#lotwwintercatchup - this review is from March 2020.
"WARNING - Medium IS HOT - Medium Hot is VERY HOT, Hot IS VERY, VERY HOT"
Me and Duff's have a looong history. I've been coming to the original Canadian Duff's for just under 20 years. I won't go into all of those visits here, but if you go to my last post in 2017 you can see the links. It's a fave, even if my last visit wasn't the best, but it usually is.
Let me set the stage, as this is probably my last in-person review since Covid-19 hit us all. Actually it was in the early days of Covid-19 starting to really spread world wide. LJ & I were off to Toronto to pick up her father from the airport; he was returning (as planned) after being in India for 2 months (don't worry, he didn't get Corona virus and has been in isolation ever since). Social distancing wasn't even a thing at this point. LJ and I were arriving to Toronto too early to pick him up, but with time for us to grab lunch. We had a small debate but we were both on board for wings at Duff's.
We went to the original Canadian location on Bayview ave because it was the easiest for us to get to. And nostalgia kicks in and I love this place, even if it is a bit small. I remember going here and there was almost always a line outside to get in. We were there mid-week arriving after the lunch hour, so it was pretty quiet (parking was still a pain though).
The place hasn't changed I think at all since I first went in the early 2000's. I mean it doesn't look dated. Actually one thing was missing - years ago they removed their siren - they used to have a siren that would go off when someone ordered Death or Armageddon wings, but no more.
The wing menu hasn't changed much either - there are a few more flavours than there used to be (Bold BBQ, Lemon Pepper, S&P) but aside from the prices it's pretty much the same. To get an idea, in 2006 it was $8.95 to get 10 wings that came with only celery and dip, but also coleslaw. No more coleslaw these days.
Our server (didn't catch her name) was pretty chill. She looked after us but also wasn't bubbly or very talkative. She took our orders, brought us waters, pitcher of pop, veggies with dip, bone bowl, plates and all the rest. It didn't take long before we had our fries and our wings.
Back in the day Duff's used to only give celery sticks, so having carrot sticks was a nice addition. Both were big, crunchy and fresh. For LJ's dip she went with Blue Cheese and I went with Dill. The blue cheese is good; it's creamy and got some chunks. I love the Dill - it's creamy and well, dilly.
The fries are pretty decent. I don't think they are fresh cut, even though they do have some skins on them. They are perfectly crispy - you bite and you hear the crunch. The inside is sufficiently soft as well. They are under or not seasoned at all, so there isn't much flavour here. That's where ketchup, vinegar, my hot sauce and dill dip came in to save the day.
Wings at Duff's back in the day used to be served 10 to an order, but they've since shifted to a pound of wings, which looks like about 8 these days. They state on the menu they cannot guarantee even flats or drums, but we got even flats and drums. I've already talked about the sides, but for cleanup they give you a bone bucket, napkins, and wetnaps.
The wings were large as they used to be. It's a long wing, with a good height, and is relatively meaty to this size of wing.
The skin is perfectly crispy. For a wing that is just straight up deep fried, you have that crispy/crackly skin that crunches when you bit into it. It's almost, almost, deep fried too much but not really. This means the bones are a little hard to pull apart in some cases, but other wise they pulled away clean.
I love me some saucy wings, but back in the day Duff's served their wings in a lake of sauce. Like the wings seriously drowned and I love all that sauce, but by the end, the wings are soggy and no longer crispy. So I started ordering them sauce on the side. LJ loves Salt & Pepper wings, so we got these S&P with Hot on the side.
SALT & PEPPER
Duff's does dry seasonings now, but we weren't crazy about their take on Salt & Pepper. At other places its big salt granules and big chunks of pepper, but these didn't seem to be like that. It wasn't very salty or peppery. I also think personally that a S&P wing goes better with a breaded fried wing. But hey, they were still very crispy.
HOT
The hot on the side is a very generous bowl; I've gotten this amount of soup at other restaurants! I should note that the sauce is pretty much a pure orangey-red sauce; the flakes of pepper and salt came from the wings being dipped into the sauce.
Duff's is known for being a strongly vinegary Buffalo wing. It's very tangy. And they know their heats. Normally I get Superhot - it's a great suicide wing with a lot of bite - but I didn't want to go too hot for LJ's sake. She likes heat, but not like I do. But this Hot was still pretty hot - in fact it reminded me of Superhot. It stung my tongue and lips and when drinking the sauce, it went for my throat. Ya I drank the sauce. It's good!
FINAL SCORE:
It was good to go back. I love these wings - large, super crispy, super saucy, spicy wings. They are so tangy and spiky. Salt and Pepper was a bit underwhelming, the fries are decent, but I love their dill dip too. It's good when a place still lives up to nostalgia and memories. It was also fitting if these happen to be the last wings I had out at a restaurant ... 12/15
Duff's Famous Wings
1604 Bayview Ave, Toronto ON (and other locations)
duffsfamouswings.ca
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