Tuesday, 9 October 2018
Monday, 8 October 2018
HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2018
So thankful for so much: my followers, my family, my wife. For the opportunity to eat so many wings. Health and life in general is good.
Thanks and I wish you all the best as well.
Wing Long & Prosper
Wing King Lord of the Wings
Friday, 5 October 2018
#fryday = Return of Popeye's Ghost Pepper Wings
These wings don't look amazing, but I love the execution. They are crunchy wings - they really have a great texture. But when I bit into them, they were super juicy. The flavour (and what heat there is) is on the inside due to the marination. But it is not a bold flavour; it's very subtle and if you blink you miss it. The ranch is a nice dip on the side. I did a full review last year and it's pretty much the same.
Thursday, 4 October 2018
#tbt & LOST REVIEW: Return to GABBY'S 2013 & 2016 ~ Toronto ON
Today we have 2 reviews of the same pub chain, Gabby's Bar & Grill, but in two different locations in different years. It's crazy I missed both of these. The last time I had reviewed Gabby's before was in 2006 when Dude came to visit. Gabby's was one of the first pubs I got wings at when I first moved to Toronto in 1999 and it was close to campus. The wings were always small, but tasty.
2013
The first section is from 2013 at the 192 Bloor Street Gabby's in Toronto. I was at a friend's birthday party, where they had reserved the basement party room. I think they had ordered some apps, but it was a Monday or Wednesday because I got 1/2 Price wings. Back then the wings from Gabby's always came in a basket, covered in a glass bone bowl, with a side of ranch (I think) and veggies.
From the photos it seems I may have gotten 2 pounds: Suicide and BBQ. I remember that the suicide was probably made from scotch bonnets and that while it was hot, it was sour. The BBQ was commercial bottled sauce that is common at many pubs. The wings seemed bigger than I was used to from Gabby's. I also like that party room - it's neat that they had a mural of the subway because literally the subway runs right past and you could feel the rumbling.
2016
It was 2016 and a rainy February night. It was again a Monday or Wednesday, and I had left a late work event that evening. I was starving, so I decided to get wings, and I remembered it was wing night at Gabby's. There was a Gabby's at 189 King Street East which was closer to my apartment at the time. It was crazy warm out - no snow - but lots of rain, which made finding a parking spot difficult. I sat in the front window and did some writing while I ate my wings.
1lb of wings was $10.99, 2 for $20.99, but because it was wing night I was having 2 pounds for $10.99. I got Hot (Gabby's Hot is always vinegary and tasty), and I tried out the Korean BBQ wings, which didn't have a Korean flavour at all, but more of a sweet Thai chili. By the end of the wings, the sauces pooled together and formed a new Hot-Korean sauce. I don't know why I only took a few photos - I must not have planned to do a full re-review but just a wing porn update.
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
THE CAPTAIN's BOIL - Ottawa ON
My birthday was this week, and one of the ways that is important for me to celebrate is with food. Shocker, I know. Wings are always on the menu somehow, but I also like to try something different too. Last year I really wanted to try The Captain's Boil, but we ended up going elsewhere. So this year LJ and I decided to go after all.
I have been all over the US, but one place I haven't been is Louisiana, and I very much want to go. A big draw is the food to be honest. I've been fascinated for years after seeing seafood boils, specifically crawfish boils. This is usually a big family event where in a big outdoor pot you have crawfish, corn, sausages, potatoes etc boiling and seasoned with Old Bay which is dumped out on a table covered in either butcher or newspaper, add some lemon and hot sauce and everyone just goes to town.
That isn't done here, and I'm not going South anytime soon, so the Captain's Boil is the next best thing.
The Captain's Boil is inspired by the Cajun experience, with a Chinese twist. Some of the spices, even some of the ingredients (lotus root?) are not traditional, but they follow the basic premise of seafood boiled in seasoning, eaten with your hands. It's a chain that started in Toronto and has spread across the country. Ottawa has two locations, and we went to the one on Hunt Club.
The restaurant has a pirate theme; "Feast Like a Pirate, Dine Like a Captain" is the catch phrase around here. I half expected a parrot to fly around or a big mascot of the Captain to walk around. Inside is clean and simple - it's a fast food-like dining experience rather than fancy seafood place. Drinks are served in paper cups - we assume this was because real glassware would slip since you are eating with your hands.
The menu isn't all boil - we found chicken wings and considering we were feasting and it was for my birthday, we ordered some wings.
When it comes to the boil, it's a 4 step process:
- Choose Your Catch: pick from Lobster, Dungeness Crab, King Crab Legs, Snow Crab Legs, Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Crawfish, or Chicken Slices.
- Choose Your Flavour: pick Cajun, Garlic Sauce, Lemon Pepper, or Captain's Boil (all three)
- Choose Your Heat: Non-Spicy, Mild, Medium, Fire
- Choose Your Add-Ons: not necessary, but you can add on the side (or tossed in your bag) for an extra charge Corn, Okra, Lotus Root, Broccoli, Potatoes, Sausages, or Steamed rice.
LJ went with the Snow Crab ($22), Captain's Boil, Medium boil with Potatoes ($1.50). I went with Crawfish ($19), Captain's Boil, Fire heat, with corn ($1.25). As mentioned before, we also ordered a pound of wings, and a side of Cajun Fries ($6). I should also mention or server Seryna who patiently explained the process to us - she was super friendly and great all around. She also moved us without us asking from a tiny little two seater table that was in between two 4 seater tables, to one of the 4 seater tables. That alone was just pure awesome.
The Cajun fries came out right away. We wish they had come out with the rest of the food but what can you do? The fries are battered and fried and tossed in seasoning. They are very crispy and were pretty good. They also came with a cup of ketchup, I guess to as to not clog up the table with a bottle.
Shortly thereafter the wings came out, followed by our seafood bags. There was also a shell/bone bowl and a small pail of a fork and scissors for LJ to open her crab. The table is also covered in butcher paper, with the idea that you can eat the food right off the table. We did ask for plates and forks to help make our experience a little easier, but most people don't do this.
Before I get to the seafood, I also added corn to my order. I wasn't sure how they were going to serve it, but it came out as a half cob. Kinda disappointing but not terribly so. I got it in the bag so it was soaked in Captain's Boil sauce. It was good corn. LJ got potatoes and they were just boiled and season infused.
I won't lie, it was an exciting first time experience. That's me with the seafood bag. I forgot to mention they also give you plastic bibs, and clear plastic gloves to eat the food. I have to say I was a little off-put by all the disposability and waste of the experience. Plastic bibs, plastic gloves, plastic bags, paper cups, paper table. It's all food grade quality so it's safe, but it is wasteful. I still ate it, but it was something gnawing at the back of my mind.
It was weird eating out of a plastic bag. I mean, it's just all in a bag. But I like that everything is thoroughly coated in sauce and seasoning. I was excited about the crawfish, and there were like 15-20 in the bag.
Now I've never had crawfish before (maybe you've also heard them called crayfish, craw-daddies, or mud bugs) but they look like a miniature mix of a shrimp and a lobster. They aren't much longer than my finger. Seryna warned me that there isn't a lot of meat in each one before I ordered (people complain I think) but because there are so many there is enough meat for a moderate appetite. To eat them, you pull off the head - I was told there is nothing in the head to eat, so discard that. The claws also are too small for meat, so into the trash they go too.
Then you try and pull out the tail, where all the meat is. The piece of meat that comes out varies from each creature, but it's basically about the size of a quarter. The head comes off easily (and usually with a bunch of seasoned juice) but getting the tail off from the back legs was a challenge. If you are squeamish at all, this is not an experience for you, FYI.
I ate one or two, very slowly, after I finally developed a strategy; I pulled out a crawfish, pulled off the head and put it on my plate (to let the juice ooze out onto the plate). Then I pried the tail meat out and discarded the body into the shell bowl. The meat I dropped back into the bag to keep warm and absorb more sauce. After de-shelling all the crawfish, I put the heads into the bowl, mixed up the bag and poured it all out onto the plate into a pile. Then I was ready to go to town - I removed my plastic gloves that had slightly filled into the gloves some how. I cleaned off with the napkins, and then used my fork to eat somewhat civilized.
The meat has the same consistency as shrimp. It's tender, but it also has a bit of chew. There were two very distinctive flavours going on here: the sauce, and the crawfish itself. The crawfish itself was super fishy. Like strongly fishy, and I was not a fan. I expected more of a shrimp or lobster, or even crab-like flavour, but I just got a big dose of fishy. If this is what crawfish is normally like, I would pass in the future. But something tells me that bayou crawfish doesn't taste this fishy. LJ had the same experience with her crab that I tried and found really fishy too.
As for the sauce, wow. Amazing. You got all those notes of garlic, lemon pepper, butter, paprika, peppers and hot sauce. The garlic was very sharp and stood out, but so did each of the flavours. It was rich and spicy and was great to dip everything into. It was complex and layered and was really good.
The question was, how were the wings?
The wings come in orders of 1/2 pound and full pound, a full pound being about 8-9 wings. They also came with ranch for dipping, which was a great little ranch. It tastes commercial, but it was creamy and light tasting.
Size wise the wings are about a medium in length - they don't stretch out very far. But in terms of being meaty, wowsers these were big. I mean some were average to the small length, but many of them were bulging with meat on them. They are breaded in a crunchy batter that adds to the size, but they are still really frick'n meaty.
They came out hot and fried just perfectly. There was a crunch when you bit into them, but they were fresh enough and fried just right that you could pull the bones off the meat without effort.
The wings don't come with any sauce, but they are marinated before frying. Now the marinated spices aren't strong, but the chicken is good on it's own. It's even better with the ranch. It's even better with the Captain's Boil sauce ...
I dredged those chicken wings through the sauce on the plate like it was nobody's business. The breading sopped up the sauce without losing that crispiness, and it elevated the wings to another level. As mentioned before, the sauce was spicy, but not killer hot as advertised. I mean you've got hot sauce and butter, but also garlic and spices. It was so good and LJ and I agreed we'd come back just for the sauce and the wings.
FINAL SCORE:
The experience of The Captain's Boil was cool and different. I like the hands on, rip'n and tear'n, dunking and sucking spices and all the flavour. The sauce was amazing, but the actual seafood was just to fishy for LJ and me. The fries were crispy good, but the wings were also really well done. Plain, but fried just right and crispy. And then you mix that into the Captain's Boil sauce and you've got a great wing experience. We both said we would go back, but we'd skip the seafood (I'm not giving up on having an authentic crawfish boil in Louisiana one day) and that we'd just have the wings with a side of Captain's Boil sauce next time. If only they had a wing night. ... 10/15
The Captain's Boil
290 West Hunt Club Road, Ottawa, ON (and other locations)
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Green Mesquite Smoked Fried Wings on Diners Drive-Ins & Dives
These wings go through quite the process but I would love to try them. I love smoked/fried wings. I was shocked when Guy 'tasted' the sauce from the lady at the restaurant until it turned out to be his wife!
Check out the Food Network for more info on this place.
Monday, 1 October 2018
LOTW Meme Monday = Dry Mouth after Spicy Wings
Dry spice wings do this to me especially. Boy he's making me thirsty.
Also, it's only 30 more days till Hallowe'en. Just saying.
#nonwingsunday = Ribs, Corn & Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno's
This was a good summer's end meal. Grilled ribs with a leftover Candy Apple homemade BBQ sauce, and three cheese bacon wrapped jalapenos. Don't forget some boiled corn with butter and salt on the side. My mouth is watering just remembering this meal!
Friday, 28 September 2018
#fryday = Double Breaded & Smoked Fried Wings
These were good. I didn't have them today though. But I wish I had.
Thursday, 27 September 2018
#tbt wings at The Rochester Pub & Eatery in 2009
I didn't get here enough when it was open. Now it's a Caribbean roti joint.
To see the original review from 2009, click HERE
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
DEKE & SQUEAKs SPORTS BAR & GRILL - Cornwall ON
- RIP - Deke & Squeak's is NOW CLOSED -
Sometimes the stars align just right and things work out in your favour. Recently LJ had business in Cornwall again, and this time it was an overnight trip. This also meant dinner out, and it just so happened I found that one sports bar downtown had wing night that night: Deke & Squeak's.
If the building looks familiar to long time readers of the blog, this place used to be BoJangle's which had just re-opened in 2010 (there had been a Bojangles in that same location almost 30 years ago). They had pretty decent wings, but they closed down around 2014 or so, with Deke & Squeak's (D&S) opening in it's place.
D&S's continued the sports bar theme but went with a different colour scheme and decor. We were confused by how to enter; I'm pretty sure I saw some people in the parking lot enter via the back patio, but we went to the front. The main door was closed (now seating) so we moved to the next door, which looked like it might lead to the upstairs instead as there was no signage on it. We kept going but that was the last door. We tried it, and it turned out to be the main door.
As you enter, there was a large table in the window, but the rest of the seating you had to go up some stairs. There was a large dining room on the left, on the right, a bar at the back and a game room off of the very back.
We arrived between 5:30 and 6pm and the place was packed, with more and more people coming. I had read on D&S's social media that it get's busy so come early, and boy were they right. We grabbed a table and our server dropped off the menus. Never caught her name, but she was friendly and great, if not very busy with the crowd.
I scanned the menu for the wings and found a big red panel. Then a smaller wing night menu fell out, then I noticed that LJ had another different wing night menu that described the specialty sauces. They had 25 different sauces and while we went pretty traditional, they had some interesting sauces like Pizza, Poutine, and Chicken Caesar.
To diversify our meal, the Tornado Poutine ($10) caught LJ's eye. This is not your classic poutine! It's made with seasoned curly fries, sprinkled with deep fried cheese curds, then topped with a gravy and Tornado Sauce (tangy-sweet hot sauce) mix. It was a savoury, salty, spicy good dish. Everything is elevated over a regular poutine. We couldn't finish it and I had it cold for lunch the next day and it was good again. LJ really really liked this.
The wings weren't out quick because of the crowd (I saw plate after plate of wings go to tables around us) but that's ok.
Wings here are sold by the pound, which works out according to the menu as about 6-8 wings. One order we had was 6 wings, another 7, so ya, it does range. It's also a good mix of flats and drums.
The wings were a good size, both in length and meatiness. The wings are breaded, but they aren't overly breaded. The breading is crispy, but the wings lost points because they were quite tough and difficult to chew. I don't think they were using wings, but I suspect that the wings might have been cooked earlier in the day and re-fried before serving to deal with the significant number of people ordering wings.
We ordered 3 pounds of wings with a bunch of sauces on the side ($0.50 on wing night). This allowed for lots of sampling.
CHICKEN CAESAR SAUCE
Described as Caesar Dressing and Parmesan sauce, this was very creamy thick sauce. It was, however, super mild in flavour. I mean there was that hint of parm, but you couldn't taste much. But it was nice a creamy.
SMOKED SEA SALT & PEPPER
This was another one that was quite mild in flavour. Just a dry rub, and while you can see the flecks of pepper and salt, you couldn't tell that it was smoked sea salt. Because the wings were so tough, you couldn't enjoy the chicken, which is usually what the seasoning brings out.
BOLD BBQ SAUCE
A commercial sauce that was sweet, but also dark, bold flavour. Slightly thick but still a bit runny. I liked this sauce and would get it again. It would be great if you could up it with spicy heat.
BUFFALO SAUCE
This was a slightly unappetizing looking sauce but it actually tasted good. It's hot sauce with butter and garlic. I think they may just mix garlic butter with the hot sauce. The garlic is pungent but good. I've had this type of Buffalo sauce before, at City Limit's Bar, which coincidentally is in Cornwall too. It's not traditional Buffalo, but it's flavourful.
SUICIDE SAUCE
This was a really great sauce. It might have had a Frank's type base, the built upon from there with chilies and other ingredients. It was thinner than the Deke sauce, but it was good. I would put it just above a hot heat level.
SQUEAK SAUCE
This was another homemade sauce with good flavour. On the menu they call it a 'Spicy Pepper Sauce'. It's base was 3rd Degree, and chilies and other ingredients. The waitress mentioned it might have ghost peppers, but this was not that hot. Tasty, and at least a suicide, but not killer.
FINAL SCORE:
These wings had real potential; good size, tasty sauces, fried crispy. They would have been better if the meat was not so darn tough. Overcooked or cooked twice was the downfall here. I suspect on non-wing nights the wings are better. Maybe it was just our order, because clearly the locals just keep coming back. I'm happy to go back and try again especially on Thursdays. I wouldn't mind trying that Tornado Poutine again either. 8.5/15
Deke & Squeak's Sports Bar & Grill
58 Pitt Street, Cornwall ON
dekeandsqueaksbar.com
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