#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.

Spicy is made with Gochujang Korean pepper paste, which is spicy, but this sauce has a lot of sweetness too. It's not that spicy in my opinion, and the sweetness was stronger than the heat. 

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)

#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 didn't come with veggies and dip, but for $1.59 I got some. Fresh carrots and celery, and the dip was a creamy dill dip: It was thick and clearly mayo based as it had the strong taste and texture of mayo with dill. The dip wasn't cold so I wasn't gaga over it.

I ordered their "Buttery Hot" with a side of suicide. It was served on the smallest plate, which seems a bit odd, but it was a glorious sight.

The wings at Morty's were HUGE. Jumbo chicken wings that were so big and meaty, that each one was heavy to lift! Just massive. They were also breaded which made them crunchy. They were cooked just right as the meat was tender; jumbo wings I find are often over or under cooked, but Mort knew what he was doing!

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 got a side of their "Killer Suicide", which seemed a bit unnecessary considering how wet the wings came to start. This suicide was more vinegary, like Frank's Red Hot with some spices and cayenne powdered on top. Visually it was a great presentation, and it was a good sauce, but it wasn't killer or suicide to me. 

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

#tbt & #lostreview - DERRINGERS EATERY & SALOON 2014 Ottawa ON

 = DERRINGER's SALOON is NOW CLOSED - RIP =

It's time for another #tbt & #lostreview!

This week we are looking back to November 5th, 2014 and another review that didn't get posted. Why? Who knows.

Photo from Google Street View from 2014

Derringers was one of the first places I reviewed wings at in Ottawa, way back in 2006. My review was a bit harsh, but I didn't end up going back for almost 10 years. But I decided I would, and I noticed some changes when I did.

The actual physical restaurant seemed the same; cowboy/saloon themed bar and grill. Cow skulls, wood everywhere. Nothing inside looked any different really. I was there by myself and it was a very quiet Wednesday, just some old timers who were clearly regulars at the bar day drinking.

 I don't remember why I was dining by myself on this occasion, but I know I went because it was wing night, or I thought it was. Turns out wing night didn't start until 5pm, and I was there too early to get the deal. I was not happy about that. It would have been $0.75 a wing.

One change that I noticed was the menu. The ownership must have changed in the years since I went there, because the menu was very different. A lot of the Tex-Mex items were gone, and in it's place was Middle Eastern cuisine: shawarma, baba ghanoush, shish kebabs.

 But now they also had a lot more sauces on the menu too! I asked my very friendly waitress Kim about the sauces, like what was the difference between Hot and Suicide? She told me they were different sauces and recommended I get one on the side, so that's what I went with.

I was ready for a feast! My wings came, with a side of Onion Rings, and a bowl of Suicide sauce. I also had a Diet Coke, but it came without syrup, just carbonated water. I told Kim who told me they may have cans in the back, but I just went with a regular Coke, which was better, but still not great.

The rings were my favourite; battered (not breaded), crispy but light. Really good.  This was a great side. 

Wings come by the pound (or just 1lb orders) which came out to be about 9 wings. There were no sides of veggies or dip.

The wings weren't long (a medium in length, but they were big and meaty! The wings came with a nice flour dusting on it, and they were deep fried just right, which meant a nice crispy skin that went well with the sauce.  Had a nice little crunch when you bit into it. The meat was tender and the bones pulled away easily.

The wings were all sauced really well. Each wing was coated and wet, and there was ample sauce on the plate to mop up with. 

I got Hot as the base sauce. Hot was kind of a spicy bbq; a little bit sweet, a sticky sweet. It wasn't a strong flavour of either. It was nice but I was expecting something a little more zingy.

My side of Suicide was a nice bowlful, enough for more than another order of wings! It cost $0.75 extra so I was glad there was a lot, but I've certainly gotten less before for that price!

Suicide was really good. Really peppery suicide sauce. Slow burn that builds a bit, but not that hot. Clearly not just a commercial sauce and if I was doing the order over again, I would have gone all in on suicide.

I was really impressed how much better the wings were. Bigger, meatier, sauced really well with a great suicide and a great crispy skin. My onion rings were good, I just wish I had some blue cheese dip and a better pop. Kim was a great server, and I was all set to return on another Wednesday night for wing night. But by 2016 Derringer's went out of business after 30 years. It became Pizza & Kebab, which closed shortly after that, and has been Habesha, an Ethiopian restaurant ever since. 

Derringers Eatery & Saloon (now closed)
99 Montreal Road, Ottawa ON

#tbt & #lostreview - THE TITLED KILT 2013 - Toronto ON

It's time for another #tbt & #lostreview - The Tilted Kilt is NOW CLOSED

Here's what I remember:

It was September 8th 2013, a Sunday, and I had just arrived back in Toronto on the GoTrain around 9pm. 

I was hungry, and decided to check out somewhere for wings while I was down near Union Station. The Tilted Kilt pub chain had arrived in Toronto the year before from America, and while I didn't know much about it, I knew they had wings.

It was a beautiful night so I sat on the patio. There's not much to look at on The Esplanade but they have tv's all over the patio to watch whatever sports you wanted to watch. It was pretty empty (it was late Sunday night) and I never even went inside to see what the interior was like.

not sure when this menu was from so prices might not be accurate.

I don't remember my waitress, but I do remember the staff uniform. The shortest possible kilt and the tiniest crop top. I thought I was just going to a regular pub, but this is really more like a Hooters. Apparently this is what they are known for, but I had no idea.

The menu has standard pub fare, but I was there for the wings. Traditional for me, but they also had grilled, and boneless.

I got a pretty good spread of food. The wings not only came with veggies and blue cheese dip, but also tortilla chips! I must have been really hungry because I also ordered a side of potato chips. 

It's not real potato chips, but thinly sliced potato that was deep fried. It's crispy, but also soft at the same time.

They give a choice of blue cheese or ranch but of course I got blue cheese. The dip was definitely needed for the potato chips.

The wings don't come in a specified amount, but there were about 7 or 8 in the order.

The wings were small in length, but really meaty. 

They are also breaded. No memory of how crispy they were.

I'm guessing I got their "Kilt Burner Sauce" - their hottest hot sauce. Not to sure. I really don't remember how these wings tasted. I also got a sauce on the side. My guess was that it was Guinness BBQ, but I have no idea.

So I have no SCORE, nor any direct memory of the wings, but I don't think it was anything special because I never went back. The Tilted Kilt closed down sometime by 2020

The Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery
38 The Esplanade, Toronto ON (and other locations)
tiltedkilt.com