YEAR IN REVIEW - 2018

I'm back baby!

2018 was the year of The Return of the Lord of the Wings. This blog was back in action. How so? I had the highest number of posts EVER in the blog's history at 330. The next closest was 179 and that was in 2009, and the worst (aside from the 2 posts of the first year) was 2014 with 16 posts. That's almost a single post every single day.

It was also The Return because so many of the reviews were returning to pubs and restaurants I had reviewed 10 years ago. Some got better, some got worse.

Now in my return I haven't accomplished everything I wanted to do. I want more recipes, more reviews, more videos. I'm getting there, but 2018 was getting back to basics.

So I've broken the YIR down to 8 categories:

BEST OTTAWA WINGS of 2018
BEST NON-OTTAWA WINGS
BEST TAKE-OUT WINGS
BEST NON-WINGS
BEST HOMEMADE WINGS
MISC FROZEN WINGS, WING-SNACKS, SAUCE REVIEW
EVENTS
INSTAGRAM

As always, these aren't listed necessarily in any particular order, and are the best of what I reviewed, not necessarily the best EVER. Let's go take a look at some of the best of what I encountered and reviewed in 2018:

BEST OTTAWA WINGS of 2018

I struggled with sticking to my 2017 YIR method of best wings of all that I reviewed, but I decided to break everything down into categories more like the old days of what I inaccurately called the blogiversary reviews. Since I live in Ottawa Ontario, I sampled eateries in Ottawa the most, so by shear number, this needed it's own category.

PATTY BOLAND'S

Not only do the wings rock at Patty Boland's - fried crispy, awesome sauces, but they have probably the best wing night in Ottawa: Monday night $0.35 & $0.55 wings!!! Plus the Carolina Reaper challenge is wicked wicked hot!

Return to WHISPER's PUB - October

Whipser's Pub, the "friendliest little pub in Westboro" is both friendly and a great spot for wings. The wings are crispy, the sauces are good, and that Chef's Challenge suicide isn't the hottest, but it's peppery goodness. 

HOMETOWN SPORTS BAR

Dusted, crispy wings form a great base. Hot is good, 40 Creek BBQ is great. Suicide is 3rd Degree. Also they have wing night all day long on Tuesdays. If you like sports and you like wings, this is your place.

SUMMERHAYS GRILL

This place has wing night basically all the time, and that's awesome. These breaded wings are crunchy, but they also have all these unique sauces that don't taste like your same old pub wings.

HOOLEY'S PUB

You want to see busy, come to Hooley's on Monday for wing night. The place will be packed for these breaded wings. But what puts this place on the map is that they have over 30 different sauces! I went with simple sauces like Hot Honey Mustard and Creamy Dill, but they have Pepperoni Pizza wings, Butter Chicken or Maple Bacon Dry Rub.

BEST NON-OTTAWA WINGS

It's pretty self-explanatory, these are wings I got anywhere outside of Ottawa in 2018. 

MEATINGS BBQ - Orleans ON

I can't tell you how happily surprised I was when I came across the wings at this BBQ Joint. They were huge. They were smokey, they were tender. Finding tender smoked jumbo wings is VERY difficult. The BBQ sauces are awesome. Check them out on Wednesdays for $10 for 1lb. Oh, and get the free smoked popcorn too!

DINGALING`s - Kingston ON

I'm on the road driving past Kingston frequently so when I get a chance I love to stop in at Dingaling's. This mostly take-out wing place serves up meaty, crispy wings. I cannot get enough of their Butter Face wings - they're hot, buttery, and soo very good.

ZE KITCHEN - Cumberland ON

I took a chance one night by taking a trip to the little town of Cumberland on the possibility of good wings on Thursday wing night at Ze Kitchen, and I'm glad I did. Super breaded crunchy seasoned wings are what I found. Salt and Pepper and Hot were simple, but very tasty wing experiences.

BEST TAKE-OUT WINGS

These are wings that specifically came from take-out wing or pizza joints. In actuality, some of these would have been in the runner for best wings overall.

COMINO`s PIZZA & WINGS - Whitby ON

I found this place online looking for a different pizza place than our usual chain go-to's in Whitby, and yes I found good pizza, but I found great wings. This family run pizza joint makes all their wing sauces and serves them up on large crispy wings. Suicide has a BIG BITE to it, and the Buffalo Style Hot, while there`s nothing Buffalo about it, is freaking good.

THE WING FACTORY - Mississauga ON

Wow. That`s what I said when I had The Wing Factory Wings, These were HUGE wings. Massively meaty wings covered in breading and deep fried. The meat was almost too much, but fortunately they were able to fry the wing to make sure all the meat was cooked, without overcooking the breading. Also, the sauces were great - LOVED Gutter Butter (Buffalo-style sauce) and Smokey BBQ was spot on. One of the highest rated wings of the year!

PALERMO`s PIZZA - Ottawa ON

I came across this pizza joint by accident and I'm glad I did. These take-out wings are classically crispy fried wings that are a decent size. Buffalo didn't taste like Buffalo at all (I couldn't tell which sauce was which at first) but it was good and not like your regular commercial hot sauce, but the Suicide, this sauce was super flavourful and had a nice spice to it. Great take-out wings!

FAMOUS MOE`s - Ottawa ON

I keep coming back for these take-out wings. They are large and very meaty wings, but the meat can be tough. Also I'm not sure why, but they can sometimes taste burnt. That being said, the sauces on these wings are unlike all the other joints. I've liked what they serve, but I now always get my favourite - Suicide and BBQ mixed together. So good!

HOLLY`S HOT CHICKEN - Ottawa ON

This is unique because Holly's Nashville Hot Chicken is a pop-up shop so you never know for sure where she will pop up. At the time I did the review, it was out of Bar Lupulus on Friday & Saturday nights, but as of this posting she isn't doing the chicken thing right now but desserts at other locations. But when I did have it, these Nashville Hot Wings were medium but meaty wings, dredged in spices and fried, served on top of white bread and pickles on top. Oily and dry spiced, you are going to need a napkin. It's a peppery kick that will kick you hard!

BEST NON-WING REVIEWS

I don`t just review wing you know (#itsnotjustaboutwings). - Here are some of the best non-wing food items (that might be wing related) from fingers to burgers and sandwiches!

DQ - various locations - HONEY HOT TOSSED & SAUCED FINGERS

I'm not crazy about the hot food at Dairy Queen, but my curiosity for these Honey Hot fingers got the best of me. These were actually, really good. The chicken strips are lightly breaded and fried nicely, and are good fingers on their own. Then they add the sauce which is a very high fructose honey syrup mixed with Frank's Red Hot, creating a runny, sticky, slightly spicy experience. So good. And they give a LOT of sauce.

HINTONBURGER - Ottawa ON - HINTONBURGER

I went for their Free Fry Day, but I couldn't pass up the signature Hintonburger at Hintonburger. One of my favourite burgers in the city, the Hintonburger is a 6oz homemade burger, cheese, bacon, and their signature smokey BBQ sauce. Made with the toppings I want, this is a great tasting burger. The fries are fresh cut and also very good. It's a pricey meal, but it's locally sourced, locally made, and is very very good.

SHERWOOD DELI - Ottawa ON - BBQ Chicken Bacon Sandwich

When a convenience store has a line-up almost out the door for sandwiches, they must be doing something right. I love their BBQ Chicken Bacon Sandwich (the most popular is the BBQ Chicken Avacado though) - egg bread, great deli chicken, fresh veggies, and the Sherwood Sauce is just so good. The sandwich is just so fresh and tasty. A must try.

REUBEN`s RESTAURANT DELI- Montreal QC - SMOKED MEAT SANDWICH

In Montreal you can find a lot of Smoked Meat Sandwiches, and so far I don't think I've had a bad one yet. Reuban's has been around for a long time, and they do a great Smoked Meat Sandwich special with the sandwich, fries, coleslaw, pickle and pop for $14. I upgraded my fries to a poutine, because well, Montreal. The sandwich was sliced thin, was juicy, and just melted in the mouth. Fatty is the way to go.

So not big enough for their own categories, this is a miscellaneous grouping of some topics that need shout outs:

• FROZEN WINGS 
• BEST SNACKS 
• BEST HOMEMADE 
• SAUCES REVIEWED 

BEST FROZEN WINGS REVIEWED - PC SMOKED

I sampled a number of frozen wings this past year, and most were a pass, but the PC Dry-Rubbed, Hardwood-Smoked Chicken Wings were pretty awesome. Not big, not crispy, but the meat was pretty tender, and the flavour of smoked wings was so there. The Maple BBQ sauce that came with it was not my thing, but the actually smoked wings were. If you don't have a smoker or a BBQ, this is the next best thing.

BEST SNACK REVIEWED - DUNN`s DILL PICKLE CHIPS

I love dill pickle chips. So when I saw Dunn's Deli's Dill Pickle Chips at Costco, I knew I needed to try them. This giant bag (like everything at Costco), releases that pungent, sour, dill smell that I could get high of off. The chips are wavy ruffled type that are very stiff and crunchy. They are sour, salty and dilly. They are ideally suited for dipping. Unfortunately I haven't seen them at Costco anymore, so you may never get to try these if you didn't already.

BEST #LOTWTESTKITCHEN WING RECIPE - BACON WRAPPED INJECTED WINGS

Now technically, technically, I made these wings before 2018, but I didn't post the recipe until 2018. I have to say, this is one of my favourite things to come out of the #lotwtestkitchen. Bacon wrapped wings that are fried, dusted, then sauced via injector, ON THE INSIDE. Not only is it an experience, it's also delicious.

HONOURABLE MENTION  #LOTWTESTKITCHEN WING RECIPE - GRIL-FRIED KETCHUP DRY RUBBED WINGS

I didn't post a lot of wing experiments I did, but this one was super unique, and turned out pretty fantastic. I grill-fried seasoned wings, then tossed them in ketchup pop-corn seasoning. It may sound weird but it turned out really good. It does not taste like actual ketchup, but more of a sweet BBQ sauce. Mixed with the smell of the charcoal, it was aces.

BEST SAUCE REVIEWED - OUT OF THE BOX GOURMET HOT SAUCES

Out of the Box sent me their signature sauces for me to try. I was house/dog sitting at the time and took advantage of the BBQ, grill-fried some wings, and went to town. These are gourmet hot sauces and some really unique flavours. Cucumber Habanero? Pina Colada? Yes there is a traditional Scotch Bonnet Hot, but they also had Pineapple Mango. These were all really fresh, really tasty sauces and they were truly, out of the box!

BEST WING SAUCE REVIEWED - PC CAYENNE & SCOTCH BONNET WING SAUCE

I also didn't do a lot of sauce reviews in 2018, but I really wanted to highlight this President's Choice Cayenne & Scotch Bonnet Wing Sauce. Wow - this sauce had some serious heat, and serious flavour. I grill-fried some seasoned wings, then I melted butter in a cast iron pot on the grill, and made a buttery-suicide wing sauce, both brushing the grilled wings and tossing them after. The charred and smokey wings went very well with the sauce that has good flavour, but also a really nice bite. 

EVENTS

2018 wasn't the best year for big events, only 2 wing related ones and I didn't even really post about them. The other two were big life events.

WINGSANITY @ St Louis Bar & Grill

So I'm a bit embarrassed. I went to Wingsanity, St Louis' all you can eat wing event. I had lots of wings, I took photos, and I never posted this review. $20 for AYCE may not sound great, but considering  1lb of wings is nearly $15, if you have two orders you are doing well. I did a bunch of flavours and I want to tell you all about it, but I've lost the info. I will try not to let this happen again!

KELSEY'S HOT WING CHALLENGE

So I'm embarrassed again. See back in March I went to Kelsey's event where you could win free wings for a year - a hot wing eating challenge where if you won at your local Kelseys, you would win free wings for a year. I was totally on board, however the rules, times and events were very different at the 3 Kelsey's I contacted. I went with the one I had the best chance of winning. I went and went up against about 8 other folks. I gotta say I was impressed because while I didn't win, I was impressed everyone stayed to the end in the competition. They did 9 rounds with different heated wings. It was fun, a little awkward, and I got to eat a lot of wings. I actually slowed down not because of the heat, but the actual eating of wings. I'm getting old. Anyways, I did have the event video taped and I was going to do a full video and posting, but it was around this time my laptop died, along with my editing software. One day maybe ...

GRAM PASSING

Two major life events happened towards the end of 2018, one sad and one happy. The sad one was that my Gramma passed away. Doreen Brown was a wonderful gram, always looking out for me, always kind, always making something delicious. The photo above is from wing night (she didn't know I was taking a photo). I really miss her, a lot.

NEW #LOTWTESTKITCHEN

The other major event was my wife and I bought a house. Yes, after searching for almost 2 years, we moved out of our tiny apartment into a very spacious place to put down our roots. And more excitingly, a new #lotwtestkitchen. Functioning oven, place to deep fry, eventual BBQ set up, and hopefully I can get WingKingTV back up and running. As for now, we are still drowning in boxes, but it's so good to have the home we've always wanted.

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INSTAGRAM

One thing has has changed everything about my Lord of the Wing experiences has been Instagram. I love it. It's simple, easy to use, and can really expose my food photography to a much large audience. And I have connected with so many other wing lovers, or Wingstagramers as well. It changed how I post to the blog and how often I post. I love it.


To end everything off, here is my #2018bestofnine from Instagram, the most liked photos that I produced over the year. I'm always shocked at the most popular photos because, well they weren't even necessarily wing photos. My top Instagram post of all time was re-posting Low Cost Cosplays Street Fighter Chicken Wing post. Also really big is my wing memes. Yes I am the top Chicken Wing Memer on Instagram, for whatever that's worth.

That's it, that was 2018. It was a good year for me and a good year to be a wing blogger. I know things are going to be even better in 2019. Although I am late on this post once again (I was so close to having this done on New Years eve!!!) and I'm behind by 3 posts for 2019 already, I'm excited. I love writing reviews, seeing new places, meeting new people. I love it.

So happy new years, and happy new wing adventures to you. Oh, and I hope you like the new Lord of the Wing logos!

ZE KITCHEN - Cumberland ON

With LJ away on a work trip I was on my own for a few days. We had just moved and I spent most of my time unpacking the house (personal update, the house seems to still have not been unpacked weeks later despite emptying many boxes). One of those nights I decided I needed to get out of the house and I decided to check out a place out of town I've been keen on trying for a while: Ze Kitchen.

Ze Kitchen (I don't know if the place is pronounced Ze like 'the' or Ze like 'zee') is located out in Cumberland Ontario, about 30 kilometers east of Ottawa. I became aware of this restaurant after seeing their advertisements on Instagram for Thursday wing nights earlier this year. I had intended to go much sooner, but things never worked out to do so.


I was a little hesitant to go dine solo because it seemed like a fine dining type establishment and I was looking to just do wings, but I thought, what the heck let's do it. The place only opens at 4pm, so I decided to go for 4:30 so that I was in before the main dining crowd.

I got there at 4:30 and the place was deserted. The building was originally built close to if not more than 100 years ago by a doctor for his home and practice, but it has been many different things over the years before becoming Ze Kitchen. I walked into the main foyer and waited to be seated ... but nobody was around. So I stood around for a few moments, feeling a little awkward, despite having heard the little chimes that go off when someone enters. The place was decorated for Christmas and had a rustic but also modernized charm. Someone else came in a few minutes later behind me and I thought oh no, I'm going to have to uncomfortably explain I'm not with them. It turned out to be my eventual waitress.

While she came in and was taking off her coat, another staff member came down the stairs and he awkwardly asked if he could help me, as if it were unusual for me to be there. I said I was there to eat and he seemed surprised. He was about to take me to the main floor dining room, but then asked if I wanted to dine in the bar upstairs. I thought that would be great. The bar area is in the main landing of the 2nd floor, where there were a few tables (he sat me at a table next to the one he was working at a laptop) but there were a few smaller dining rooms in what were probably bedrooms at one time. It also had access to a balcony patio area (closed for the season). The third floor had washrooms, but also a couple of more dining rooms. This was a big place. The waiter gave me a menu but also let me know that it was wing night. I knew this already, but it was good to have confirmation.

Not long after the waitress came and took my drink order, as well as my wing order. She was friendly and very professional. Over the course of the evening I watched two separate groups arrive for supper, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. I get the impression that this place is kind of out of place as a finer dining establishment in a very small town with the only other restaurant is a take-out pizza joint. My guess is that they have burger and wing nights to get the locals in who wouldn't normally come out for fancy fare, but it's too far from Ottawa for the city crowd to come to.

I sat and worked away waiting for my wings. I didn't have to wait long, but because I was in the bar area, as were the staff (including the chef who came out and sat at the bar) I inadvertently got to listen in to their workplace conversations. Fascinating!

Right off the bat, I had some issues taking photos. Before my food arrived, I had the bar area to myself pretty much. As soon as the food came, BAM! all 3 staff hanging out there. So trying to sneak some pictures was very difficult and so I didn't take that many and the lighting was low and I couldn't take my time. After getting home and uploading them to the computer, they don't look so bad, so I guess that was ok.

I glossed the menu explanation and didn't even pay attention to the fact that it states "Served with sour cream" because I would have subbed that out for anything. Because I got two orders of wings, I got to big ramekins of sour cream I didn't want.  The sour cream is plain, but in the photo above you can see where some of the spices from the wings brushed off when I did dip them.

I was not expecting the giant wings I got. They were a large wing to begin with (both in length and meatiness) but they are also breaded that makes them even bigger. These wings are "House breaded in a secret combination of spices and deep fried to perfection." So there is a suit of armor of breading around these wings; if you are someone who doesn't like breading these aren't for you.

I actually thought the wings were overcooked and burnt when I first looked at them. They were a dark brown and that didn't seem to be good. But the breading turned out to be quite tasty (a little salty but also seasoned with other spices) and not like any I've had on chicken before. It is thick, but not so much so that it takes away from the chicken. It's very crunchy and has a great texture. Although I got one dry order of wings, the sauced ones were wet and well coated in sauce, but the breading really held up well against it.

There were several flavours that sounded unique but just didn't speak to me (spicy maple, sweet chili, maple garlic) so I went with classic Hot, but also an order of dry Salt & Pepper wings, with a side of Suicide.

HOT

These were good. The sauce is simple; cayenne based hot sauce (probably Frank's) and maybe a bit of butter? It's good. It has a little heat, but it goes well with the season breaded chicken.

SALT & PEPPER

S&P worked really well with the breaded skin. Really salty, only slightly peppery. I liked it, but a dipping sauce on the side is a must. Don't let that be sour cream.

SUICIDE

This looked and smelled promising, but once I tasted it I was not into it. You can make this at home: take a tin of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chop or whiz the peppers and return to adobo sauce, that is all.

I really love chipotle and I love the adobo sauce they come in - I add that to homemade hot sauces, chili and other things - but as a sauce on their own I did not enjoy. The pro's is that the heat is good, and you get that smokey flavour. The sauce is thick and chunky too. But the flavour just didn't work on it's own without a more liquid base, maybe with vinegar or butter as well.

FINAL SCORE:

However you pronounce it, Ze Kitchen does some unique and tasty wings. Larger than I expected, crunchy breading, and good flavoured wings. Hot was tasty, Salt & Pepper was great with the dry wing but a dip helps. Suicide was just chipotle in adobo sauce, but it was just too much and was too thick. I had a slightly awkward dining experience, but I would say overall Ze was worth the drive out to Cumberland and I would go back for wing night again for sure!

Ze Kitchen
2607 Old Montreal Road, Cumberland ON
zekitchen.ca