were a few guys in suits, and some guys that seemed to be the owners, it was full of high school students. The place seemed more expensive than high school students would bother with, but then again, there wasn't anything else around for them to go.

I walked up to the counter where the server, dressed more like a hostess at a nice restaurant than a pizza joint, was on her phone. She looked up, not seemingly interested in her job. The menu is on a flat placard and I quickly saw chicken wings under Appetizers. I said I would get an order of the wings, but asked what the difference between their Hot and Suicide. She just looked at me and said "Hot is like, Frank's ... and Suicide was not...". Wow, ok, well I went with Suicide. I got a Coke Zero and then grabbed a table.

After about 10 minutes the hostess brought out my wings. What a fancy plate!

After she brought my wings she did bring over a bone plate, and wetnaps, and there was a napkin dispenser on the table already. The wings at Juluca's come by the pound, and there were about 11 wings in their pound.

The chichi plate was neat because it had a built in dip bowl. Now they filled that bowl with sour cream ... had that been blue cheese or even ranch that would have been cooler.




The wings were actually a really nice size; not quite large, but medium+ for sure in length. But they were also fairly meaty too.

The wings are deep fried, and the skin was nice and crispy. The meat, on the other hand, was kinda tough and the bones didn't pull apart easily. It looks like the wings are from frozen also.

The presentation of the wings was great. They looked crispy, but they were also sauced really well. Each wing was nice and wet, and there was a nice amount of sauce on the bottom of the plate.

As mentioned above, I went with Suicide as my sauce. The sauce was good, but it wasn't very spicy. It was cayenne based, but like the hostess mentioned, it wasn't Frank's for sure. By the way, she came and checked in on me, and was busing the tables and taking orders the whole time I was there (when I came in I must have caught her in a  moment of rest after a lunch rush?). I couldn't identify the sauce, and it wasn't suicide for sure, but the flavour of the wing didn't suffer at all.

FINAL SCORE:

The wings at Juluca's are actually decent. Good size, crispy, and well sauced. A bit tough, but not bad and suicide was not very hot, but a pretty acceptable. No idea what the other food is like but the pizza was pretty popular.  I don't make it to Barrhaven often so next time I go back I would try somewhere else to experiment, but these wings would do in a pinch. 8.5/15

Juluca's Bistro Cafe
613 Longfield's Drive, Barrhaven ON
julucas.ca