THE DUKE OF YORK ~ Toronto ON

What a day. Not only was I out of the office all day at a work retreat, but we went out for an unofficial end-of -year social at the pub. Close to campus, we headed to The Duke of York. The Duke is part of a chain of pubs in the city like the Duke of Kent, Duke of Richmond etc. 

It has been a long time since I had been to the Duke of York - maybe 7 years or so. Walking inside it was just as I remembered it (but I won't lie, I didn't remember a lot). The Duke of York is a big former house that has been converted and broken into many different rooms big and small for dining and drinking. 

There are two patios (used in much warmer weather), three bars, three floors. On this Friday night we had the front room reserved (see photo above) for our group. Although there were only a few of us to start off with, the room quickly filled up.

After a long day of sessions for improving student life at the university, several of us were feeling the need for some food. Our waitress April was looking after the whole room and it didn't take too long for us to start nibbling.

Sarah from my office went with the sweet potato fries. They were a medium cut, crispy outside but soft inside.  They may have had a bit of a flour dusting before they were fried. Served with a maple dijon sauce, they were great for sampling.

Helen, from one of the residences on campus was sitting with us when she noticed a delicacy from her homeland, Nova Scotia. A special treat, deep fried pepperoni. On the East Coast, there are two pepperoni makers for deep fried pepperoni: Brothers, and Chris Brothers. The Duke of York serves Chris Brothers pepperoni, which is diced into I would say a medium cut, and then deep fried.

When Helen ordered the deep fried pepperoni, April was afraid they may not have it. Everyone was worried. As it turned out, they were out of deep fried pickles. My boss Josephine joked that it was a good thing the Duke did have it because "we have a pregnant Nova-Scotian here who needs her deep fried pepperoni!"

I have never had deep fried pepperoni. This was a very mild salami; some pepperoni has a very strong  flavour that can overpower the taste buds, but this had just a nice pork taste. And by deep frying it, it created a nice and crispy skin, but maintained a soft inside. I was told it is traditionally served with a honey mustard dip - which accents the pepperoni very well. I love trying new cultural cuisines! But of course, I fell back on my love of wings.

The Duke of York does traditional pub wings. There were about 10 wings in a pound, which are deep fried and then lightly sauced.

It came with a side of carrots and celery and blue cheese dip. The dip was creamy with a few chunks of blue cheese.

The wings were medium in size - not too long, not too big. They weren't particularily meaty. As a piece of chicken it wouldn't wow you, but it's possible for them to do the job. The skin was nice and crisp and they were deep fried just right.

I ordered the medium level of heat (I know - bizarre for me, but bare with me) so that anyone at the table that wanted to sample could. I was pretty disappointed in the medium, simply because I couldn't really taste it. There was no real evidence of sauce. In the photo you can see the wings are mostly dry.

For my own benefit I ordered a side of suicide. It had a kick to it, but not a lot of taste. It certainly piqued up the wings.

FINAL SCORE: I like the actual pub - the rooms, the atmosphere, the feel of the place. The sweet potato fries were good. The deep fried pepperoni was a novel addition to pub grub. The wings . . . the wings were ok. There was nothing that stood out. Not that big, poorley sauced, and flavours that were forgettable. The skin was nice and crispy. They weren't bad, but not that great either.  4/10

Duke of York

39 Prince Arthur Avenue, Toronto ON

york.thedukepubs.ca

T.G.I. FRIDAYS ~ Watertown NY, USA

Road trip! Two road trips actually! One to visit LJ in Ottawa, and then her and I took a day trip down to the US. Watertown New York to be exact. It was a last minute idea, but we both had our passports, credit cards and LJ had some American cash and we were good to go. The border guard didn't give us too much hassel, and it wasn't long before the day was spent shopping. All day. For so long. Lots of crazy sales I guess.

My happiest purchases? Cherry Coke, Cherry Coke Zero, and Dr Pepper Cherry (all drinks I can't get at home). Lunch was the mall food court Sbarro (yes Sbarro exists in Canada, but the mall was all chains we have back home except for a hot dog stand and a crappy Asian food place) plus the New York pizza looked and tasted so good. Shopping went on for several more hours, and then it was time for dinner. We went for a chain that we don't really have back home, and that meant T.G.I. Fridays.

If I have ever been to a T.G.I. Fridays, it was way more than 10 years ago with my parents on a trip through the states, and I don't remember anything. LJ and I have both been seeing ads for years about their dinner and appetizer combos, so we were looking forward to checking them out. The 'T.G.I." refering to "Thank God It's Friday" and their slogan "In here it's always Friday" suggesting that after a long week, this is the place to go and unwind, no matter what day of the week it is.

Like a lot of casual dining chains, this place is decorated with a lot of crazy crap on the walls and a cheery atmosphere. It is a bit funny because the outside has a more modern, upscale-chain vibe, but inside its' a bit wacky. Our waitress Starleen (not pictured), was quiet but very attentive. She had to come back time after time because it took a long time to figure out what we were going to eat. I was very happy to have many free refills of Dr Pepper in the meantime. Once we had our orders straight, Starleen was off and in a short period of time we had our food. Well, more like our feast.

LJ went with the Pick 3 for $16.99: Fried Mozzarella Sticks, Flat Iron Steak with loaded mashed potatos and an awesome Peanut Butter Pie. Not pictured: everything except the mozza sticks (I don't know why I didn't get photos . . .). The Mozza sticks were good. I don't think I've seen them done flat in rectangle shapes. The batter was crispy and the cheesy was, well, stringy. Normally they come with a marinara dipping sauce, but that was substituted for wasabi ranch.

I was starving and gluttenous and got an order of wings, and then the Pick 3 appetizer combo. Which had more wings. In the Pick 3, you first pick wings (yes, it automatically starts with wings). I went with Inferno, but we will come back to that. On the far left, we have Crispy Green Bean Fries. On the right, Potato Skins. In the middle, dips.

I feel like I haven't had potato skins in forever. This used to be my go to side dish with wings (when wings were cheap). These skins were crispy, and had a nice cargo of cheese and bacon. The cheese was melted cheddar, and with some sour cream, this was a great crispy, salty appetizer.

I think just about anything battered and deep fried is delicious. I don't normally like green beans, but deep fried with ranch dressing and you have something special.

With all of my food there was tons of celerey sticks and some blue cheese dressing. It was a good dressing, some chunks of blue cheese, and a medium level of creaminess/thickness. It went well with the wings . . .

T.G.I. Friday's labels all of their wings "Buffalo Wings" even though they aren't all Buffalo wings. Beyond the heats, there is also Jack Daniel's Championship BBQ, Garlic Parmesan and at the time of this post, they had a special Captain Morgan's Caribbean Wings which are baked, then grilled (as opposed to their usual deep fried) and tossed with pineapple pico de gallo and Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum sauce. It sounds tasty, but I stuck with the classics.

Wings come in the choice of boneless (and thus not a wing, but a nugget/strip) or traditional bone-in. You get about 10 wings in an order. It's a big plate and the fact that it is a rectangle makes it easier to access all the wings, like a trough. Cool.

The wings were large. Long, wide - big wings. They were not super meaty but decent. I was disappointed in the lack of crispiness - staying in the deep fryer for a few minutes longer would have helped.

Classic Buffalo

This is their version of what I would guess they think is hot, but is really mild or medium. The sauce was clearly a bottled sauce. It was a bright orange sauce.

The wings were definitely saucy - nice and wet - just the way I like wings. Plus there was extra sauce on the plate for dipping. The flavour was nothing original, but it did have that commercial Buffalo taste.

Inferno

In my Pick 3 appetizer combo choice of wings, I went with 5 of their 'Inferno' wings, conjuring up images of what they consider to be really hot. Inferno was not that hot, but it did leave a good sting on the lips. That's all I ask. Well, mostly what I ask. The flavour was similar to their Buffalo - but had more of a Tabasco flavour with something else that added a bite to it.

FINAL SCORE:

The size of the wings, the saucy nature, and a decent flavour made these good wings. But I really wish they were more crispy. A little crunch to the bite. You know what I'm talking about? The rest of the food was good and there were lots of choices. Good service, and I left stuffed and with a load of leftovers. I wouldn't mind a T.G.I. Fridays in my neighborhood, but the casual chains we have here in Ontario are just as good.  5.5/10

PS: Coke Canada - get back to work getting us some cherry beverages up here!

T.G.I. Fridays
21890 Towne Center Drive, Watertown NY, USA (and other locations)
tgifridays.com

WWWWWW #35 - Board Game Geek

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:

Board Game Geek 

This is one crazy site obsessed with board games. All sorts of board games. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. The web page is all over the place with review, ratings, images, forums etc.  I was drawn to the site because of one game in particular:

The "Buffalo Style Chicken Wing Game: Hot, Medium or Mild" - awesome. Here's what you do:

``Earn points by completing orders of chicken wings, made up of number cards representing the number of wings in the order, a mild, medium or hot sauce card, and a blue cheese chip. Orders are single (10 wings), double (20) or bucket (50). Larger orders and hotter orders are worth more points. you collect cards by answering chicken-related trivia questions. Higher wing cards and hotter sauce cards have harder questions. Game comes packed is a chicken take-out bucket. Includes chicken wing recipes." I want this game. I can't find any other info on the game on the Net. And it comes in a bucket - how cool is that? Even the chips come in a blue cheese dipping container. Simply awesome. Buffalo Wing Game for the Win.

CHICK'N DELI ~ Toronto ON

RIP- CHICK'N DELI is NOW CLOSED

Chick'N Deli. What can I say. It's often described as a landmark in the city for over 30 years. I actually came to do a review of Chick'N Deli back in about 2006. It was a crazy experience that I didn't record. When scouring the Internet back then for places to try wings, Chick'N Deli kept coming up in comments. 

I made the trek up around this time of year actually. The place was packed with an office holiday party, so there was nowhere to sit except the bar. I don't like sitting at the bar because I can't take photos anonymously. Also, while looking at the menu, I looked up and saw an older man, a regular, sitting at the other end of the bar. He was alone and staring at me. I quickly looked down, but could tell he was looking at me. I looked up, and made eye contact. Shoot. I watched him get up, come around the bar and sit down beside me. He proceeded to continually tell me what to order, about himself and just make awkward conversation in general. It was uncomfortable, the food wasn't great,  and when I left I decided I was not going to be coming back again.

Well enough time had passed to get over the experience, and I was at Yonge and Eglington, so I felt it was time to do a real review.

While hidden off of Yonge and Eglington at Mt Pleasant Road, this place is actually hard to miss. I mean there is a giant roasting bird n the main side, and a giant rooster on the roof.

Inside nothing had changed since I was there last, except it was empty. It seemed as though I was the first patron of the day. There were three women running the place - Adrienne my server, a blonde woman who complained about everything, and the matron of the place (my guess the owner). She was dressed in a suit and was very friendly and told me that wings were on special, and that they were known for their wings. The blonde woman was on about something, complaining at the bar, complaining when delivering food to eventual other customers. She was not a delight. Adrienne was nice and was quick to take order, deliver food and looking after the place in general.

With wings being on special, I decided to get an order of hot and an order of suicide. What I didn't realize, nor did Adrienne, was that each order of wings came an order of fries. So I got two huge orders of fries.

The fries were shoe string. They were pretty limp and definitely needed seasoning. No ketchup or vinegar was brought, and granted I didn't ask for any either. But I knew I wasn't eating them (or all of them) and that I was going to take them home. So what wings I did have I dipped with my wing dip.

I got lots of carrot and celery sticks with my wings. And with it came 'California Dip.'  Now California Dip as I know it is like an onion dip, but this was more of a dilly ranch. It was good though. I'm so happy these days to not get sour cream.

The wings come in an order of a pound, or approx 10 wings. They were Buffalo style - deep fried, then tossed in sauce. There are also "Steve's Jerk Wings" that cost more and are not part of the wing special. I'm curious why and what makes them so special, but they do sound intriguing.

The wings were medium in size. Most were moderately meaty, with one or two having some big chicken bulges.

HOT

Hot was a classic hot wing sauce. Cayenne based hot sauce with a splash of tangy from vinegar. These were standard pub wings.

SUICIDE

These had a nice kick. An actual suicide sauce that had a bite to them. My limps had that numbing tingle. They weren't very hot, but just enough. The flavour was slightly different from Hot, but it wasn't very tasty. I liked the burn, but I would go back to the Hot to enjoy.

FINAL SCORE: I'm glad I came back to give the place another try. These were some decent wings. But nothing special. I don't think they are rave worthy (certainly expensive for what you get) and I can't imagine making a trip out there just to have them again. But if you are looking for some solid pub wings, Chick'N Deli might be the place for you.  5.5/10


PS: I don't know why they are called Deli - there's no deli on the menu, other than in the name of several dishes. Anyone know why they call themselves Deli?

Chick'N Deli
744 Mt Pleasant Road, Toronto ON
chickndeli.com

Heavenly Grease - A Pork Nativity Scene

Ricky over at Fuzzification.com sent me this link from slashfood.com. Behold, the Pork Nativity Scene:

I can't wait to see what Easter has in store for us.

SMOKIN' BONES ~ Toronto ON

=Smokin' Bones is now CLOSED - RIP=

Since I left Toronto a few years ago, there seemed to be a bit of a renaissance in comfort food in the city. Wing bars, poutine places, and  BBQ joints popping up all over the place. One such place happened to open  a few blocks to where I now find my home base since my return. One particular night I had been out adventuring past supper and I was looking for a bite to eat. I felt like something different, and a Southern BBQ place along my travels seemed just right. 

In recent times I have become more interested and educated in what makes real BBQ. I haven't had the privilege of touring the South to try real Southern BBQ. When I entered Smokin' Bones, it smelled like what I think of as BBQ. So, it smelled good.

I like the giant stone brick with the red and yellow signs of the building. It also appears that in warmer weather the front window opens up for a bit of a patio feel. Outside on the side wall of the building listed their specialties: ribs, pulled pork, meatloaf . . . well you can see for yourself.

Inside the place is pretty unassuming. Nothing special, just the take-out counter a few tables and chairs that were scrounged up from somewhere. The place was quiet. There were two men each waiting for their orders that each took a while to get. I had time to go over the menu.

They guy behind the counter was very friendly and willing to answer questions. But the whole process took a lot of time for everyone involved. My understanding with BBQ joints that supply can be an issue, so it wasn't surprising to me when he had to check to make sure that things were in stock. Things like forks were not available on this evening.

So many options. What to get, what to get? The daily special - a pulled chicken sandwich with a side and can of pop for $6.99? That's what at least one of the guys waiting got (actually I think that's what both got). Or the Meal combos? What about just dishes on their own? Well, I'm a sucker for a sampler, so I went with the "All to Yourself" Combo:

"Pulled Pork, 1/4 Rack Ribs, One Andouille Sausage, Small Fry, Small Baked Beans, Small Slaw" all for $16.99. It sounded like a lot of food, but when he passed me the bag, it didn't feel like a lot. But it was enough food for one person for sure. I didn't feel like dining beside the older guy, so I had it packed up and brought it home to eat.

French Fries

These were good. Really good. Fresh cut, crispy but soft inside. Shoestring. Salty. I didn't even put ketchup on these they were so good.

Coleslaw

This slaw was mostly creamy, but slightly tangy. Crisp cabbage. Not too shabby.

Baked Beans

This came from the front counter in a warming bin. When he spooned it into the container - it was thick and just looked like a great baked beans dish. When I got home, it looked and smelled perfect as a side for a cool evening. Something that would really stick to the ribs and keep you warm. When I stuck my own fork into it, I was surprised to find that it contained pulled pork. This baked bean dish was hitting all the senses. Except one.

It was plain as all heck. No flavour.  No seasoning. Nothing. I was really hoping for some sort of BBQ sauce or sweetness. It wasn't even salty. Just blah. Very disappointing.

Pulled Pork

I assumed for some reason the pulled pork was on a bun, maybe more I was hoping. But it didn't say it was on the menu, so that's my fault in assuming. I was given the choice of two sauces (both for the pulled pork and  for the ribs) - the two sauces were Spicy and Very Spicy. For the pulled pork I went with Very Spicy, which was not spicy, but did have a nice flavour.

 The pork itself was very tender, but it had no flavour of its own. What I didn't like even more was that more than two thirds of it was sitting in oil. I tried mixing up the pork and BBQ sauce, but the oil overcame the dish and I couldn't eat very much.

Andouille Sausage

For those not familiar with this sausage, it is Cajun (originally French) food that is supposed to be spicy and smoked. This sausage was nicely smoked, but painfully plain. The skin was nice and crispy, the interior a bit dry but texturally it worked. But my flavour receptors were not picking up anything but the pork. It needed to be dunked in sauce.

Baby Back Ribs

The true test, I think, of any BBQ place is the ribs. My combo came with a 1/4 rack, which worked out to be about 4 ribs.

There was definitely a good bark on the ribs. It was crispy, and the meat was a bit chewy from the bone. I'm very confident that they had been sitting around for a while though. The ribs were also mellow on the flavour - with no hint of rub or seasoning. I was counting on the sauce to change that fact.

For the ribs I just went with Spicy. Again not spicy, but this was a bold homemade BBQ sauce. The smell was bold, like the commercial Bullseye sauce. What I would classify as a dark sauce, more savoury than sweet. Peppery, coarse in texture.

I poured a lot of sauce on the ribs and tossed it around in the take-out container. I like my ribs saucy, especially if they can get some time over heat with the sauce on, but for take-out this isn't necessarily the best way to go. The sauce certainly improved my experience with the ribs. I wonder what they would have been like had I eaten them at the store?

Here is my quick breakdown of my combo items:

Fries: Great
Coleslaw: Good
Baked Beans: Blah
Pulled Pork: Oily
Sausage: Blah.
Ribs: Ok.

I still want to try a few more items on the menu - the fried chicken, the chili. But most of the big ticket items for me were not to my liking. Maybe it was because it was the end of the night and some had been sitting there. But overall I think the food is not spiced enough, does not drive home a strong enough signature. I liked the service, I like that Smokin' Bones makes everything from scratch. But they need a certain something to make them really stand out.

Smokin' Bones

117 Dundas Street East, Toronto ON

smokinbones.ca