THE HONEST LAWYER ~ Windsor ON

RIP - The Honest Lawyer is now CLOSED

Oy ye Oy ye, the court is now in session

Spending some time with LJ ment taking advantage of all the wing joints that Windsor has to offer. One might ask, "Windsor has something to offer?" but Windsor does have some things going on for it.

There's the casino (with a great buffet), the border, some hard working people, and a lot of bars. Because of the large student population, the many many many bars compete with each other - which is good for the consumer. This competition has also brought about at least one wing night a week - everyday of the week. Having done my research and influencing LJ enough, we were off to the Honest Lawyer.

Ironically enough, the Honest Lawyer is a popular hang out for law students at UW. Sitting below a movie theatre in the heart of Windsor's barland, this pub has a small outdoor/but underground patio. Inside, there are big tv screens, pool tables, punching bag games, a small bowling lane and other electronic games to keep the crowd entertained.

With it being summer, the crowd was at a minimum. Unfortunately, almost everyone that was at the bar were on the patio, leaving us without service for quite some time.

Now we came on a Monday night for a particular reason - wings. But why here and not elsewhere for wings? Because it was all you can eat wing night.

THE SCORE
SIZE of WINGS: medium to large
HEAT: 5/10 for hot
WET NAP FACTOR: 3/5
PRICE: $5.93 for 6 wings, $9.72 for 12 wings & fries, $16.87 for 24

EXTRAS Info

SAUCE CHOICE: 1st Degree/2nd Degree/3rd Degree/Sweet Baby Jay BBQ/jerk/Cajun
SIDES: veggies and ranch dip
WETNAP: 2 and napkins
DEEP FRIED, GRILLED, BATTERED: dusted then deep fried
WING NIGHT: Monday nights, $9.99 all-you-can-eat with drink purchase
OTHER: free refills on pop!

After waiting for a long time for the wings to arrive, it was well worth the wait. Crispy, saucy and juicy inside, these were good wings. And the fact that they just kept coming made me very happy. Why doesn't Toronto have this?

I ordered 2 different types of wings. My first batch was 3 Degree, my old friend. Although it seemed to be altered slightly (not as hot as I usually find it) it was still tasty. (See pic above)

My second batch were the Sweet Baby Jay BBQ sauce wings. They were not without their charm, but not amazing. There wasn't enough tang or bbq flavour and all I could think about was ordering the 3rd Degree again. If I ever get a chance to come back, I think I would try the cajun, and also see if they have anything hotter than 3rd Degree.

After 3 orders, or 36 wings later, I was done. I suppose I could have gone the distance had I not had a larger lunch, but I think 36 was enough. LJ ordered a flatbread dish that was tasty, and we got an order of fries to share (see 2nd pic in the blog). The fries came in a neat cone and were crispy and still had the skins on them. There was also a flavoured mayo dip with them that was really good as well.

On a final note, it has been suggested that I give an actual rating for the wings, and I agree. However I started to think about it and realized this is somewhat difficult for several reasons. There are different types of wings, and while I trumpet traditional Buffalo style hot wing, a crispy bbq wing or even a Chinese style wing may still be good. Also, how does one go about rating them exatly: a point base system? 2 wings up? the good the bad and the ugly? For now I'm going to go with a 1-5 wing rating and see how this works. 1 being a terrible wing and 5 being excellent. A 3 will be good, but not great. And because I hate pinning things down, your odd .5 might show up as well.

So how did the Honest Lawyer shape up? Well, average size wings, good sauce but not hot enough, nice coating and all you can eat, I don't need a jury to judge these wings a 4 out of 5.

The Honest Lawyer
300 Ouellette Ave, Windsor On (and other locations)honestlawyer.com

OA 2007- The Honest Lawyer

RIP - The Honest Lawyer is now Closed

Well, while in Ottawa, my Birthday came up. LJ wanted to take me out for dinner where ever I wanted. Well, she and I both were pretty sure wings were going to be involved. I searched the Internet, newspapers and other information to find the one thing I wanted: all-you-can-eat wings. Having discovered that Ottawa, like Windsor, has an Honest Lawyer which has AYCE made it the definite choice.

Located in the East end of the Byward Market area, we popped into this relatively empty pub. They were so empty, they had a guy dressed up like a chicken canvass the market with balloons to attract business on wing night. Like the Windsor location, this one was full of sports games like electronic basketball. What this place didn't have was low tables. All of the chairs were high, which I do not really find comfortable. We sat in the middle of a strange bench-like seating area.

Unfortunately, the Honest Lawyer no longer does AYCE wings. What they have now is 24 wings for $10. That's still a good deal, but its just not the same thrill. We asked how we could choose our wing sauces to sample. She told us they do them in batches of 6, so if you want 6 at a time, 12, or all 24 at once you could.

Now I know I have already done a wing review on the Windsor location, but we took the opportunity to try some new flavours and the prices are different now and it wasn't done under the New Score.

The NEW SCORE

STYLE: breaded, fried
SAUCES: Caesar/dill/Texas gold/1st,2nd & 3rd Degree/Frank's Red Hot
honey garlic/Cajun/Caribbean Jerk/Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ/
Parmesan/ pineapple curry/salt & vinegar/plain
SIZE: large 1/2
HEAT: 3rd degree 6/10
CRISPINESS: 3 /3
WETNAP FACTOR: 3-4/5
PRICE: $7.90 for 6, $13.82 for 12,
$19.29 for 24 (split 2 flavours), $33.11 for 36 (2 flavours)
SIDES: veggies and ranch/dill dip on some orders 2 /7
WETNAP/NAPKINS: 8/8
WING NIGHT: Monday nights 24 wings for $10 with drink purchase ****
OTHER/SPECIAL: games I guess.
TOTAL: 24/35

Let break these down by sauces:

LJ ORDER #1

Cajun: crispy, Cajun seasoned wings. A few wings were tasty, but a whole order would dry the mouth right out. Hint of seasoned spice, but nothing a real Cajun would guar-on-tee.

Caesar: wet and gross. These were just breaded wings tossed in Caesar salad dressing. Only the dressing didn't take. The flavour was pretty gross too.





WK Order #1

3rd Degree: Good old 3rd degree. Wasn't really that hot, but damn tasty. These were the way to go.

Dill: I thought this was very exciting. Then, I was just as disappointed as the time I tried to make dill wings. Like the Caesar wings, they were just breaded wings tossed in dill dip. It was gross because they got soggy and I forced myself to eat them fast, just to get through them.



WK Order #2

3rd Degree: I decided to just get 2 more orders of the good stuff. The experimenting was just not working out.



LJ's Order #2
1st Degree: this was like ketchup and hot sauce mixed, or something very close. Did not taste like 3rd Degree sauce at all. LJ barely ate one.
Salt and Vinegar: Literally just vinegar poured over top and salt sprinkled on. But here's the thing, don't let it have any real flavour, like it almost evaporated. Oh, and make it taste like fish the next day when you have the leftovers. Gross.

LJ has pretty common track record of getting hosed with dinners. Its nearly guaranteed that if you order something good, her meal tastes like crap. Unfortunately, her wings were no different. She did not enjoy her wings at all and had some extremely negative thoughts she wanted in this review.

I expected wings like Caesar, Dill and Salt and Vinegar to be dry seasonings, not goupy messes. The first two would have been somewhat better if the dips were just on the side. As for on the side, LJ didn't get veggies and dip, and I did. My 3rd degree was good and in the future, that is all I would try. It may not have been AYCE, but I definitely filled up on over 20 wings, most eating LJ's terribly tragic experiments.



FINAL SCORE: So, I got a fill of wings, and LJ at least got something to eat from our order of fries and garlic bread (2-4-1 appetizers Mon-Fri 4pm-7pm). After a walk though the market and a trip home where a homemade creamcicle cake awaited, I reveled in having such a good birthday thanks to LJ. Too bad the Honest Lawyer couldn't have been brought to trial for some terrible wings. But when they do them right, they are good. 23/35 for the good ones, and pretty low for the terrible ones

The Honest Lawyer
141 George St, Ottawahonestlawyer.com

***** !!!! UPDATE!!!! *****

We have since been back to the Honest Lawyer 3 times where:
A) they have AYCE eat wing buffet, with an actual buffet where a server gives you 6 wings at a time. There wasn't the whole wing flavour menu available, but it was a fun option
B) they didn't have the buffet but our waitress brought each order for the AYCE. All flavours available, but service was really slow. Also, we had a few wings left and they would not let us take them home, even after I offered to pay for them.
C) walked in, made contact with a waitress upon entering. Sat down and waited for over 10 mins without menus or wait staff attending us. We decide to leave and as we are getting up, a waiter starts to come over, but then decides to not try and intercept us. Also, did not see the buffet set up so it must have been delivered by staff. We were pissed off - it takes a lot for me to leave a restaurant.

BLOGIVERSARY YEAR 2: Best & Worst of 2007

Can you believe it? Another year, another wing. 2007 brought us some fond chicken wing memories and events: We tested and used on MANY occasions the Wing-It Up deep fryer, tried out Duff's 2nd location in Toronto and continued the Chestnut Report. We travelled across Ontario to some small towns and big cities, started the series Iron Chef Residence, Wings Around Town and learned how to add videos to blogger.






Most importantly, 2007 brought about the Wing Revolution, with the new logo, format and wing rating system. How could we forget the revised Wing Guide and the new Wing Night page. And word has spread about the blog gaining more faithful followers and raising the population of the Wing Nation ever higher.

While the future looks bright for the chicken wing and the LOTW, we must look at where we came from, who we must champion and who we must criticize. Without further adieu, I bring you:

THE BEST & WORST of 2007
BEST TORONTO WINGS
BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS
BEST NEW WING-ON-THE-BLOCK

WORST WING PLACES
BEST NON-WING PLACE
BEST RECIPE

BEST TORONTO WINGS: most of these were just simply well done wings.

#1 : All Stars ~ so many choices, they all tasted great

#2: The Local
#3: Pogue Mahone's
#4: Betty's
#5: Ein-Stein's

BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS

#1: Wahoo Sports Bar, Belleville

#2: Top End Tavern, Neudstadt
#3: Olde Stone Brewing Company, Peterborough
#4: Honest Lawyer, Ottawa
#5: Tillson Pizza, Tillsonburg

BEST NEW WING-ON-THE-BLOCK

KC Wings and Ribs ~ lots of sauce choices, friendly staff and a possible replacement for the Original Wing House.

WORST WING PLACES ~ sadly, there were soo many to mention. But here are the worst.

#1: St Louis, Toronto ~ They are here out of sheer disappointment and fraudulence. You suck the most for misleading people that you know how to make wings.

#2: Sizzlers on Yonge, Toronto ~ Burnt my wings. Bad.
#3: Yellow Griffin Pub ~ Burnt my wings. Bad. Stick to the burgers.
#4: Dangerous Dan's Diner, Toronto ~ what happened over the course of a year?
#5: Honest Lawyer, Ottawa ~ Yes I know they were on the best list too: some sauces were terrible
though. Dual honour/disgrace.

BEST NON-WING PLACE

Ribfest, London ~ so many ribs to choose from, but only once
a year :(

BEST RECIPE

Sweet and Spicy Ribs V1.0 ~ It was the best experiment of the year. Gotta love a bbq.

What will 2008 bring? LOTW intends to get the word about Wings out there! The Wing Nation is looking for new citizens to tell the Wing King, what wings to try, what recipes are out there and any other news on the wing front. More regularly updated posts and some surprises along the way. And of course, wings, wings and more wings. Remember:

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all . . .

Ottawa Adventure 2007

Hey! Remember me? The Wing King? The Lord of the Wings Blog?
Well a wing review has been sorely overdue. On another adventure out in the great province of Ontario, for the past 3 weeks I found myself in the nation's capital, Ottawa.

I was here to visit LJ; but in the mean time when she wasn't working, I was out exploring Parliament, graveyards and of course wings. I've been without internet that would allow me to upload photos, so here come a few reviews.

The Foolish Chicken: nice family restaurant with half-decent wings

The James Street Pub: terrible, simply terrible

Highlander Pub: ok wing joing

Local Heroes: big wings, dissapointing service

The Honest Lawyer: been there, done that, don't want the t-shirt

Overall, Ottawa's offering of wings was relatively dissapointing, but there is still lots of places to check out.

100 Posts - LOTW Best & Worst Guide

It's been a long road

Getting from there to here
It's been a long time

But my time is finally near

And I will see my dream come alive at last

I will touch the sky

And they're not gonna hold me down no more

No they're not gonna change my mind

Lord of the Wings reaches 100 posts! Because we had faith of the heart - to get through pain, heartburn, and stuffed stomachs. The dream of finding the perfect wing, well, it still continues. But to celebrate meeting 100 posts on the blog, we are doing a recap:

THE BEST & WORST of the FIRST 100 POSTS

BEST TORONTO WINGS

BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS

BEST NON-WING PLACE

BEST RECIPE

WORST WING PLACES

BEST TORONTO WINGS

What makes these the best in the city? They all pretty much have

the same 3things in common: Big meaty wings, heat, and an overall great flavour.

1. Duff's Famous Wings

These are #1 and its simple: jumbo wings, all the heat you need,
crispy, tasty - everything great in a Classic Buffalo Wing (CBW)

2. Original Wing House

Unfortunately this place opened and closed in the same year.
They loved their wings - and with over 99 flavours, there was lots
to choose from. Small bust tasty, we were sad to see you go.

3.

Wheat Sheaf

Big wings, tasty sauce, great patio. Great variant on the CBW

4. O'Grady's
Old haunt from my undergrad days that still does a good wing.
Big wings, big heat.

5. Gabby's
Simple: tasty and big. Can't go wrong with that.

Lots of locations around the city.

6. Fox and the Fiddle

Also has multiple locations around the city. Big wings and lots
of very interesting flavours to choose from.

7. Casey's

Another chain around the province - they serve

good spicy wings with a tasty flavour and good service.

8. Shoeless Joe's

Can be hit or miss, this sports bar gives you
some choice in they style of wing and does

a great hot bbq type wing.

9. The Loon

Jumbo and crunchy. Needs to pick up the spice

but a savoury wing.

10. Red Charcoal

3 different styles of wings, open late, and unique

wing and sauce. There's room to improve, but

a late night saviour.

BEST NON-TORONTO WINGS

1. Moose Winooski's (Brantford, On)

Super sized, Super crunch, Super unique sauce.

2. Ned Devine's (Milton, On)

Crunchy and delicious - perfect after a ghost hunt.

3. Honest Lawyer (Windsor, On)

All-you-can-eat. Nuff said.

4. Ring-a-Wing 1 & 2 (London, On)

Great take-out/delivery wing. Large and

lots of flavour.

5. Anchor Bar (Buffalo, NY, USA)

More of an honourable mention. Birth place of the wings.
No heat, but meaty tasty wings.

BEST NON-WING PLACE

Korean Grill House

AYCE meat that you grill - brilliant idea.

A carnivore's delight.

BEST RECIPE

The Devil's Tandoori

Spicy, but with flavour not just the heat.

WORST WING PLACES

These places just didn't deliver the goods

1. Buffalo Wild Wings - BW3's (Canton, OH)

These Yankee wings were just terrible. Rubbery chicken - no hint

of crispy wings. So sad for what is supposedly a wing joint.
The Mr Pibbs was good at least . . .

2. Quaker Steak and Lube (Sharon, PA)

Another terrible wing place. This time, the wings were

too crispy. As for the Atomic, I had to sign a waiver for these?
Another sad entry from the Great Wing Tour.

3. The Red Room
The wings are an after thought at this place. Great Bohemian hang out.
Bad Wings. Small small small.

4. Deringer's Saloon (Ottawa, On)

I don't like being lied to. How this place was voted best wings,

I will never know. Awful suicide sauce.

5. Reiley's

Where's the meat? Hello? Hello chicken, where are you?

Pigeon wings. Sauce is not bad but its so tiny they are

barely worth it.