They were good too. So was the sandwich.
Showing posts with label #wingwednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #wingwednesday. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 September 2020
Thursday, 25 June 2020
Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Thursday, 16 May 2019
Thursday, 4 April 2019
Monday, 1 April 2019
Wednesday, 6 March 2019
BEST PIZZA VANIER - Ottawa ON
I'm fortunate to have access to a car and time to be able to go all over the city and sample wings.
On this particular trip I was in the Vanier area running an errand and decided to get lunch. I did a quick google search and came across the name Best Pizza Vanier. That's a pretty bold claim, but it caught my eye. I also liked the clean nature of their website. It wasn't hard to win me over if a place has wings, clearly.
When I pulled up the place looked a little divey, but inside they clearly have renovated in recent times. There is enough seating for well over 20 people inside, and while it was covered in snow right now, they clearly have a big patio with more seating as well. There were a few patrons when I arrived inside, all seniors. The decor was mixed of specials and sports stuff.
I was happy online when I saw they have 2 wing days, Mondays and Thursdays you get 10 wings and a beer for $11, which is a great deal for beer drinkers. But when I got to the place, the posted signs say Wednesdays are 12 wings with a beer for $11.95. So Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Thursday deals!? I wondered if you could sub a pop, but the Pizza Dude wasn't super talkative so and I felt awkward so I did not ask a lot of questions.
I did ask about the sauces. I don't like it when I'm at an eatery and the server says what kind of wings I want, but the sauces aren't posted. Like, how am I supposed to know? This guy did this, so I asked what my options were - he listed a bunch off the top of his head, but it felt like there could have been more because he didn't seem so sure. I went with hot. I also got a Coke Zero to drink. I waited about 10 minutes for my order, grabbed that paper bag and headed to the car. I drove by the river and found a spot to park and enjoy my lunch.
I can tell you this; the smell coming from the bag was good. My low hopes were heightened slightly.
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| Correction: Wednesday wing special is actually 12 wings & beer for $11.95 |
Wings come in multiples of 12, so there were 12 wings in my order. These take-out wings came in a styrofoam container and a little food wrapping paper and no sides.
The wings were about a medium in length and height, but they were a pretty meaty wing. These wings are deep fried straight up, no breading, so when you see they are meaty, that's all meat.
The wings were both crispy/dried out skin, but other wings were pretty soggy. The meat itself was tender, but the wings did not pull apart easily at all.
The wings came well sauced; they were wet with a lots of sauce on the bottom. The sauce was super stainy - my fingers were very red-orange and one or two slipped right out and stained my shirt. Classy I know.
Shockingly, these wings were hot. Big bite to them. I couldn't get over it - I was not expecting that and I think I let me defences down because the heat just kept coming back at me. I think these wings were Frank's Xtra Hot, not regular Frank's Hot, because there was a serious sting that stayed with me well after I was done. It wasn't killer, but enough that I had a good buzz of pain and endorphins.
FINAL SCORE:
These were decent wings that had a big bite to them. Texture was all over the place, the size was decent for take-out wings, but the sauce, so very simple in flavour, had a heat that had me grabbing for my drink again and again. Wow. If I was in Vanier again, I would get these wings again, but I doubt I'd make a special trip for them. Never did find out if the pizza was any good though ... let alone Vanier's best. 8/14
Best Pizza Vanier
295 McArthur Ave, Ottawa ON
bestpizzavanier.com
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
WING MACHINE - Cornwall ON
When I first moved to Toronto many years ago, I found a chain of take-out chicken wing joints which was unusual at the time, as only pizza places seemed to do wing take-out then. The chain was called Wing Machine, and the wings were unlike anything I was used to. They were seasoned and baked and they came with a suicide sauce that was just awesome. My future wife and I loved them and would get wings and wedges as a take-out treat. I didn't actually review them until 2007. Now I live in Ottawa and there are no Wing Machines here. But Cornwall has one!
We were staying overnight and had decided to just have a night in at the hotel. We had seen the Wing Machine signs in the past, and now was our time to go down memory lane with some loved wings. What was interesting was that it showed there was a drive-thru! So we pulled in and discovered the drive-thru no longer used. So I pulled up and went inside what was a shared Wing Machine/Double Double pizza/chicken location. In Toronto Wing Machine used to be paired with Pizza Panzerotto, then Gino's Pizza chains. Out here it seems to be with Double Double.
The location has been here for a couple of years I believe, but it looks new and space age in it's colouring. There is a lot more seating inside than I was expecting - the seat are actually big and padded, but I'm pretty sure they came from an older restaurant and are far from new.
Everything on the menu seems to be Double Double focused, so I wondered how this worked or if it really was Wing Machine. The Pizza Dude at the counter was super friendly and willing to explain how it worked. I ordered their Wing Nut Deal (saw online but not in store) and waited about 15 minutes for the food. While I was there, 2 middle aged guys working in Cornwall but not from Cornwall came in and were hilariously floored by all the options; they couldn't get over that they could get ribs or pizza, or wings or burgers or fried chicken or or or!
The Wing Nut Deal ($29.95) is 2lbs of wings (with sauce), fries (we got wedges instead), and 2 595ml drinks (Pepsi products). I also asked for some dip for the wedges which is normally an extra charge, but Pizza Dude was cool and gave it to me for free.
Pizza Dude also asked if I wanted the sauce on the wings or the side and I asked for side, so they came with 3 containers for the 2lbs.
The potato wedges were pretty big but didn't seem like the Wing Machine wedges I've had in the past. These were coated in flour I think and fried, and they were crispy and had a nice pillowy inside. But unlike other Machine wedges, these were quite under-seasoned. LJ found them blah, and they were a bit. Wing Machine's wedges used to be covered in spices, these were not.
As it would turn out, the wings wouldn't be like they used to either ...
It was obvious that these were not the same wings as the old Wing Machine. It's at this point I became very suspicious of what was Wing Machine and what was Double Double. I mean, these wings were breaded and crispy - nothing like Wing Machine.
I was really impressed with the size and amount of wings in the box. There were like 30 golden wings sitting in the box in front of me and I was super psyched.
The wings were a good medium and they were pretty meaty. Just a nice sized wing. They are breaded, but it's a lighter applied breading (as in quantity, in texture it's crispy and hard).
So would the Suicide sauce be the same as what we remembered? Yes, yes it was. Their suicide is a really peppery sauce that has a great flavour, but a heat that goes after all parts of the mouth. It's thick and holds up to the fried wings. It has a really really good kick which turned out to be too much for LJ. I loved it but had a hard time trying to ration out how much sauce I had.
FINAL SCORE:
So I don't know if it's just a shift in recipe since I reviewed these wings in 2007 or if it's because they are paired with Double Double, but the wings to me are much better. Bigger, crispier, but still with that thick stinging Suicide sauce. LJ found the wings under seasoned, and we both agreed the wedges were too, but they were still crispy. This is another example of a place I wish we had in Ottawa. 9/14
Wing Machine/Double Double
1610 Brookdale Ave, Cornwall ON
wingmachine.com
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Meatings BBQ - Rootbeer BBQ Wings
Way back in early October I made a very very good lunch decision; I went back to Meatings BBQ.
If you remember, I went to Meatings back in June and had some totally awesome smoked wings. I also went on a Wednesday which is their wing day ($10 for a pound when normally its $13) which made it even better. It was such a good lunch, and I had been jonesing for those smoked wonders.
Flash forward to late September and I see on their social media a post about "Spicy Smoked Root Beer" sauced wings. I love every word in that menu description. I couldn't go that week, or even the next, but the NEXT Wednesday I could ... but I had no idea if they would still have that sauce. Spoiler alert: they did and I got them.
I was the only patron there (it was after the lunch crowd) so I walked right up and ordered. I grabbed a free sampling of bbq rubbed popcorn (salty good) and grabbed a seat at the big table, which was good seating but in hindsight was terrible for photo taking. I also got a Pop Shoppe Black Cherry soda which was awesome. Before long, I had my metal tray of wings.
This order was 9 wings stacked like a log pile making up a pound. They smelled smokey and BBQ-ey.
The wings were not pretty. They look like they had been in a fight. That's ok, they were huge and meaty. Not super tender this time, and not crispy either. There wasn't a lot of sauce, but the wings were sticky.
I dropped everything and dove into these wings. When I eat on my own I often write, or do work or figure out tasks, but I couldn't focus on anything but the wings. They had a slight heat, but they weren't overly spicy. The spice balanced out the sweet root beer bbq sauce. Now the root beer was not strong, more of a hint. But these wings were very balanced in their flavour.
I was also very excited because they had the Alabama White dipping sauce which was missing on my first visit. Alabama white sauce is almost a ranch-type dipping sauce. It's mayo based and it goes well with BBQ in general, but especially well with the wings. I had a hard time deciding between eating the wings as is with their Spicy Root Beer BBQ sauce and dipping those wings in the white sauce. Friggin good.
I know I'm gushing but these wings were just so good. Meaty and smokey on their own, better with the root beer BBQ, and even better with the Alabama white sauce. And with $3 off, they were even better. It's probably good this place isn't near my home, because I would be there way too often.
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
AROMA PIZZA - Orleans ON
Back in January of 2017 I was running errands in Orleans and went out of my way to try a local pizza joint. I had been lured in by enticing online advertising photos for a place called Aroma Pizzeria.
Located in the Jeanne D'Arc Plaza, Aroma Pizza has changed since I was in last. You can no longer enter by the front entrance, only the back. There used to be a bigger seating area but now it's more of a waiting area. It makes more sense now even if it's less dine-in friendly.
The same guy was running the joint - I assume the owner/manager. He's a very friendly guy and goes out of his way to make customer service a priority. Not only has my interactions been positive, I watched as he ran an order out in the rain to a customer in the car. He came back in and said the customer had hurt their back and had difficulty getting in and out of the car.
The menu has a variety of sauces to choose from, as well as a few wing deals posted. The photos on the above take-out flyer is the photo that drew me in in the first place. I knew it was a stock photo, but I kinda hoped it would be true. It wasn't, but that's ok, Aroma's wings are good on their own.
I went with their "Buy 1 pound, get 2nd 1/2 price" deal. I waited about 10 minutes and had my wings. I would like to point out they now have the paper compostable take out containers. Not the styrofoam but the cardboard like one. The wings are inside, wrapped in tin foil for extra reinforcement.
Were the wings as good as January 2017.
Wings come in an order of 1lb, which works out to about 7-8 wings. Under the tinfoil, I found there was celery, and a container of sour cream. Didn't know about these until I was almost done my wings. Next time I'd have to see if they have something other than sour cream. Who dips wings or celery into sour cream?
The wings are actually a good size here. They are large and have a good length to them. They are relatively meaty to the size of the wing but not jumbo or anything. The wings are also deep fried and they were crispy when they came out.
Aroma's wings are also generously tossed in sauce. Both of the wings were wet, well coated and had lots of reserve sauce in the foil. This was great, but the wings start to lose their crispness and get soggy. This also happens with the 'steaming' effect of the foil wrap I think. This is the universal problem with take-out wings though.
NUCLEAR
I remembered from my first visit that pizza dude said that their 'Nuclear' sauce was actually Frank's Xtra Hot. This isn't a commonly used sauce in my experience, but it's easy and effective.
It definitely has a good sting to it. You still have that Frank's flavour, but it is diluted for more of the heat. It's just sauced straight up from the bottle - no butter added here. It's a vinegary sting that I like, but I'm glad I mixed it up with another flavour.
HONEY BBQ
I'm sure this is another commercial sauce, but I don't know what it is. It's good though.
It's thick and goey and clings to the wings really well. It's a nice balance of sweet and savoury. I can taste the honey, but also what is probably HF Cornsyrup. It was also a good counterpoint to the Nuclear as it stung and this was sweet. Actually, by the end I was swapping wings in the opposite flavours.
FINAL SCORE
These are some pretty good take-out pizza wings. Large, crispy, and good use of two sauces most Ottawa-region pizza places use. The service was friendly. Oh and they have their own loyalty rewards membership too. It's too far for me to take advantage of unfortunately. I've never had the pizza here to comment on it, but with the customer service and the spicy & sweet wings, I'll be back for wings another day I'm sure. 8.5/14
Aroma Pizza
6004 Voyageur Drive, Orleans ON (Jeanne D'Arc Plaza)
aromapizzeria.com
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