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

WING MACHINE - Toronto

One of the advantages of being back in Toronto temporarily is the ability to have not only hundreds of restaurants, pizza joints and other take-out goodness, but to be able to do so in a guilt-free environment. Not wanting to go out or go to the caf, I turned to the many options of take-out at my disposal. I didn't want pizza, or Chinese, or anything else. No, I wanted wings. And what better place to deliver wings, than Wing Machine.

It is a local chain of wing and pizza joints, connected to Pizza Panzerotto. Wing Machine rarely has any seating in any of its locations, just a bench or stool or two - this is really a delivery place. I still remember the first time I ordered from them way back in my first year of university. I was excited, and nervous, and very curious. Would they hurt? Would they be all they were cracked up to be? A delivery place dedicated to wings? The first time was good, but not great. I think it was hyped up in my mind a lot more than it was really worth. But here I am many years later and obviously still ordering.

From the moment the box arrived, I knew things were going to be good though. The fact that you could see the grease through the CARDBOARD meant there was definitely going to be some flavour to these puppies.

I knew I would probably want to have some food for a few days, so I ordered one of their many combo dinners. I went for the "Buffalo Chicken Drums" dinner which was 6 Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks, 1lb wings, 6 cheesy garlic bread sticks & 2 coke bottle s (591 ml). I also ordered a large suicide dip and a large blue cheese dip as well.

My room became filled with the smell of roasted chicken, spice and everything nice. The square box revealed a small feast of golden, crispy, poultry wonders. A Styrofoam container opened to the strong smell of saucy flavour; an aroma of flavour, excitement and pain all rolled into one where the six large chicken leg drumsticks laid to rest in their spicy juices.


For some reason, with a lot of food I eat, if I see the below red colouring to my food, I associate it with deliciousness. Spicy, full of flavour. With other cuisine, I sometimes have been led into a false sense of security by this colouring and found tomato or just plain flatness that just can't reach my craving. But I knew that this would be the real deal. If it can stain your fingers and ignite your nostrils, you can feel a little more assure that its going to be tasty meal.

I immediately tore into a chicken leg drumstick, that had been purportedly done in a Buffalo style. Could a chicken leg done like a chicken wing, but on a larger scale?

2007 THE SCORE 3.0: WING MACHINE – Toronto

STYLE:	baked, deep fried
PRICE:	$5.49 for ½ pound (light snack) $7.99 for ¾ pound (satisfying order) $9.98 for 1 pound (real meal) $14.97 for 1 ½ pound $19.96 for 2 pounds (family) $29.94 for 3 pounds (party)
SAUCES:	Dips: ($0.75 sm, $1.40 lg) § blue cheese § honey garlic § honey bbq § Cajun hot § Suicide Style: ($1 extra) § Buffalo § Jerk	1/1
HEAT:	burning – definite sensations in mouth from ‘Buffalo style’ and ‘Suicide’
SIZE:	Large - good size for take out wing	2/3
WETNAP FACTOR:	wings come dry – sauce is extra except for ‘Buffalo Style’ (2 marks for BS being wet)	2/3
CRISPINESS:	Crisp	2/3
FLAVOUR:	spicy, peppery flavour – non-traditional sauce for sure – no hint of ‘Buffalo’ in BS style, but its really good	2/3
SIDES:	n/a	*
CLEAN UP:	nothing	0/2*
WING NIGHT:	none- but lots of combos	1/1
OTHER:	n/a
TOTAL:	good take-out wings	10/16*

*adjusted to fit style of restaurant

Let's get a few things about Wing Machine out of the way before we get ahead of ourselves. First, WM bakes their wings. This produces a juicy wing that is ready to fall off the bones on a good day, or dry right out on a bad. Usually the wings have various spices and seasonings baked into the skin which can create a crisp skin, but not in the same way a deep fried wing would. Also, WM doesn't automatically put sauce on their wings; they have dips, and they usually cost extra.

With this in mind, I was curious how the "Buffalo Drumsticks" would be, considering that for a wing to be 'Buffalo' style, it must be deep fried, with a hot sauce/butter mixture dipped in. Unfortunately, WM deceptively used 'Buffalo' as a marketing gimmick, not an honest wing delivery. That being said, the spicy flavour used was certainly good and was worth praise in its own right. A drumstick was huge, meaty, and the spice caused my throat to swell for a moment and cough, the way a good wing should.

The regular wings are usually pretty small, but I was surprised to find bigger, meatier wings than I was used to from them in the past. The flavour of the chicken is tasty on their own, but I knew I had to order sauce, or dips, on the side to kick it up a notch. I had their suicide (it used to be called 'killer suicide') to splash on the wings. Because it is a peppery suicide, it inflames the senses, and burns well especially in the back of the mouth.

To work with the suicide, I also had blue cheese, which is not only traditional to wings, but would cut down on the heat that the suicide can deliver on. The blue cheese dip is their own unique creation; I would describe it almost as a tzatziki with blue cheese in its texture and flavour. Because of how thick and creamy it was, it had the ability coat the mouth, throat and stomach to reduce pain in the same way milk or sour cream can sooth an extremely hot wing.

My order also came with garlic bread. It was good in that way that Cheese Whiz is: yes its artificial but I like the artificial flavour. These were clearly NOT homemade bread sticks, but something that came out of a plastic package. They were good for soaking up the suicide, and thus, did their job. But unlike Little Caesar's Crazy sticks, I would never order these on their own.

FINAL SCORE: The chicken drumsticks were a fun and tasty experiment; they were in no way 'Buffalo' style, but the marinating sauce they were baked in was certainly good. The wings themselves were bigger than usual but just as flavourful. And the suicide packed a good punch, even if the sauce is extra. The wings aren't cheap, and can be tough on a bad night, but they are a sinful pleasure you might have to look into if you are hungry, need a wing fix, and don't want to go out on a Toronto Friday night. 10/16

Wing Machine
200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto
(and other chain locations)
wingmachine.ca

DIPS: Blue Cheese vs Ranch vs ???

When I close my eyes and envision what an order of wings should be, I see a large basket with some sort of checkered pattern that is covered in a heap of red soaked, crispy wings. In the corner of the basket is a twin healthy side of cruditee'd celery and carrots, and with them, is a small plastic container of . . . dip.

Having had a string of strange dip while staying in Ottawa, I began to think more and more about the oft overlooked accompaniments that chicken wings have. Traditionally, wings are served with a side of Bleu Cheese; but a growing, and many argue a majority of individuals prefer Ranch. This has developed into a debate amongst wing lovers about what is appropriate and what tastes best with wings.

VS

By now, everyone knows the story of Wing Saint Teressa Bellisimo and the manifestation of the Buffalo chicken wing, where she served Blue Cheese dressing on the side. The key reason for adding a dip on the side was to cut the heat that is inherent in a Hot Wing. The spicy acid is neutralized with a creamy base.

How people use the dip is completely different. For me personally, in my purist roots, a chicken wing is never to be dipped into a cream dip. One should never take away from the flavour of a good wing sauce. That being said, I have occasionally dipped to cover up a bad wing sauce. I want to be able in the midst of the pain of the wing to taste the sauce.

But for many people, they just can't handle the heat. Others are ignorant of the individual flavours and have no problem mixing, not appreciating the subtle nuances that make a chicken wing. I look to the dip and veggies as a nice yin to my spicy wing yang, meeting together to embrace the universe in a perfect flavour combination to be enjoyed in close proximity, but not together at the same time. I will eat two or three wings, then some veggies to sooth the mouth. Actually, for those that may have watched my wing eating rituals, the first thing I do when my wings arrive is to sample the veggies and dip to cleanse the palette.

I began to search around the internet, looking at fellow wing-bloggers thoughts on the subjects, average Joe's, and other sources. It was surprising how many web results present themselves in this great debate. I even came across a website that had an online poll about which was better (see the results at the end of this log). Fellow wing blogger Phred over at The Chicken Wing Project, put his two cents in on the side of Ranch: "on my Wings, I strongly prefer Ranch of the two. Why? I don't like getting the chunks of Blue Cheese on my Wings when I eat them. Remember, I enjoy Blue Cheese on a salad or a burger, so it has little to do with the taste. " Michael Drum Stix over at Bling Bling Chicken Wing takes a bigger analysis of the two, coming up with a list of when it is appropriate to dip a wing:

1. You are trying to accomplish some sort of personal goal. For example: breaking the amount of chicken wings (of the hottest flavor of course) you can eat. Perhaps you might win a prize or some recognition, like getting on the wall on Plucker’s or something. Exception: If the establishment prohibits you to use ranch or blue cheese to break a record.


2. If you think that no one around you is knowledgeable about wings, therefore you can get away with it.


3. If the wings are such poor quality, that you have to use ranch or blue cheese to cover up the taste.


4. If you are trying new a flavor of wings, but you are suspicious about how they might taste.


5. If you are French and spell blue cheese bleu cheese. I take this one back; it’s never ok to spell it bleu. [LOTW Author's note, I do refer to it as Bleu Cheese, but that is honouring my Canadian bilingualism]
   

What I found in my research is that there are a lot of opinions out there that are fanatical about both main dips.




BLEU CHEESE:


The dip of choice for the purist. Classy, cultivated, cultured. Wikipedia says Bleu Cheese is:

"cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that has had Penicillium cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue or blue-green mould, and carries a distinct smell. Some blue cheeses are injected with spores before the curds form and others have spores mixed in with the curds after they form. Blue cheeses are typically aged in a temperature-controlled environment such as a cave. " It also has the "characteristic flavor of blue cheeses tends to be sharp and a bit salty. The smell of this food is widely considered to be pungent, even compared to other cheeses. " Add in mayo, sour cream and a few more ingredients and you have BC dressing.

My thoughts is that BC tends to be a more mature flavour. Because it is pungent, it becomes a more acquired taste. Here's what various internet users had to say:



"If you're really going for actual buffalo wing style, using ranch dressing would be just wrong."

"I prefer blue cheese but I had my first taste of wings on the east coast and it seems the east only serves them with blue cheese. It seems ranch is more of a west coast dip"

"Everything's better with bleu cheese!"Suicide wings with Blue Cheese!!!! mmmmmm! I think that's what I'll have for lunch!"


"Bleu cheese, all the way. the chunkier, the better!"


"Bleu cheese is the bomb"


"Anything beside Blue Cheese (with authentic Buffalo wings) is SACRILEGE!!!!""Definitely blue cheese. Ranch is an impostor!"

vs RANCH:

The challenger. Not as hoite toite; a real dip of the people. Ranch Dressing is:
"a condiment made of buttermilk or sour cream, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce." "In much of America, ranch is a common dipping sauce for things like french fries, chicken wings and other fried foods. "


Ranch is the everyman of the food world: cool ranch Doritos, ranch snack wraps, burgers and salads. And people dip almost anything into ranch. The Ranchists seemed to be less vocal in their comments, often simply stating, "Ranch" without specific reason why. They just knew.

"I live for Ranch Sauce if it's REAL thick..."

"Ew no blue cheese. Ranch all the way!!"




"Ranch goes with anything."

"Ranch!! I love Ranch! I don't like blue cheese"



"RANCH (especially if it is Ken's Ranch or Hidden Valley Ranch)"

"Ranch. Blue cheese should be outlawed as a tool of terrorists"

vs SOUR CREAM? (and other alternatives):

I've come across the odd sour cream as a dip (especially in Ottawa). It has no flavour, not really. It can only be good for cooling down the heat.


I don't believe sour cream should be on the side of wings: it should be for nachos, potato skins and other potato related dishes. It has no place amongst the wings.


Its just a blob of cool milk product.


Really, sour cream is only good inside other dips. Now some wing places have attempted to change up the usual with their own unique take on dips:

The Manhattan Capone wings at Allen's in Toronto are served with a sour cream dip that had a spicy blue cheese added. Unlike the syrupy blue cheese out of a bottle at most wing joints, this was a dip with thick chunks but a plain sour cream base.


Wing Machine also has a 'bleu cheese' type dip, with no actual cheese, and a flavour that seems to combine both ranch and BC.


In the cooking realm, the Pioneer Woman decided to mix both Ranch & BC together to make an outstanding style dip. Why choose when you can have both?

What about Dill Dip? Can't forget Dill Dip!!! So good.

FINAL THOUGHTS & ARGUMENTS:

In the US, it appears that individuals attempt to regionalize the debate about who eats what and why. North vs South. East vs West. Up here in Canada, there seems to be little rhyme or reason. But then, wings come in a diversity of styles too: Buffalo style, baked, bbq'd, rubbed, breaded etc. which means that people everywhere have a different reasons and different tastes.

In the online poll I found, the answer surprised me:


Yes, Ranch seems to be winning by a majority. More people prefer Ranch to BC. However, no one classified this debate for wing dipping. When it comes to salad, my standard choice would be Ranch too.

The debate will never be answered. Of course, it all comes down to personal taste. There is no real right or wrong and only you, the citizen of the Wing Nation can make the right choice. The important thing is that people are eating wings.

For me, coating my carrot stick in classic Bleu Cheese is part of the ritual, the event that is eating wings. But when I want to dip my wing, its an extra side of suicide that makes this the right choice.

IWING Pizza & Wings ~ Toronto ON

IWing is NOW CLOSED ~ RIP

It was a late night - the last time I had eaten was a very early lunch. I was on my own at this point and wanting to grab something to eat. I was looking forward to going home, so take-out was my food of choice. I was sitting on the Queen streetcar when I saw a little take-out place I had seen back in October called IWing Pizza and Wings.

 Back then I had dropped in to grab a take-out menu. The much older men behind the counter said they were not printed yet, so they gave me a receipt with the phone number so I could call for delivery. They asked my address and it turned out that I was a block past where their delivery boundary was. But not wanting to lose business, they said to call anyway and they could make an exception.

So here I was weeks later, and they still didn't have take-out menus. The location used to be a Wing Machine  Pizza Panzerotto (the corporate sister to Wing Machine) that closed for whatever reasons. This place is bare bones in terms of decor - nothing stands out about the place, but then again, the sit in area is there to take advantage of the late night bar crowd who are not concerned with where they sit.

On this particular night, the same older gentlemen were working (but clearly didn't remember me - why would they?). I placed my order and about 10-15 minutes later I had my wings and was on my way home. One thing I didn't ask and I wish I did was the name, IWing. What's up with that?

As I said, I was hungry and I indulged in their largest order of wings: 16-20 (1 lb). They came in a big styrofoam container complete with plates, napkins, wetnaps and even a fork.

The wings were deep fried (I saw them) but they really seemed like they were grilled or baked because of the char or blackening on the skin. The wings were also crisp but equally mushy because they absorbed all the sauce. It was a strange phenomenon.

The size. Let me tell you the size of these wings were wildly inconsistent. Some were a meaty medium - some were the absolute smallest wings I have ever eaten. No two wings were the same. Look at the chart above - now look in the bottom right corner. Look at the difference in size.

Here is the world's smallest wing. I usually call the smallest wing a pigeon wing. But this is more like a finch wing. Seriously. Look how small it is. What did that chicken even look like?

They had the three heats and honey garlic, so naturally I went with hot. The wings were pretty wet and coated in sauce, but as I mentioned earlier, the skin absorbed the sauce turning them mush.

The flavour was ok. Hot was not at all. It was a standard cayenne based hot sauce but it was a medium at best. I ate the wings and I was content, but I don't think most people would like these wings. I know they wouldn't. I found a certain appeal in them, but then I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to wings.

FINAL SCORE: I really wanted to like the wings here. I really wanted to support a local business. I really wanted the wings to be good. But they weren't. The inconsistent size wings wouldn't be so bad if there weren't micro-wings. The sauce was forgettable, and the texture of the wings was off. I can't speak for the pizza, but I hope these are just growing pains for a new restaurant. 3.5/9

IWing Pizza & Wings
404 Queen St West, Toronto ON