Law & Orders - Innisville (Perth) On

#lotwwintercatchup This Review is from Feb 2020

Back in February LJ and I took a weekend trip to Perth Ontario. I've already talked about some pizza & wings we got there, and even a great burger. But on the way home for lunch, we got ANOTHER great burger.

I had read about a burger joint called Law & Orders. We love the show Law & Order (especially SVU), but I don't think this has any connection. Actually that's not true, they have a food truck that is Law & Orders SBU (Special Burger Unit). Very cute. But the owner's name is Jamie Law, but I'm sure he must be a fan.

From doing a simple search online I learned about the existence of the restaurant and that it was well reviewed. What I didn't realize was that the location in town was inside the local college, and the college was closed. The other location is outside Perth in Innisville and we had actually driven past it on the way to Perth but I didn't even notice it (looking back, I don't know how I didn't see it!). So that's the one that we ended up going to on our way home.

The buisness itself has a short but interesting history. Law opened up in a little building on the site back in 2014. In 2017, an explosion blew that building to smithereens and burned what was left. While they were devastated, they rebuilt on the land a bigger, better restaurant.

The outside is bright red/orange (again, how I missed it on the way in I don't understand). They have a big deck off to the side during warmer month for sitting. Inside is pretty open with the left side all dining tables and a door/wall that opens up in the summer. On the right is more tables and chairs but also counter seating. Ordering is done at a window up the middle, and you can sit on an old but nicely kept car seat as a bench.

The crowd was very mixed; families, seniors, snowmobilers. It was packed and we were lucky enough to get a table. We checked out the giant menu board which is divided into the general menu and the pizza menu.

One of the things Law & Orders is famous for is it's Rhippo Challenge. It's 2 Rhippo Burgers (2 1/2 pound beef patties, with a fried egg, bacon, and cheese) and 1lb of poutine. If you can eat it all in 20 minutes it's free, you get a t-shirt and photo on the wall; if not, it's $24.99 and some personal shame. While this sounds awesome, I didn't do it. I was hungry, but not 2lbs of beef hungry.

We went to the counter and Katie was taking orders. While the place was packed, we got there at just the right time that we were the only ones in line so we could ask questions and chat with Katie about the place a bit. Both of us got burgers, with LJ going for the Mac Bites and me the onion rings on the sides. We went back to our table and didn't wait long for our order.

L&O's has fresh cut fries, and I love fresh cut fries, but I also love a deep fried battered onion ring. I got a medium order of Onion Rings ($6) because that's the smallest it comes, but it's a generous portion of rings. These were good; they came out hot and crispy, but they could have stayed in the deep fryer just a bit longer in my opinion.

LJ got the 5 piece Mac & Cheese Bites ($5 for 5 pieces or $10 for 12). Katie said that these were really good and she loves getting them. It's basically Kraft Dinner that's breaded and very good. They too came out nice and hot, with that crispy outside but slightly goey inside. I personally think they need a creamy dip like ranch but they are still good plain.

LJ sometimes just likes something simple, so she just got a regular Hamburger ($5.50). It's nothing too exciting to look at but that's a classic 1/4 pounder there. She liked it, and she doesn't always like thicker, homemade burgers.

In contrast, I like a little more on my burgers, but my go-to is almost always a bacon cheeseburger. I have to be honest, I was tempted for their Innisville Inferno burger (1/4 lb patty with sriracha, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, jalapenos and cheese) or the Overkill 1/2 lb patty, bacon, cheese curds, fries, gravy and deep fried pickle), I mean those sound awesome. A lot of the burgers come with a fried egg on them, but I'm not crazy about fried eggs on burgers. What caught my eye was The Ringer: 1/2 lb patty, cheese, bacon, and onion rings for $10.

My burger was stacked tall and ready to make a mess. The burger comes with the patty, the bacon, cheese and onion rings. For my toppings I went with lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup, and mayo. I found the construction interesting as they put the onion rings on the bottom under the patty instead of the top as I've seen most places put it - it worked though! LJ was surprised that I got this burger and ordered onion rings, worried it was onion ring overkill, but it just seemed right.

This was a very very tasty burger. Fresh sesame seed bun, and fresh veggies on top. The beef itself was meaty, had a nice crust but good soft juicy inside. The onion rings were crunchy and there was enough sauces to not drown the burger but keep everything from being dry. The bacon was crispy but still chewy in a good way, and the cheese was nice and melted. This was just everything I was looking for in a burger that day and it did not disappoint.

All around the food was really good. I certainly would go back and get the same order again. Those other burgers sound interesting and if I lived nearby I would for sure try if I ate here more. The Rhippo Challenge sounds fun, but as I get older I just can't eat as much as I used to. But the fries, the poutine, the deep fried pickles, even the pizza all sounds good. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I look forward to it.

Final Verdict: Guilty as Charged (being charged with being awesome)
[Law & order gavel sound]

Law & Orders
13694 Highway 7, Innisville ON (near Perth)(and 1 other location)
lawandorders.ca

Return to DUFF's 2020 - Toronto ON

#lotwwintercatchup - this review is from March 2020.

"WARNING - Medium IS HOT - Medium Hot is VERY HOT, Hot IS VERY, VERY HOT"

Me and Duff's have a looong history. I've been coming to the original Canadian Duff's for just under 20 years. I won't go into all of those visits here, but if you go to my last post in 2017 you can see the links. It's a fave, even if my last visit wasn't the best, but it usually is.

Let me set the stage, as this is probably my last in-person review since Covid-19 hit us all. Actually it was in the early days of Covid-19 starting to really spread world wide. LJ & I were off to Toronto to pick up her father from the airport; he was returning (as planned) after being in India for 2 months (don't worry, he didn't get Corona virus and has been in isolation ever since). Social distancing wasn't even a thing at this point. LJ and I were arriving to Toronto too early to pick him up, but with time for us to grab lunch. We had a small debate but we were both on board for wings at Duff's.

We went to the original Canadian location on Bayview ave because it was the easiest for us to get to. And nostalgia kicks in and I love this place, even if it is a bit small. I remember going here and there was almost always a line outside to get in. We were there mid-week arriving after the lunch hour, so it was pretty quiet (parking was still a pain though).

The place hasn't changed I think at all since I first went in the early 2000's. I mean it doesn't look dated. Actually one thing was missing - years ago they removed their siren - they used to have a siren that would go off when someone ordered Death or Armageddon wings, but no more.

The wing menu hasn't changed much either - there are a few more flavours than there used to be (Bold BBQ, Lemon Pepper, S&P) but aside from the prices it's pretty much the same. To get an idea, in 2006 it was $8.95 to get 10 wings that came with only celery and dip, but also coleslaw. No more coleslaw these days.

Our server (didn't catch her name) was pretty chill. She looked after us but also wasn't bubbly or very talkative. She took our orders, brought us waters, pitcher of pop, veggies with dip, bone bowl, plates and all the rest. It didn't take long before we had our fries and our wings.

Back in the day Duff's used to only give celery sticks, so having carrot sticks was a nice addition. Both were big, crunchy and fresh. For LJ's dip she went with Blue Cheese and I went with Dill. The blue cheese is good; it's creamy and got some chunks. I love the Dill - it's creamy and well, dilly.

The fries are pretty decent. I don't think they are fresh cut, even though they do have some skins on them. They are perfectly crispy - you bite and you hear the crunch. The inside is sufficiently soft as well. They are under or not seasoned at all, so there isn't much flavour here. That's where ketchup, vinegar, my hot sauce and dill dip came in to save the day.

Of course, we were here for the wings ...

Wings at Duff's back in the day used to be served 10 to an order, but they've since shifted to a pound of wings, which looks like about 8 these days. They state on the menu they cannot guarantee even flats or drums, but we got even flats and drums. I've already talked about the sides, but for cleanup they give you a bone bucket, napkins, and wetnaps.

The wings were large as they used to be. It's a long wing, with a good height, and is relatively meaty to this size of wing.

The skin is perfectly crispy. For a wing that is just straight up deep fried, you have that crispy/crackly skin that crunches when you bit into it. It's almost, almost, deep fried too much but not really. This means the bones are a little hard to pull apart in some cases, but other wise they pulled away clean.

I love me some saucy wings, but back in the day Duff's served their wings in a lake of sauce. Like the wings seriously drowned and I love all that sauce, but by the end, the wings are soggy and no longer crispy. So I started ordering them sauce on the side. LJ loves Salt & Pepper wings, so we got these S&P with Hot on the side.

SALT & PEPPER

Duff's does dry seasonings now, but we weren't crazy about their take on Salt & Pepper. At other places its big salt granules and big chunks of pepper, but these didn't seem to be like that. It wasn't very salty or peppery. I also think personally that a S&P wing goes better with a breaded fried wing. But hey, they were still very crispy. 

HOT

The hot on the side is a very generous bowl; I've gotten this amount of soup at other restaurants! I should note that the sauce is pretty much a pure orangey-red sauce; the flakes of pepper and salt came from the wings being dipped into the sauce.

Duff's is known for being a strongly vinegary Buffalo wing. It's very tangy. And they know their heats. Normally I get Superhot - it's a great suicide wing with a lot of bite - but I didn't want to go too hot for LJ's sake. She likes heat, but not like I do. But this Hot was still pretty hot - in fact it reminded me of Superhot. It stung my tongue and lips and when drinking the sauce, it went for my throat. Ya I drank the sauce. It's good!

FINAL SCORE:

It was good to go back. I love these wings - large, super crispy, super saucy, spicy wings. They are so tangy and spiky. Salt and Pepper was a bit underwhelming, the fries are decent, but I love their dill dip too. It's good when a place still lives up to nostalgia and memories. It was also fitting if these happen to be the last wings I had out at a restaurant ...   12/15

Duff's Famous Wings
1604 Bayview Ave, Toronto ON (and other locations)
duffsfamouswings.ca

RETURN to LOCAL HEROES (2020) - Ottawa ON

This review is from Feb 2020 #lotwwintercatchup


I first went to Local Heroes back in 2006. LJ was coming to Ottawa to interview for positions, and I came along with her (she was living in Windsor, me in Toronto. It was my first real year of reviewing wings, and I was excited for the chance to go outside of Toronto for wings. And this was THE chicken wing place in Ottawa. They had done well for themselves, being rated best wings in magazines, expanding to at least 7 locations. But the self proclaimed King of Wings definitely took a hit over the years, and they are down to just their original location.

I've been back since 2006, in 2007, but even since then, but for some reason I didn't do a follow up review. Back in February I was jonesing for wings for lunch, and decided to take advantage of Local Heroes all day wing day on Tuesdays.

 The old location hasn't changed much since that first review in 2006. Other than the menu looks different, I couldn't tell you if anything had changed. If you haven't been, it's a sports pub. It's decked out with mainly Ottawa Senators sports paraphernalia, with lots of tv's showing sports shows and such. There are three-ish areas inside: the bar, the bar dining room, and the dining area which is mainly booths and bigger seats. 

I was told that I could sit where I want, so I tried to strategize where I could take some photos with light, not be near anyone, but also be able to stretch out to do some work while I sat. The place was busy-ish. I went to the dining side because of the light and it was a little more stretched out. The crowd was mixed from a big work lunch group, to a woman on a laptop working, to seniors to twenty-somethings.

My server was Kelsey, who was professional, super friendly, and helfpul. She took my drink order bringing me a water and my Diet Pepsi. She's the type that refilled both my drinks without prompting, which is just great in my opinion. Kelsey was also helpful in explaining the wing situation such as telling me that wings were 25% off today, and she was able to answer my wing questions. First off she explained the chicken itself. Local Heroes does two types of chicken wings:

1) Famous Local Wings - whole wings (that can be split on request) that are served unbreaded and are fried up.

2) Roaster Wings - smaller than the Local wings, these wings are breaded and are already split (tips removed) and deep fried.

I decided to get 2lbs, one order of Roaster and one of the Local. For the Local, she said I could get them split on request, and I did request.

She was also able to answer my sauce questions. I asked about the heats; I usually ask "what is the difference between say Hot or 911? Is it the same sauce just more spicy or what?"  Kelsey explained Hot is Frank's Hot and 911 of Frank's Xtra Hot. Ok got it. I also asked about their Dante's Inferno, a commercial sauce I've had before - it's really good and has a nice bite to it. The other was Sweet Julius Heat, which I've never heard of but she told me it was sweet and spicy.  They don't have a crazy amount of sauces (20) but they do have a nice balance of flavours to choose from.


 Oh and after she took my order I remembered that this was an Ottawa wing joint, so I was probably doomed to sour cream. When she passed by to check on another table, I asked her if it came with dip; she said yes, sour cream, but I could have blue cheese or ranch if I wanted. Uh ya I'll have blue cheese!!!

I didn't have to wait long until my wing feast arrived and I was already happy.

Before my order arrived Kelsey did bring me a bone bowl, napkins, wetnaps, and my blue cheese dip. There were a ton of napkins, and I used a ton of napkins. They were those cheap, super thin type that are usually given out at take-out pizza joints. This should not be the napkin of choice at a wing place.

The blue cheese was good - chunky, creamy, and just the right amount of sour. I got two dips because I had two orders of wings. Can't believe the default is sour cream though - thank goodness I asked!

The size of the wings is dramatically different between the Roaster and the Local, but enough that there is a number difference. Roaster = approx 9 wings where the Local = 6 (although I got an extra 7th one). It's only supposed to be six because the wings are usually whole, so 3 whole wings in an order, split into 6. Also, I love that I still get the tips left on. Little messier to eat but a little extra is great.

The Local wings are large; they are a bit longer. They are fried naked and the skin is nice and crispy.

The Roasters are about a Medium+. The Roasters are also breaded (although it seems more like a good dusting rather than a thick breading) which adds to the size of the wing a bit. This also gives them more of crunch compared to the crispier Locals.

The Local wings were tougher and more dried out. Pulling the bones apart was difficult because of this. While both orders came at the same time, the Locals were barely warm, suggesting they got made first and sat out a bit.

The Roasters were very tender and more moist on the inside. These pulled apart easily. These were also a bit more meaty than the Locals, especially the drums. Speaking of drums, there was a roughly equal distribution of flats and drums among the wings.

Both sets of wings came well sauced. Each wing was wet, with extra sauce on the plate. I had a slightly tough time choosing sauces but I went with classic Hot on the Locals, and tried something different, the Sweet Julius Heat for the Roasters.

HOT

I chose Hot for my Locals wings because I had a feeling that this was just going to be a good classic pub wing experience: deep fried wings and hot sauce.

And that's what it was. Nice and crispy fried chicken skin in Frank's Hot Sauce. Nothing above and beyond, but just a good flavour. And look at the extra sauce just sitting there for smearing a half bitten piece of chicken into, mmmm good.

SWEET JULIUS HEAT

I had never heard of this flavour, and assumed it must be some sort of commercial sauce like the Dante's Inferno it's listed with, but I cannot find any record of it. This tells me it's made in house. This sauce was a lot more sticky and thick than the Hot.

The flavour was very sweet, sour, with some light spice. My guess is that it's their Sweet Chili Thai sauce mixed with something else. It did go well with the breaded wings, and I liked it as it contrasted to my Hot wings. I don't think I would get an order of these by themselves.

FINAL SCORE:

After years of coming and going, Local Heroes still stands out as a good place for wings in Ottawa. I liked the simplicity of the Local wings that were crispy and tossed in Hot. The breaded/dusted Roaster wings were crunchy, tender and went well with the Sweet Julius Heat. Blue cheese was good, the napkin situation while plentiful, was woeful. And an all day wing day is always aces in my books. I had a really good lunch here, but I don't know if the crown for King of Wings is still at Local Heroes. They are still royalty though! 10/15

Local Heroes Bar & Grill
1400 Clyde Ave, Ottawa ON
localheroesrestaurants.com

RETURN to WILLY's PIZZA 2020 - Ottawa ON

This review is from Feb 2020 #lotwwinterchatchup

10 years ago almost to the month we tried Willy's Pizza; The pizza was pretty good, the wings, were pretty disappointing. Then I don't think I had Willy's anything since, and the location of that Willy's has since closed (or moved) from MacEwan ave. Willy's started over 20 years ago, and now they have 6 locations, but only 2 are in Ottawa proper (the rest are in the neighbouring suburbs).

Now I pass by the location on Merivale road all the time. I've said for years I was going to go back and do an updated review, but for some reason, I just don't. I always skip it and pass it by. But then one day, I just decided, this is the day. So I popped into the mini-mall plaza, and went to order.

This is mainly a delivery/take-out operation, but there is some stool/counter seating if one wants. I was getting it to go and planned to eat it in the car myself. The place was dead, and there was no one visible when I first walked in. Eventually before I left one other customer came in, and a phone order was taken, but I was a little surprised how quite it was.

I also found it funny that they used to have combo's up on the wall advertising slices it seems. The customer that did come in asked about slices and the pizza dude told her that they don't have that. So instead of taking down the combos with slices, they took two pizza boxes and covered it up.

As I said, I was alone when I first walked in. There were no menu boards, but I found a laminated flyer on the counter to look over. A guy came from the back; he was friendly and took my order. He said it would take about 15 minutes. I watched him go into the back and pulled out 10 individual chicken wings from the freezer, that went straight into the deep fryer.

15 minutes later I heard the wings come out of the fryer, into a bowl, get sauced and tossed, then 'plated' up in my to-go box. They went into my hands and I was out the door to have a quick car lunch picnic.

Willy's wing's are ordered by the number, in groups of 10. They came in a cardboard box with food grade liner. There are no sides but you can add the pizza sauce dips if you wanted. The only clean-up were napkins but I didn't grab any.

The size of the wings in terms of length were about a medium, but they were pretty meaty. Each wing had a nice amount of meat on it. Plus the wings were breaded/dusted giving a little extra layer but not at all thick.

The meat was tender enough; they were not tough to pull apart aside from the crispy skin holding it all together. As mentioned above, these wings did come from frozen, and unfortunately had a slight freezer taste to the meat itself. It wasn't terrible, but I noticed it none the less.

These wings were sauced really really well. The wings were basically covered end to end in sauce, with a reserve on the bottom of the box. I could not eat these without making a mess and staining my fingers, so car picnic may not have been the best idea.

The sauce on this is clearly labeled "Frank's Red Hot" on the menu, so you know exactly what you are getting. Cayenne based heat, with a nice flavour but nothing original to Willy's. But with these being right out of the fryer, they were hot, crispy and just tasted good.

FINAL SCORE:

Willy's is definitely doing better with their wings in 2020 than they were in 2010. The wings were a decent size but meaty, with a nice crispy dusting/skin, and very well sauced. Their frozen, and taste slightly so, but all in all a really decent take-out wing. I won't be so quick to dismiss them again in the future.  7/14

Willy's Pizza
1541 Merivale Road, Ottawa ON
willyspizza.ca