Home of Hot Taste ~ Toronto ON

One of the great things about being back in the city is meeting up with old friends. Lucky for me, I got to go back to work with my good friend Dave who you might remember from a Chestnut Report back in 2007. We had a meeting a while ago where he was telling me about a Korean restaurant that serves a super spicy chicken dish. Recently we decided we should go. So we did. 

The place is called Bonga Buldak, or Home of Hot Taste. This is actually a chain of chicken restaurants from Korea. Dave first tried this when he was teaching in Korea, so I let him do all the ordering.

Home of Hot Taste certainly caters to the young Korean demographic as 99% of the patrons there at the time fit that description; Korean pop videos play constantly on the flatscreen, posters, pictures and menu boards are all also in Korean. There is no indication in English what these specials are.

I was glad Dave was in charge because I had no idea what was going on other than that I would be eating some spicy chicken. He did all the ordering and explained what we were getting and why (basically something hot, with something to cut the heat). I was just happy for the ride.

 To begin carafe's of water with a Korean model and writing came to the tables to start things off. Then came a salad to share. I don't know what it was or what was on it, but it was fresh and crisp, and the dressing was light ginger/vinegerette of some sort.

The next side dish was Ddok-bok-ki (I believe, but I could be wrong), which is Korean rice cake and fish cakes in a sweet and spicy sauce. Now for those of you who are not familiar with Korean cuisine, you might be looking at the above photo and be wondering where the rice cake is . . . well the cylindrical tubes above are the rice cake. Unlike a Western rice cake with is crispy and flakey, the Korean rice cake is spongey and doughey. The fish cakes are thin and not strong (thankfully). I love the rice cake and the spicy sauce combo - so unique.

Dave also ordered a cauldron of Rice Crust Soup. This was another dish he said would help cut the heat from the spicy chicken.

The flavour of this soup reminded me of puffed rice cereal (of course it tastes like rice, duh) with just a hint of being burnt. This isn't a soup I would ever eat on its own, but it just seemed to work on some level with this meal.

Dave said we should have gotten a banchan or side dishes, so he asked them, and shortly we had this little side dish. I looked at these glistening white cubes and I tried to figure out what they were. Potato? Pear? So I asked Dave and he said it was white radish. Now I am not a fan of radish, but when in Rome right? Well I was glad I did try it because I really liked it. They were pickled radish, so they tasted vinegary and sweet at the same time, with a soft crunch. Very refreshing.

Finally the main dish arrived. Home of Hot Taste is famous for their spicy chicken. There were two dishes to choose from: "Blazing Fire Chicken" and "Tearful Blazing Chicken". We asked what the difference was and one of them was ordered. I don't know which it was. Actually they have a third dish that is covered with cheese which is supposed to be very good too. We just stuck with the spicy chicken.

The chicken looked like hunks of bloody lava. I was excited. The meat was super tender. Soft and very easy to chew. By looking at it I thought it might be crispy, but it wasn't. So no deep frying. I thought it might have a little bark from the sizzling style plate but no.

So how was the taste? Good. The heat was a slow build - the more you eat the hotter it got. The dominate flavour that Dave identified was Korean pepper paste, but there was a lot more going on. This is a dish that has heat, but flavour as well.

This was a large portion and definitely appropriate for sharing. In retrospect I think this dish needs accompaniment if you were to eat it on its own. Rice, noodles or any of the sides we had would have worked. The meal was good, and I see they have chicken wings too, so I will be back. It was great hanging out with Dave - an awesome and generous host. Thanks Dave!

Home of Hot Taste
710 Yonge Street, Toronto ON

WWWWWW #38 Ryan Hohman is the Ultimate Wingman

Yes, World Wide Web Wacky Wing Wednesday. WWWWWW. This is where I will surf the Web, and find other people talking about chicken wings. The world is full of chicken wing stories, wacky and otherwise. Recipes, restaurant reviews, eating contests or whatever. Today's Blog relating to wings in some shape or form:

Ryan Hohman Is The Ultimate Wingman: Follow my journey to eat 2,011 chicken wings in the year 2011!

First off, I'm always happy to be on the web and come across another wing blogger. Second, I like someone on a mission, a wing mission. Ryan Hohman is keeping it simple:

"In honor of the year of 2011 I am going to eat 2,011 wings. That’s roughly 5.5 wings a day or 167 wings a month. For the next 365 days, I will be counting down every wing I eat on right here and on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me on my journey to wing heaven!"

And at the time of press, Ryan is at 590 and it's only April!

Ryan is based in the US and I believe Brooklyn specifically. Just running through his blog there are some tasty looking wings. Above are wings from his visit to The Penny Farthing Bar & Restaurant. Look at that lake of dip!?

He's not just hitting restaurants. Above are some homemade wings that brought him to his 500 wing count. Slow clap. Wonderful.

And on top of all this, he's weighing himself every Wednesday to answer the question of how this is affecting him physically.

He's been at it for 103 days. I can't wait to see how the rest goes. He's on the radio, on the Internet - so go over and watch and support his quest to eat 2011 chicken wings.

HOOPS SPORTS BAR & GRILL ~ Toronto ON

RIP - This location is NOW CLOSED

I'm still catching up on reviews here at Lord of the Wings, so bear with me as this is a few weeks old. Tuesday late afternoon I was out on Yonge running some errands. Walking down the street, I see Hoops, a sports bar that for years I walked passed without going in. Well this time, I was going in, dag nabbit!

Hoops is sports bar, plain and simple. They have a few locations around the city and they heavily feature sports. Lots of screens and tvs with all manner of games going on. Beer and sports. I was interested in neither. I was interested in wings though.

 

I walked in and there were four or five hostess/waitresses at the podium at the front. The place was not that busy (it was early) so there was lots of places to choose from. The back section was super dark though, and knowing I was going to do a review, I asked if I could take a window seat - I wasn't crazy that it was high chairs but the light was good and I could watch people on the street.

My waitress Alexis was friendly, but a little confused. When I was ready to order, I said I saw that it was wing night and I would have the wing special. She nicely corrected me that it wasn't wing night. I politely pointed out on the specials menu and the regular menu that it said Tuesdays were wing nights. She concurred. But looking at their specials, they have wing specials all the time:

Other than that little hiccup, she was great, checking in on me and answering questions. Actually she sold me on the double wing platter which ended up being cheaper ($8.49) The other staff were a little off a bit. I watched two hostesses jump on a guy who walking in with a Tim Horten's coffee. "You better finish that off because you can't bring that in here you know!" He turned around and left, and returned 10 minutes later sans coffee. Maybe they have dealt with him before, but I found the pouncing a little off putting.

The place started to fill up with patrons, and it wasn't long before I had my wings.

There were a lot of sides with these wings. Carrots and celery with ranch dip is the first, classic accompaniment.

But Hoops also threw in fries. Fries, on wing night. These were fresh cut, a little limp, but good. I still can't get over that you get fries and veggies.

A single order of wings are about 8-10 wings for $9.99. But on wing night you get them for $4.99. I like wing night.

I got a double wing platter - because I wanted to do some sampling. But that was a pretty big basket.

The wings ranged in size from a hefty medium to large wings. The chicken itself was a medium meatiness. They were a good size all around. The wings had a nice crisp on them, and the wings themselves were nice and saucy.

As I said before, I wanted to do some sampling, so I ordered two types of wings, Hot and BBQ with Suicide on the side.

HOT

Hot was a classic Buffalo hot wing. Comforting good old Buffalo wings.

The label said hot, but these weren't really. But the cayenne flavour was there and I couldn't complain.

BBQ

BBQ was a good bottled BBQ sauce. It was more sweet than savoury. Actually it would have been really good mixed with the hot . . . hmmmmmm. . . .

I like that it was a thick sauce that really stuck to the wings. Gooey and good.

SUICIDE

On the side I had suicide. While the other two sauces were bottled (I'm pretty sure) the suicide was a house mix. It had a nice, peppery kick. A dryer heat that built as one ate. The flavour was strongly peppery (like black pepper). I wasn't crazy about the taste, but I was happy with the heat.

THE SCORE: If your looking for a sports bar with good wings and lots of wing specials, Hoops might be for  you. Good size, crispy, saucy wings. And for $8.49 I got lots of wings, veggies, dip and fries. My waitress was nice and I had a great view. Not living far, I'm sure I'll be back. 6.5/10

Hoops Sports Bar & Grill
1212 Yonge Street, Toronto ON (and other locations)
hoopssportsbarandgrill.com

Carl, Professional Wing Critic for Boston Pizza

Last week Boston Pizza launched a new advertising campaign to announce a new menu improvement: chicken wings. And they have a new spokesman, Carl - Professional Wing Critic.

Who ever is the advertising agency for Boston Pizza is flippin' brilliant. For years they've had some excellent commercials that are quirky enough to get your attention, but not annoying to be hated (well, not me anyway). From the Talking Baby to Sasquatch to Finger Cooking with Bill they keep building characters into their restaurant chain.

But their latest with Carl is different. They have taken this to a whole . . . new . . . level.

"Carl" (actor Regan Burns, who used to have a funny game show called Oblivious" is part of  "Flatties & Drummies" a "Professional Wing Critics Association". But Boston Pizza didn't just create a TV character, they created a whole new website for Flatties & Drummies.

This is quite the website.  I love the Wing Cartography section:

I can't believe I'm not a part of this society.

Now for the commercials. Funny, simple, and a lot of chicken wing critics inside jokes.



I have heard stories about the '92 Charleston Incident . . . what a time for wings.





Doesn't everyone know what a Nib and Nub are?




Oh LeRoy Bouchlette, a pioneer in chicken wings.


I enjoyed Boston Pizza's old wings but I will have to review these wings myself and see if they are all the hype that my counterpart Carl says they are.

THE BISHOP & THE BELCHER ~ Toronto ON

A few weeks ago I found myself up in the Bloor/Yonge area and I was looking for a bite to eat. No I was looking for more than a bite to eat. I wasn't too sure where to go, but I did remember Wing Nation commentator Indianguy mentioning The Bishop and The Belcher and a good wing deal they have on Wednesdays. So I went to try it out.

I've actually been to the Bishop and the Belcher many times, but long ago. I remember it was always busy and had board games and trivia. But that was a different location (Queen Street) and I didn't know what to expect from the new place.

Outside was an exciting sign suggesting it was a good night to go in.

Inside the place still had a great British pub feel. Lots of wood, lots of character. On my table was a wooden elephant lamp. Neat-o. There were lots of different seating areas and the place was packed.The crowd was a mix of young hipsters to old guys in business suits. Clearly they are doing something right that they appeal to different crowds and ages.

They still had board games and trivia. There was a clearly old Trivial Pursuit game. Can you answer these questions? Answers are at the end of the entry. Post in the comments your scores (be honest!) out of 6.

My waitress was (name unfortunately illegible in my notes), who was young but folksy, calling me 'hon' and 'love.'  She was friendly and while busy, kept checking in on me. I looked over the menu, but I was there for a specific reason after all.

Ya, that's right, 3lbs of wings for $8.95. But what kind of wings would they be?

This was a huge platter. About 30 wings. But I was up to the task. There above you is three pounds of wings.

More and more places are not including veggies and dips which for years have been the standard with wings. The Bishop on their wing night special did not have veggies, but it did have some excellent dip. Blue Cheese, and homemade to boot. It was very creamy, a little tangy, and while I am not one to normally dip my wings, I sure did on this occasion.

Sometimes on wing nights, places will skimp on the wing size, serving less than average wings. But the B&B served up some large wings. I was throughly impressed with the size. They were a medium meatiness - which was just right. The wings were also crispy, but there was very little sauce on them, which meant the chicken itself came through as well as the skin. Some people don't like saucy wings, so this would be great for them. Next time I would ask for extra sauce on the side.

Chipotle:

I went with two flavours for my wings: One half was chipotle the other half hot. By looking at the two sets of wings I couldn't tell which was which. And because these were extremely 'lightly sauced' I could only tell by taste test.

This was a nice chipotle wing. A little smokey tasting, a little bit of heat. I think if the sauce on these had been more it might have been too much.

Hot:

This was a classic Buffalo style wing. Crispy deep fried chicken wing tossed in a classic cayenne sauce.

These were just good. The hot sauce wasn't that hot, but the flavour was good. Again, I only wish there was more sauce!

FINAL SCORE: I really like the relocated The Bishop & The Belcher. The atmosphere is very relaxed, cozy but still still crowded. The service was friendly. And I got a lot of wings. Big, crispy wings. My personal taste dictates more sauce, but that can be remedied in the future. And a great homemade blue cheese dip - this was  a good wing experience. 7/10

The Bishop and the Belcher
175 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON
bishopandbelcher.com


PS: Here are the answers . . .

How did you score?