TURTLE JACK's Burlington 2015 - LOST REVIEW

It's time for another #tbt & #lostreview:

Back in 2015 one evening I was coming home from visiting my Grandmother (since passed away) and stopped for a later night wing bite at a place I wanted to try for years and years, but rarely had access to living downtown Toronto: Muskoka Grill. Since I was driving past Burlington where there are two locations, I decided to stop in and finally check them out. I had a hard time finding the place (this was before I had a cell phone, smart phone, or even GPS), but I finally found it.

I guess when I had seen Turtle Jack's online back then, I had an idea that it was like a Moose Winooski's - family friendly cottage themed restaurant. This was more like an upscale box-chain like Moxy's or Milestone's. It's nice inside, dark, but I don't get how this is a "Muskoka Grill."

Never got my waitress's name but she was friendly, attentive, and brought me drink refills without asking. It made up for the obnoxious group of girls at the table beside me. They seemed like they were high school age, but they were out on a Monday night?

The menu gave several options for preparing the wings, even before you choose your sauce:

• Roasters or Fryer wings - I went with Roasters, which are slightly bigger but less come in an order
• Dusted or Non-Dusted - I went with dusted because I like that extra crunch
• Sauced then Grilled - That extra grilling and caramelizing of the sauce can add flavour but it's not my choice usually
• Sauced then Baked - not many places do this - like the previous option, but I don't think as good
• Ranch or Blue Cheese Dip - you know I went with Blue Cheese!

It's actually very cool that a non-wing place actually does all these things. Suggests to me they take their wings seriously. The waitress also emphasized several times that the wings were organic as well, so that's cool. You can also get wings on their own or as a dinner. I was hungry and went for the dinner.

Notes on the size and texture:  

• wings were large and meaty
• meat was tender
• skin was crispy but also not crispy due to sauce

Notes on Sauce:

• Got their Signature NY Butter sauce but got the hotter kind
• tastes like Jack Astors
• it's buttery with a heat flavour but no actual heat. Not like Buffalo sauce which is implied in the NY Butter name ...
• Very good sauce - went really well with the wings
• Wings were crispy but not because absorbed by the sauce. It was a nice texture despite this and the flavour was really good!

Notes on dipping sauce:

• Blue cheese was creamy and crafted well - seems homemade
• Veggies were fresh
• Got a side of their Original BBQ sauce - dark, smokey, savoury sauce with some sweetness - would be good on it's own wings 

Notes on Fries:

• Fries were soft, but better soft than overcooked
• slightly seasoned, were pretty decent

My final comments about the wings were overall thumbs up! Good.  Enjoyed it. Would go back again but haven't since due to access and scheduling. Oh and I live on the other side of the province.

Turtle Jack's Muskoka Grill
1900 Appleby Line, Burlington ON (and other locations)
tutlejacks.com