WING MACHINE - Cornwall ON

When I first moved to Toronto many years ago, I found a chain of take-out chicken wing joints which was unusual at the time, as only pizza places seemed to do wing take-out then. The chain was called Wing Machine, and the wings were unlike anything I was used to. They were seasoned and baked and they came with a suicide sauce that was just awesome. My future wife and I loved them and would get wings and wedges as a take-out treat. I didn't actually review them until 2007. Now I live in Ottawa and there are no Wing Machines here. But Cornwall has one!

We were staying overnight and had decided to just have a night in at the hotel. We had seen the Wing Machine signs in the past, and now was our time to go down memory lane with some loved wings. What was interesting was that it showed there was a drive-thru! So we pulled in and discovered the drive-thru no longer used. So I pulled up and went inside what was a shared Wing Machine/Double Double pizza/chicken location. In Toronto Wing Machine used to be paired with Pizza Panzerotto, then Gino's Pizza chains. Out here it seems to be with Double Double.

The location has been here for a couple of years I believe, but it looks new and space age in it's colouring. There is a lot more seating inside than I was expecting - the seat are actually big and padded, but I'm pretty sure they came from an older restaurant and are far from new.

Everything on the menu seems to be Double Double focused, so I wondered how this worked or if it really was Wing Machine. The Pizza Dude at the counter was super friendly and willing to explain how it worked. I ordered their Wing Nut Deal (saw online but not in store) and waited about 15 minutes for the food. While I was there, 2 middle aged guys working in Cornwall but not from Cornwall came in and were hilariously floored by all the options; they couldn't get over that they could get ribs or pizza, or wings or burgers or fried chicken or or or!

The Wing Nut Deal ($29.95) is 2lbs of wings (with sauce), fries (we got wedges instead), and 2 595ml drinks (Pepsi products). I also asked for some dip for the wedges which is normally an extra charge, but Pizza Dude was cool and gave it to me for free.

Pizza Dude also asked if I wanted the sauce on the wings or the side and I asked for side, so they came with 3 containers for the 2lbs.

The potato wedges were pretty big but didn't seem like the Wing Machine wedges I've had in the past. These were coated in flour I think and fried, and they were crispy and had a nice pillowy inside. But unlike other Machine wedges, these were quite under-seasoned. LJ found them blah, and they were a bit. Wing Machine's wedges used to be covered in spices, these were not.

As it would turn out, the wings wouldn't be like they used to either ...

It was obvious that these were not the same wings as the old Wing Machine. It's at this point I became very suspicious of what was Wing Machine and what was Double Double. I mean, these wings were breaded and crispy - nothing like Wing Machine.

I was really impressed with the size and amount of wings in the box. There were like 30 golden wings sitting in the box in front of me and I was super psyched.

The wings were a good medium and they were pretty meaty. Just a nice sized wing. They are breaded, but it's a lighter applied breading (as in quantity, in texture it's crispy and hard).

The wings are fried giving them a nice crunchy/crispy skin. It's a great texture. The problem is that the chicken meat is dried out. Fired wings aren't done at Wing Machine, but I did notice after reviewing my photos at the store it does say they can be baked. I ate a few of the wings just like this and they were good. LJ was not as impressed since they weren't super seasoned or taste like Wing Machine. For me though, these were a better wing on it's own.

So would the Suicide sauce be the same as what we remembered? Yes, yes it was. Their suicide is a really peppery sauce that has a great flavour, but a heat that goes after all parts of the mouth. It's thick and holds up to the fried wings. It has a really really good kick which turned out to be too much for LJ. I loved it but had a hard time trying to ration out how much sauce I had. 

We didn't eat all the wings (I think I'm getting old!) and I had a snack and a lunch out of the leftovers. I did ration the sauce well but I just wish I had a litre of the stuff.

FINAL SCORE:

So I don't know if it's just a shift in recipe since I reviewed these wings in 2007 or if it's because they are paired with Double Double, but the wings to me are much better. Bigger, crispier, but still with that thick stinging Suicide sauce. LJ found the wings under seasoned, and we both agreed the wedges were too, but they were still crispy. This is another example of a place I wish we had in Ottawa. 9/14

Wing Machine/Double Double
1610 Brookdale Ave, Cornwall ON
wingmachine.com

SEAWAY ROADHOUSE - Cornwall ON

In November I was back in Cornwall. It was a Tuesday and I had been researching Tuesday wing nights in Cornwall to grab some lunch. Now Cornwall's not that big, so I thought I knew all the places available. But a new place caught my eye; Seaway Roadhouse.

When I hear the term Roadhouse, I can't help but think of that Family Guy episode "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag" (S8e4):



I feel like round-housing my way around town! Anyways, this roadhouse is on the west part of town that seems to be a mix of industrial and residential area. The building has been around for a long time I'm sure, and I'm willing to bet it's been all sorts of businesses over the years. Seaway Roadhouse was just open this past summer, so they had only been open about 4 months.

Social media told me that Tuesday all day was wing 'night' and when I drove by and saw the big sign advertising it as so, I was pleased. I parked, but felt a little trepidation going in. When I think roadhouse, I think wood decor, a big bar, and dudes hanging out playing pool looking for trouble. I dine alone often and I'm cool with it, but a lot of people find it odd or couldn't do it themselves, so that puts me on edge sometimes.

As I walked around I wasn't sure if I had to go in the front door or the side door that leads into the covered porch. There were 3 guys smoking around the door. I felt weird to go in between them, but one guy opened the door and they all said hello to me. Ok, friendly place. Inside was exactly what I expected the roadhouse to look. Well I wasn't expecting all the x-mas decorations, but other than that it was. They were even playing country music.

The bar was packed in the middle of the afternoon; I seemingly was the only one not at the bar. I took a seat by the window and Brennah was my server, who was also the bartender, and after some research is the daughter of the owners of Seaway Roadhouse. She was very friendly, and clearly everyone at the bar knows her as I overheard some teasing and others joking with her. She brought me the menu, which is quite small (half is food and half is drink). My seat had a sign above saying $0.50 wings, so I told her I wanted the wings - I asked how that works and she said I could order as many as I wanted. So I ordered 10 hot. A few moments later she came back with a bone basket and napkins and wetnaps, but she had a question for me:

"Have you been here for wing night before?" I said no. "Ok well the supplier brought the wrong wings. They are really small. I'm really sorry, they are not our usual wings."  I really appreciated that. Clearly there was pride in the wings that they serve that they not only warned me even as a non-regular, but that they wanted my business again to apologize and have me back. A few minutes later, Brennah brought me the wings, apologized again because they were small, and then said that because they were so small they were only charging $0.30 a wing. SWEET DEAL. 10 wings with a drink came to $5. My drink by the way, was Diet Coke, but it didn't taste like a Coke or Pepsi product but more like a no-name brand soda. I drank it anyway but I probably should have said something.

It was really hard to evaluate these wings because these are not their normal chicken product. But I can describe what they did with what they have.

First off, I have no idea how many wings come in a normal order. I have no idea how big they are for sure. Until I go again, no idea. What did come with the wings were some really fresh celery and carrot sticks (nice), and the smallest little paper cup of ranch dressing I've ever seen.

Well Brennah was right, these wings were tiny. I mean these were some of the smallest wings I've ever been served (I have had smaller, but not by much). Sad for sure. The wings were deep fried and the skin was crispy. There was almost no meat on the bones though.

The wings were nice and saucy. The sauce was probably just Frank's or some other cayenne based hot sauce, maybe not, not too sure. 

I have to say, the wings were actually really good. Some people argue that smaller wings are tastier than large or jumbo wings, and on this occasion I'd be willing to agree. I really enjoyed these little suckers.

FINAL SCORE:

I can't officially score these wings, but what I can tell you is they got served with fresh veggies, were sauced well, fried well, and were tasty. I can only imagine that the Seaway Roadhouse does a good job on the normal thing. The service was friendly too. I will have to go back and re-sample when the wings are back to normal.

Roadhouse!

Seaway Roadhouse
830 Second Street West, Cornwall ON
Seaway Roadhouse FACEBOOK

COMINO'S PIZZA & WINGS - Whitby ON

Back in April or May we were in Whitby and I had the chance to try a local pizza joint out called Comino's. I had seen online photos and reviews of their pizza and wings and the pizza looked like the type I love and can't get in Ottawa. I was right, and the pizza was very good. But the wings, the wings were "righteous". I didn't do a full review, but I vowed if I got the chance again I was going to get the wings again and do a proper review.

Well this past November I got that chance. I was on the road and made a quick lunch stop to my new favourite pizza place.

This is just a standard take-out pizza joint with only some stool seating at the window. It's run by a South Asian family (mom, dad, son - I assume, that seems to be the arrangement working in the back). They are very friendly and seem to have a good time preparing the food together.

They have lots of combos advertised, but on this particular occasion I wasn't getting pizza. I was here for wings, and wings were what I was going to get.

What I love about this place is that they make their own sauces. There are a ton of varieties, and in my limited experience, if they say something is hot, it's hot. There is no advertised list of sauces but you can see the sauces in containers in their front display case. They do have Heinz pizza dips (so like, Ranch and Cheddar etc) but the wing sauces that I'm aware of are:

• Medium/Hot/Red Hot (I don't know what the difference between hot & red hot)
• Buffalo Style Hot Sauce
• Suicide
• BBQ
• Honey Garlic
• Jerk
• Sweet & Spicy

That's an awesome list. Respect for the love they give for their sauces. Just to be clear, these are extra sauces you can dip - there seems to be waaay more sauce on the wings than one of these little cups. I asked for 2 orders of wings, and then picked Buffalo Style Hot Sauce and Suicide - the dad(?) warned me they were both hot, but I told him that was what I wanted. He smiled. I waited about 10-15 minutes and soon I had my wing feast.

Spoiler alert - I am so glad I stopped here for wings again.

Wings come in increments of 10 with 10 costing less than $9 which is a good price. When I see that price I expect tiny wings, and these were not. Nothing came with the wings, so don't expect veggies or dip.

The wings were packaged in two Styrofoam containers lined with checked wax? paper. They didn't even give me a paper bag for my take-out which is a little odd. I also didn't get napkins, although I could have grabbed some from the dispenser inside, but they have those small weak ones and I had better ones in the car, where I went to town on these wings.

The wings were BIG - like near jumbo wings. Long, wide, thick. The skin is dusted and the wings are deep fried, which gives them a wonderfully crispy skin. They can hold up to a lot of sauce, but overtime that crispness breaks down, but not to the point when they get soggy (I know because I had leftover wings and they weren't as crispy, but still good). The meat was relatively tender under that skin.

The two wings were sauced very differently - one was moist, but more dry in it's distribution, and the other was wet and had had globs of sauce all over them. No way that came from just one of those cups.

I got the two flavours mixed up (they weren't labeled) when I finally got to eat them. I thought the orange-y more dry looking wings were the Buffalo and I bite into them and I was like, whoa, those are really spicy. Then I had the saucy wings and they were clearly less hot and I realized they were the Buffalo after all.

BUFFALO STYLE HOT SAUCE

Right off the bat I have to say, I was not happy with the name of these wings. There is nothing Buffalo about them. They are not cayenne sauce with butter and vinegar. No. So no idea why they call it that and they shouldn't. What you can call them is awesome.

I love this sauce. I could drink it. I had a hard time describing the sauce. It was so good. It reminded me of one of my favourite wings - Moose Winooski's, but hotter. It's almost like a BBQ sauce in that the texture is thick and it's kind of sweet, but it's not molasses or even tomato based in flavour. It's just good.

SUICIDE

Wow - these were a true suicide. As I said, I thought they were the Buffalo but boy did they have a kick. The heat caused me to cough well after I had eaten a few. It was a stinging heat that went right to my lips, and my throat.

The flavour was hot. Bam! It's got a very sour taste to them (in a good way). There are chili flakes there that add to the heat. I don't know what they use, but it tastes very familiar to me. If you want to sit around enjoying multiple levels of flavour, this is not your wing. If you want fried wings with missile precise heat, this is your wing.

FINAL SCORE:

These are excellent wings. Big, crispy, saucy. Suicide is actually very hot, and the Buffalo Style is nothing like Buffalo, but it is thick and tasty. So impressed with these wings and so very frustrated I don't live nearby. Kudos for a take-out pizza place making all the effort on their sauces and showing their wings love, it really shows. 12/14

Comino's Pizza & Wings
1910 Dundas Street East, Suite 124, Whitby ON
cominospizza.com

LOTW Meme Monday = Johnny Cash Suicide Wings

My mouth says I still feel ...

BARNEY's PIZZA - Ottawa ON

I like to think that I'm a person with a good sense of direction, but on occasion I get lost. Actually it's more like I don't like to take the same route and go exploring and I find stuff I never expected. I'm a regular Marco Polo, what can I say? 

One day while I was out I decided to go down a road I had never been down before, which led me to a sketchy, rundown little strip mall with a local pizza joint called Barney's Pizza. Up until just a few minutes before writing this, I had not paid attention to the name; Barney's. I just assumed it was like so many pizza places just named after an owner. But as I was writing  I actually noticed the logo in the collage below and realized that the Barney in question is supposed to be Fred's neighbor and best pal from the Flintstones. Huh!

I had seen Barney's on the internet before but had no idea where in Ottawa it was. Now I know. The store frontage is pretty big, but the only seating is a few stools at the windows. There is a school nearby that I think makes up a lot of the daytime customer base; there are lots of snacks, treats, pop and pizza slices they have to create a one-stop-shop and keep those customers from going to both a convenience store and a Giant Tiger in the same plaza.

There were several staff behind the counter working away and when I was ready the Pizza Lady came over to take my order - 12 wings, and I decided to get some onion rings. She asked what sauce and since none were listed I asked what they had. "Mild, honey garlic, hot, medium, suicide" so I said "suicide" and she smiled and said "oh, that's how my husband gets them!". Cool.  I had to wait a while (about 15-20 minutes) but I hung out and watched customers coming in and out, the delivery guy joking with the staff etc. After a while I had my food and off I went.

I drove to the river and had a car picnic. I noticed that the paper bag everything was packed into was misshapen and even a bit greasy coming out of it? What was going on? I peeked into the bag and noticed what was causing the problem - the onion ring container wouldn't close!

There were so many onion rings that the small clam shell for this small order was too big and wouldn't and couldn't shut. Wow. Impressive. Also, the grease on the bag came from the rings, so then I had a good feeling these onion rings were going to be good.

I was expecting standard frozen mass produced onion rings, but was pleasantly surprised by these seemingly homemade rings! At first I thought they looked burnt and expected them to have that taste, and I think they were on the verge of being burnt, but weren't. They had a puffy batter that was crunchy/super crispy and almost brittle. This was under $3. Overall they tasted good. I only wish I had gotten some ketchup or some dip with them because I likes me rings and sauce of some sort.

So the rings were good, but how about the wings???

The wings came in a Styrofoam clam shell, and inside that they were wrapped in tinfoil. This leads to the wings getting steamed and moisture forming in the container as it travels for delivery. That's too bad.

They smelled good though! The wings come in numerical orders, so I went with their smallest amount which is 12 wings. Nothing comes with them, but you can buy sour cream, ranch or garlic dip for $0.75. I did not.

The wings were sadly a bit small. Not the smallest I've had, but small. However, they were pretty meaty for the size of the wings.

The wings come from frozen, and are deep fried naked. The chicken itself wasn't tender, but it wasn't tough either, just ok. The skin would have been crispy before saucing, but because they travelled in the tinfoil they steamed and were not crispy by the time (about 10 minutes after leaving the store) I actually consumed them.

I went with Suicide, but these weren't that spicy. I mean there was a little sting, but I think their suicide is just adding chili pepper flakes to their hot. Their hot tastes like a cayenne based hot sauce, but it didn't taste like the industry standard Frank's Hot. They were tasty enough. Also watch out, the sauce stains the skin big time! The wings weren't super saucy, but again I think because they absorbed into the steaming skin.

FINAL SCORE:

These were not bad wings despite the score. They were small and they weren't crispy but they were good enough and tasty for lunch. I would go back to Barney's, but no rush. Except maybe for the onion rings - now those were Yabadabadoolish! 6/14

Barney's Pizza & Subs (or sometimes listed as just Barney's Pizza)
2843 Dumaurier Ave, Ottawa ON
Website is defunct but they use FACEBOOK