Actually my conversation goes more with people who "loooove" chicken wings, but then it turns out they only like drums that are just salt & pepper. Me, I love all kinds. Just not honey garlic.
Monday, 31 May 2021
#nonwingsunday = BK Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
I really did enjoy this sandwich. It just hit all the right notes. I was surprised that I had heard almost nothing about it, but after I posted this, Burger King Canada posted this:
it’s bold… it’s kickin’… it’s the all-new Nashville Hot Chicken 🔥
— Burger King Canada (@BurgerKingCAN) May 31, 2021
make a $1 order on the BK app to get yours… free.
Cannot be combined with any other deal, combo or offer. Valid for one redemption per registered guest.
Sunday, 30 May 2021
Thursday, 27 May 2021
#tbt & #lostreview - GALLERIA SUPERMARKET York Mills 2014 TORONTO ON
It's time for another #tbt & #lostreview !
It's 2014. It was April and a Friday. I lived in downtown Toronto, and Korean fried chicken was just starting to be a fad in the food world. I had tried a couple of places downtown but I had the best was up in York Mills.
With access to a car (rental? Zipcar? don't remember) I headed up to Galleria Market Place. I had never really been to York Mills, but Galleria was pretty easy to find. That was the last east part of the trip.
Galleria is a small chain of Korean/Asian supermarket. It's big, clean, and very bright. I wandered around just checking the place out. I eventually found the hot food stand where a small army of workers were making all sorts of fresh Korean food. I was a bit lost as almost everything was in Korean, so I wasn't sure how or where to order KFC (Korean Fried Chicken).
Galleria had branded their poultry as Mom's Chicken. I did find an ad for the reason I was there: $8.99 for Mom's Chicken Wings (normally $9.98) on Fridays. That's what I wanted! And it was Friday!
I eventually watched others order and I followed suit. I put my order in and just like I had been warned, it took a long time for my order to get made. 30 minutes at least was the standard wait time, It was crazy busy, even though it was mid afternoon and it seemed like everyone was getting chicken.
When my order was I grabbed a seat at the counter and took in my wings. There are a few flavoured options to choose from: Seasoned (dry spice), Mild, Spicy, or Half & Half (Half sauced have Seasoned). It comes in a rotisserie chicken style container. I went with Spicy.
It came with a side of pickled radish. If you haven't had it before, it's cubed up radish that is mostly sweet with a vinegary-tang. It's great cooling agent when eating spicy food.
If you aren't familiar with KFC (Korean not Kentucky), it's chicken that is breaded and double fried. When done right it's juicy inside with a major crunch on the outside. It's usually served either dry like regular fried chicken, or mixed in sauce. I went with Spicy clearly.
The wings were medium in length but were pretty meaty. As they are very breaded, the size of the wings was larger. They were also VERY crispy/crunchy.
The chicken itself was very tender. The bones just pulled off the meat with no effort.
The wings were saucy AF. I mean you need a ton of napkins to eat these there's so much sauce. Every inch was covered in the sticky, thick sauce.
The sauce is so sticky, you are going to make a mess, guaranteed!
This was a food experience. An adventure to get there, get my food, and eat. The chicken was super crunchy, the wings coated in sticky-sweet-spicy sauce, and the meat was tender as can be. I would have liked it spicier, but this was such a good meal. Unfortunately I never got back there to have it again. Mom knows what she is doing!
Mom's Chicken @ Galleria Supermarket
865 York Mills Road, Toronto ON (and other locations)
galleriasm.com (find the menu HERE)
Wednesday, 26 May 2021
ALL SEASONS INDIAN CATERING - Ottawa ON
Just before the pandemic hit back in 2020, an Indian catering business popped up on my radar through online food posts about a place that was doing up all sorts of wings, and they had crazy imported pops. For the Super Bowl I had seen them do up this huge assorted wing platter!
All Seasons Indian Catering sounded awesome, but the location was way down in the like, South-East part of the city, so I didn't have an opportunity to be in the neighbourhood. Then COVID and I stopped going out almost completely.
Then, it was a Wednesday in April of this year and the wife and I were looking for something different to try for an evening take-out. I don't know how All Seasons came up, but it did. I told my wife about the wings, and while she encouraged me to get them, I said I wanted to try their wing sampler platter but it wasn't available. So we decided to just get some Indian food. But when we tried to order, it turned out they closed at 6pm! So no deal.
One week later things were different. They were going to be celebrating their 7th Anniversary and they had a bunch of specials on. They even had the wing platter! We decided to go for it, and we ordered by their online order form.
BUTTER CHICKEN
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| image from Google Street View |
I've never been to All Seasons, but I have been to the industrial/commercial district complex that it is in before. You wouldn't expect an Indian restaurant, let alone a catering business down there, but there it is. It started out as a small business between two young sisters and has grown into quite the enterprise. Their food is Indian based, but they serve Tanzanian food, Western food, as well as a wide variety of soda pop not found in this province.
We decided to take advantage of the 7th Anniversary specials there were offering including biriyani, potato fritters, wings, some fancy pops, and jelebi's for desert. We started filling out the order form online (they have a great web-ordering site) but there was one thing we were confused at; what was Raha? One of the wing flavours could be Raha, so we called. A young woman answered the phone and was super friendly and answered our questions. We finished the online order. The downside was the wait: 70 mins. But it was crazy busy (they had encouraged pre-ordering on social media) and we do live 22kms away! But we did get free delivery due to the amount we purchased.
All Seasons has their own delivery, and on time the food showed up. It was exciting because there was so much. But after a moment, we realized that our desert, the jelebi, was missing. We called the restaurant and the same girl came on and apologized and said they would send it right away. We started to dish out the food and then we realized we also didn't have the drinks or the chutneys for dipping. Called back again and the girl said that a bag was missed (they had it all ready to go) and that the driver would be dropping it off shortly.
The driver got back to us our bag, and there was a nice little note on it! There was also some bonus deserts inside. Super service and that was awesome. I should also mention in terms of service, All Seasons is big on advertising vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and Halal options or any other dietary concerns you have. They really do seem to care about their customers.
We got two 'imported' Crush drinks that I can't usually get here in Ontario: Birch Beer and Pineapple. I always hear my East Coast peeps missing on the Pineapple, and it was like candy, well, pineapple. Sweet, soft (no bite like orange pop can have). I liked it.
I've had Birch Beer before at Rib Fests from Pappy's in the past and the best way to describe it as a smoother, more candied-sweet version of Root Beer. It's good and it goes down easily. Both were very tasty.
We had an order of Potato Fritters, which are sliced up potato 'coins' that are dipped in batter and deep fried. There isn't any special flavours here, but we did get two dips/chutneys that accompanied them. One was 'Spicy' but tasted like a minty-cilantro-esque raita and as a hater of cilantro, I did not enjoy. But we also chose Tamarind, which I love. Tamarind sauce is sweet and almost sour, and I'm used to it being thick but this was a very watered down version. Still good though. The fritters were crispy, and overflowing from the clamshell they came in.
As a main dish we got a large Beef Biriyani heat level Spicy and no cilantro. It came in a round tin container, and it didn't look like Biriyani I'm used to. My wife's background is Indian and they make a mean version. This was different? I don't know how to explain and while it was well made, it just wasn't the flavour we wanted. It also came with garlic naan which was good - thinner than most naan but a nice garlic buttery taste to it.
For desert, we got what I think is LJ and my favourite Indian desert jelebi. Never had it before you say? Well you are missing out. It's a tube that is spiral in shape, with a texture that is brittle, but kind of chewy. It sits and the tubes a filled with a sugar syrup, so as you bite into a collapsing tunnel, the syrup squirts out. You would think it taste like Orange Crush candy, but it's not a bold flavour at all. Just sweet with this awesome texture. These were so good yet so deadly!
As a way to say sorry for their mishap with the forgotten delivery, they included a bag of Cadbury Picnic Bites. This British? treat is essentially nuts and caramel and crispy cereal and raisins (but I didn't notice the raisins) covered in chocolate. Yum! We didn't eat these with the dinner as the jelebi was more than enough sweets but we did try them another night.
Of course for me I was mostly excited for the wings! The giant partitioned platter was just so exciting! I mean how often do you get a tray of 36 wings in 6 different flavours?!?!
The platter not only came with wings, but carrot and celery sticks, and ranch dip. The veggies were fresh and crisp. The big container of Ranch was possibly homemade? At least it didn't taste like the same kind of dressing you get at home. It was thick and creamy, but not a full ranch flavour either.
Now I didn't get a normal order of wings, so I don't know for sure how many are in a standard order (it doesn't say pound or by number) but based on their social media photos it looks like 10. I do believe they come with veggies and dip too. There is also a 6 wing and fries option too.
The wings are large in length, and very meaty! There were a few bordering on medium-large, but mostly a good size wings. All of the wings came deep fried, and while the dry-flavoured ones were crispy, by the time we got the sauced wings after such a long delivery travel, they were soggy and slightly cold.
Because of that, the wings were a bit dried out and some were tougher than others. Some the bones pulled away easy, others not so much. I'd bet my bottom dollar that if we ate these outside the business they would have had a much better texture.
The wings that were sauced were sauced really well; the dry wings well seasoned. Ever inch of the sauced wings had sauce and some had extra.
There are 6 flavours on All Seasons menu (well plain, but I don't think that counts) so for the assorted tray we got 6 of each: Spicy, Jerk, Tandoori, Butter Chicken, Salt & Pepper, and Raha. There were so many different smells and textures, I didn't know where to start!
One of my favourite Indian dishes is Butter Chicken, so this seemed like a no-brainer. A buttery curry covering bone-in chicken, but with crispy chicken, it sounded even better. It's rich and flavourful. The downside was again it wasn't that hot and it kind of congealed on us, but it was almost too much flavour. Served hot and fresh it would have been stellar, and if I was getting home delivery again, I'd get the sauce on the side.
SALT & PEPPER
This was straightforward and executed right: Crispy fried wings tossed in salt and pepper. It's salty, it's peppery. So simple but very good.
JERK
I didn't expect Jerk on an Indian menu, but there it is. Normally I don't get Jerk when I get wings at restaurants, but this was good. Clearly homemade, full of spices, ginger, garlic, chili - it's salty and peppery. It's almost has an Indian-Jerk fusion flavour to it.
TANDOORI
My favourite dish at Indian restaurants is Tandoori chicken and Tandoori wings is a no-brainer. However, part of what I love about tandoori chicken is the BBQ-like nature of chicken cooked in a tandoor or a grill. The flavour here is spot on Tandoori ( that dry chili spice flavour) but what is not right on is the texture. These are fried wings that are tossed in the tandoori paste: the flavour is right but that paste is too much. I think these wings would benefit from a little time on the grill (or into an oven) just to get the paste more baked into the wing.
SPICY
Spicy. They looked like classic bar wings - fried and tossed in a red hot sauce. They were so good. They had a nice heat (spiciest of all the wings). It tastes like a wings I've had, but kicked up with more spices and flavour. These were so good.
RAHA
What is Raha? I still don't know. Even after a little explanation I still don't know what it is. The sauce was a light brown? Almost like a cream. The dominant flavour was garlic for sure. There spice, salt, pepper. But it's a garlic flavoured wing for sure. I'm not sure I could do a whole order of these, but I loved having this unique flavour with my mix.
If I had to rank these wings, I would put them thusly:
- SPICY - classic hot wing flavour, but with more to it. And the spiciest of the bunch.
- SALT & PEPPER - simple seasoning but so good and crispy
- JERK/RAHA - Both had unique takes but also lots of flavours
- BUTTER CHICKEN/TANDOORI - Both had great flavour but didn't travel as well
FINAL SCORE:
All Seasons Indian Catering is awesome all around. The service was just so friendly and helpful. These people clearly care for their food and for their customers. Everything is well thought out and customizable. The wings were so unique, bold, and full of flavour. I really dug the Spicy, but the Raha and the Jerk were just so different. The Indian Butter Chicken & Tandoori were classic flavours. The wings were big, fried, and you can tell that there is a love for these wings that so many places don't give. The Indian specific dishes were not all to our flavour profile tastes, but they were generous. The fritters were crispy and the jelabi was decadent. Will definitely get the wings again but hopefully I can go in person in the near future. 10.5/14
All Seasons Indian Catering
2285 St Laurent Blvd - Building C Unit #11 - Ottawa, ON
Tuesday, 25 May 2021
25% off Wings at Local Heroes on Tuesdays!!! Even during lockdown!
Friendly curbside service, crispy hot wings. I was a happy camper!!!
Friday, 21 May 2021
Love, Laughter & Chicken Wings ... 5 Year Wedding Anniversary!
It's been a lot of chicken wings since then!
Thursday, 20 May 2021
#tbt & #lostreview = MORTY's PUB 2014 Waterloo ON
It's time for another #throwbackthursday & #lostreview
The year was 2014 and it was a time that I just didn't get any posting done for the blog. Found in my stash of lost files was a folder I had labeled "Waterloo". In that folder were two folders, Wilf's, and Morty's. When I looked into the folders, the Wilf's folder had a photo of a steak sandwich and wings in a hotel room. This was not from Wilf's. When I looked in the Morty's folder, it was a mix of photos; some from Wilf's and some from Morty's. Turns out, no wing photos from Wilf's (just the menu and some restaurant shots), but there were pics from Morty's.
I was in Waterloo in May of 2014 for what I think was a conference for work. I don't remember going to Morty's on this occasion, but I had been years before when my bud Jason used to go to uni at Laurier and we went. Morty's was famous for being a student hang out and for their jumbo meaty wings.
I was there on Wednesday May 14th, and unfortunately Morty's wing nights were Tuesdays and Thursdays. I still got wings, which were $10.99 for 1lb, which came out to about 7 wings. My server was Sam F and he was excellent. No I don't have an amazing memory, I just have the receipt still and actually took some notes! I had a Mountain Dew to drink, which was $2.99.
The wings were extremely well sauced! Every inch of the wings were sopping wet and coated in their Butter Hot sauce. It was a very thick, creamy sauce. Basically a Buffalo-type sauce made with butter and hot sauce. It was rich and delicious.
I don't think I've been back since then (don't get to Waterloo very often at all), but the whole experience on this visit was awesome. Great service, jumbo crispy wet wings, and Mountain Dew. At the time I highly recommended Morty's Pub!
Morty's Pub
272 King Street North, Waterloo ON
mortys.com
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