FATBURGER ~ Las Vegas NV

OCT 2012

Day 3 of being in Las Vegas. We had a busy day touring around, and had a great evening at Cirque de Soliel's "Ka" (amazing show by the way). We wanted something to eat but just had no clue where to go. We walked a bit on the strip and we came across Fatburger.

There were two distinctly different parts to this chain (that I had never heard of before this moment) and I'm assuming its a Las Vegas difference: the fast food/take out inside and the bar/patio outside. We sat on the outside because the weather was awesome.

Coming from an region that has snow for possibly 5-6 month, seeing a permanant outdoor establishment seems odd. Also, the proliferation of booze everywhere in Vegas makes bars seem less likely when I can head into any casino and get a drink for free.

Inside is self service but outside, we had a server. Jenna was friendly but not super available. It took a little while for our drinks to come. I had Coke, and it tasted amazing - like it was made with cane sugar. I asked Jenna if it was anything special and she said no, asking if it was ok. I said it was great, and she said good, most people complain that it isn't good. Huh.

I wanted to sample a bunch of things off the menu, but my and LJ's tastes were in alignment that night. Burger and chili cheese fries.

The above is their "Small" burger ($4.50). You can go Med, Lg, XXL and XXL, a 24oz tripple burger for $13. Toppings are standard but you can add on bacon, cheese, chili as well as an egg. The above burger just had a few standards on it (onion, cheese, mayo, pickles, relish) and I had a bite and agreed with LJ, it was tasty. Nice bark on the flatop grilled burger, tender meat, fresh bun. A little greasy but it was really good.

The chili cheese fries ($5) my look very tasty, or very revolting depending on your position. I thought they looked heart cloggingly awesome. It was actually melted cheese (as opposed to cheese sauce). The fries were ok, but really they are just a vehicle for the chili and cheese. You also get to choose 'fat' fries or 'skinny'; we went with skinny.

Oh it turns out they had wings too.

There is no mention of wings on Fatburger's website, nor were they available inside the restaurant, only the patio/bar area. So this might be a Vegas thing only. Wings came in orders of 6 or 12, and the price was pretty inflated, but then again, it is the strip.

My wings came with exactly one celery stick and one carrot stick. I mean, really what was the point? And then my dip on the side was a packet of David Newman blue cheese dressing. This just seemed a little silly.

 The wings were pretty big surprisingly. Large at best, on the larger side of medium at their worst. They were also pretty meaty. The skin was crisp, and even had an airy quality which made for a nice snap when biting into them. The wings were nice and saucy too.

There is only hot and mild sauces to choose from, so I went with hot. FYI, it's not even hot. So mild and maybe medium. But I didn't really expect heat from a fast food chain. It was a classic Buffalo sauce, very orange, and pretty good. 

 FINAL SCORE:
These were some tasty wings. I wasn't expecting that. Good size wings. Crispy skin. Tasty sauce. The chili cheese fries were a great side. The burgers were pretty good too. I would definitely go back to Fatburger and it turned out to be our best meal in Vegas. That's cool and sad at the same time. 6/10

Fatburger
3763 S Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas NV USA
fatburger.com

BUFFALO WINGS ~ Las Vegas NV

OCTOBER 2012

Across from our hotel the Circus Circus is the Riviera Casino. Inside they have, well a crappy little food court. We were getting a late lunch/ early supper and were desperate. LJ went to a Mexican place, but I was drawn to Buffalo Wings.

I was pumped.  I mean, there wasn't anything else in this place I wanted in the first place, but a chicken wing joint? Awesome.

I wasn't super hungry, so I wasn't going to try all the things I would have wanted to (waffle fries, potato skins, jalapeno poppers). I went with their combo of 12 wings (split into two flavours) with fries (I went with curly fries) and a drink.

The lady behind the counter took my order. I watched her take the wings out of a plastic bag that went into the deep fryer. Not impressive, but oh well. 10 minutes later I had my order.

Styrofoam and tinfoiled wings. Mmmmm.

The curly fries were ok. There was no seasoning to them, so they just end up being fun shaped fries.

My blue cheese dip. Standard, tasty, and had chunks of blue cheese. There were also veggies to dip, but I didn't need them.

Wings come in denominations from 6 to 75 to 100.

The wings were a variety of sizes: mostly medium to large, but there were some small ones too. A real hodgepodge. Also some were roughly cut so there might be chunks of the tip still partially attached. I just imagined them buying these wings from some sketchy dealer where they are dirt cheap.

Even though they were fresh out of the fryer, they were not crispy. And there was a ton of sauce, which also made them soggy. They were not enjoyable.

SUICIDE

They have mild, then hot, then suicide. That tells me that Hot is actually medium and Suicide is actually hot. There was no real heat to them.

 Flavour wise Suicide was ok. It didn't seem like Buffalo sauce. Well it did, just not that great a take on them.

HONEY BBQ

I split the flavours I wanted to sample some of the menu. I wanted to go with Hot BBQ, but figured Suicide would be good enough. So I went with Honey BBQ. The Honey BBQ was also, ok. A little HFCS-ish sweet. 

FINAL SCORE:

Well, the whole wing dinner was a failure. I kept going back and forth between the wings not because I wanted to go back and forth, but I didn't want to keep eating the wings. In fact, I couldn't even finish them. Soggy, sickly sweet sauces and untender chicken. No thank you, no thank you. 3.5/9

photo courtesy of Google street view

Buffalo Wings

2901 S Las Vegas Boulevard (inside the Riviera Casino/Hotel), Las Vegas NV USA

Buffalo Wings on Facebook

THE VILLAGE IDIOT PUB ~ Toronto ON

OCTOBER 2012

October is my favourite month of the year - with Hallowe'en being a big reason. And although it wasn't Hallowe'en yet, it was time for the Toronto Zombie Walk 2012. My buddy Ricky came in from Coburg for our second year at the event where basically thousands of people dress up as zombies, walk around down, and have fun. We had a few hours to kill and we needed some lunch, so we headed down the street to the Village Idiot Pub.

I've been to the Village Idiot a few times, but had never done a wing review. It's location is right across from the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), just down from OCAD University, and not far from my own building.

Inside, this place has, well you can see for yourself. The crowd tends to be older folks and the art museum crowd. Our waiter was, well he was a character; sometimes we couldn't tell if he was joking or not. We went with joking.

The Village Idiot has a ton (or tonne) of beers from around the world. They have a 'British' pub type menu, but they sometime venture off the traditional path.

Rick went with a burger. But not just any burger: the piri piri burger. A standard patty, but a thick layer of their homemade piri piri sauce coated the top of the burger. It had a good kick. Rick said the fries were ok. Burger, ok too.

I went with wings, but I also added onion rings.

I was happy with these classic cooked onion rings. Crispy, the onion mostly snapped when bit into.

Also with my wings came dip. Now while most places give you blue cheese dip, or ranch, or even dill. At the village idiot I got tartar sauce. I don't think I have ever gotten tartar sauce with my wings. It was different (and made a good dip for the onion rings) but not bad. Somehow I think I got the wrong dip, but who knows.

The wings come by the pound, with Village Idiot wings being about 7 wings in said pound.

They don't list their sauces, so I had to go on my memory (my bad) so there might be some I am missing, but it wasn't a long list.

These were a decent sized wing. Mostly large, and fairly meaty. The texture was unique. I think the wings are deep fried (giving them a starting crispy skin) but are then tossed in sauce and either baked or grilled. This technique is fine, but in execution these wings were dried out and tough, and the sauce looses something in the process.

I went different on the sauce front. When Ricky ordered Piri Piri, I thought that sounded good, so I asked our waiter if I could get that on my wings. He said yes, but was reluctant because of the heat. Well, they did have heat, that's for sure. It was a dry heat that built and built. Flavour wise it was good, but I think I would go with something more traditional next time.

FINALS SCORE:
I think the Village Idiot is a quaint little pub that's great for a drink. But if your looking for good grub, it's just ok. My wings were ok: over cooked/dried out, with some good heat and a decent size. I mean, you wouldn't be an idiot to order them  ... but I'm not crazy about them either. 5/10

The Village Idiot Pub
126 McCaul Street, Toronto ON
villageidiotpub.ca


PS: here is my zombie costume: I'm a baby eater. I like me my baby back ribs. Get it? Maybe next year I will have a dead chicken . . . Zombie Lord of the Wings . . .

JOEY's EATON CENTRE ~ Toronto ON

AUGUST 2012

August is a busy prep period for us at work leading into September. To do some planning and some team bonding, we went out for lunch. 

Not far from our office is Joey's (Eaton Centre location). I had never been but was very curious since they opened.

The place has a unique look to the place: a little chic, a little modern. I mean, the chandeliers are a unique statement.

The inside is huge, with a giant open front window. There's even an upstairs. And it was needed because the place was packed. Lots of office types. Our server (name forgotten) was very friendly and professional, going so far to make sure no one had any allergies (there were) and having what seem like a manager come out and confirm the dishes were safe for the allergies or had been substituted.

Here is the crew: me, Naeem, Sarah and Kat. We had a nice big booth at a big table.

On top is Naeem's Bombay Butter Chicken (good he said). In the middle is Sarah's Ahi Tuna Club. On bottom is Kat's Yam Fries and Caesar salad. My order of wings also arrived, and one thing really stood out for me:

A very dramatic presentation - the pyramid of wings. But I couldn't help but notice the stark and giant plate made my order look really puny, don't you think? They are small wings to begin with, but a pyramid should be majestic, not pygmie. 

There are no options when it comes to wings at Joey's. Only one size of order (about 12) and only one sauce: "Blazing."

OK, with the right camera angle, this pyramid presentation can look impressive. I do love the colour contrasts of the red, the white and the green.

The only other thing on the plate was a side of blue cheese dip. It was thicker than I prefer in both consistency and flavour, but at least there was blue cheese. But not veggies to dip, suggesting that the 'blazing' wings are really hot, right?

Size wise, I was really not impressed. Pigeon sized wings. Little meat, little everything. What makes me angry that these wings cost $12 - at about a dollar a wing I expect something more impressive.

That being said, these wings were cooked well. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender. They were what I consider perfectly sauced too. Now the sauce was a great Buffalo sauce - cayenne and butter - but not at all "Blazing". They are using that word as a marketing gimmick, not as a descriptor.

FINAL SCORE:
I'm torn. Almost perfectly cooked and sauced wings with a fun presentation, marred by minimum standards of size and inflated price. They are good, but if you care about value, the wings at Joey's aren't for you. But all the other food looked tasty, so if I do go back, I'll be sampling something else. 5/10

Joey's Eaton Centre Grill/Lounge
1 Dundas Street West, Toronto ON
joeyrestaurants.com/eaton-crentre