DELI EXPRESS Chicken Wings: BBQ HOT - QUARANTINE FROZEN WING REVIEW

This is a QFWR:

So this review is pretty out of date - it was from Jan/Feb of 2019 so it's over a year old, so any of the details of the information may no longer be applicable.  

While cruising the flyers (I use the Flipp App), I saw that Walmart had some Deli Express wings on sale for $5.70. I knew it wasn't a big box (750g) but for $5 it was worth a shot. I tried to find more information on Deli Express, a brand I have only seen at Walmart, but couldn't find anything (Walmart online has them as ML Deli Express - could not find out what the ML stood for).

 The only info on this company outside of some of the stuff on the Walmart website, is a sandwich site with the same logo, which is owned by E.A. Sween Company, which seems to make food? But still no specific info on Deli Express Chicken Wings.

So I went to Walmart to check out these chicken wings. I found them, but the closest Walmart to me isn't that big, and isn't always stocked well. In this case, they only had two of the wing flavours left. They also didn't advertise the sale at the freezer counter either. But it still rang up as on sale, but it's annoying that they don't always post their sales in store.

The packaging is bright red and hard to miss, but it's also simple. Chicken wings and pepper spice. 14g of protein per serving, which is 15% meat protein. I don't know what that means - what is the rest of the protein?!?

It's interesting to note that these are raw chicken wings and not pre-cooked, so you need to bake these, not microwave them to re-heat. The ingredient list is also interesting because there wasn't as much weird chemicals as I expected.

When you open up the box, there is a bag of wings, and two sauce packets.

The box identifies these wings as Hot BBQ, but the sauce packet just says Hot. While there were two packets, one seemed like enough for the amount of wings in the box, so I only thawed one.

Looking at the bag, I counted about 11 wings in there. Not a lot, but it was a small box and only like $5.

The wings looked big, but kind of pale. There was only a slight amount of ice crystals in the bag.

I baked up the whole batch by following the directions, which actually recommended cooking them on a baking tray with parchment paper - that's how I almost always bake frozen wings!

You can see on the wings they are already pre-glazed with sauce. I don't know why but they are. They also had some slight frost, but not sure if that is due to the product, the time it took me to get them home to my freezer, or how my freezer treated them while they were in there.

Most of the wings came apart, but these two above were really stuck together! The package was even in terms of flats and drums (with one more flat in the mix).

I cranked up the oven to 400 and when it was good and hot popped the wings in. They cooked for about 15 minutes on one side, then I flipped them and cooked for another 15 minutes.

When I was done, they came out looking not too bad. Not bad at all ...

There was some fat and juices as well as the glaze that had run out and baked onto the paper, but they were not terrible compared to some frozen wings I've tried. But they were still sizzling and bubbling when I took them out.

I sampled one on their own before I sauced them to see how they were, because they looked darn tasty. Well the skin was crispy, and they were HOT in the mouth, but there was almost not flavour other than simple chicken. These were going to need sauce.

I grabbed my big bowl and got all the wings in. My sauce packed, which had soaked in warm water this whole time, was thawed and ready for saucing. I cut the corner and poured it in.

You could swear by the above photo that I had just put ketchup on them, but I did not. The sauce is thick and viscous but still syrupy enough to pour. Then it was time to toss!

One sauce packet was MORE than enough for all of the wings; what would you do with 2?! The wings would literally drown.

The wings were actually a very good size; on the small end they were a Medium+ and on the other end a large. Bigger than I expected from a frozen wing product.  They were also pretty meaty which was nice.

The skin on the wings was crispy when I first pulled them out, but after saucing they did not hold up  greatly. However, they were not that soggy either. The chicken meat was decently tender, and the bones pulled away fairly well too.

SWEET. Sweet sweet sweet. These were sugar wings. It's a HFCS style fake sweetness to them if you understand what I mean. It wasn't so sweet that I disliked them, just didn't think it would be that sweet.

The flavour is supposed to be Hot BBQ, but there's no real BBQ flavour to them. There's no smoke, no savoury, no hickory or anything else one would expect to be BBQ. It's just a really sweet hot sauce.

I was actually taken back by the heat that was present in these wings. I didn't notice it at first, but this stinging bite crept up on me. By the time I was finished eating my wings I was like 'what's going on here?' because I didn't expect it.

WOULD I TRY IT AGAIN?

Ya, I would buy these again ... on sale. There aren't a lot in the package, but they were large wings. The pre-glaze was not needed. The second sauce packet was not needed. The wings baked up nicely, and the sauce on it was sweet, but did have an eventual kick. I liked them (didn't love them) but they turned out better than I thought they would! 7/14

Deli Express Chicken Wings
Walmart Deli Express Chicken Wings

Quarantine Frozen Wing Reviews for the 2020 Covid-19 Era

So we are all in lockdown (or we all SHOULD be, looking at you parts of the USA), or stay home, or isolation, or quarantine or whatever you are going through to not be out and spreading or catching Covid-19. Things are really bad for some folks, and things are inconvenienced for others. It's not like anything any of most of us have gone through before.

Right now, I've run out of fresh wing reviews. It's been over a month since I last got wing from a restaurant. That works out on one end because I do have a large list of unpublished reviews that I never knew when I would get to. Well, now I can. Half are going to be Lost Reviews, the rest are frozen chicken wing products I ate, took pictures of, took notes, but never posted a review.

Some of these are a bit old and I'm trying to post chronologically. The first is from 2019! But there may be more in the archives I haven't found yet. 

The other great part of doing these reviews is for folks that can't get their wing fixes at the pub or the bar anymore, this is your way of seeing what frozen wings from the grocery store are worth your time and money, and which ones are not. When I get done, I'll have a final tally to see which frozen wing will rule them all.

So stay safe, stay tuned, and check the side links Frozen Wing Review (FWR) and Quarantine Frozen Wing Review to stay up to date on all your cold chicken wing needs.

Which method are you going to cook your wings RIGHT NOW?!?!

You have 2 pounds of fresh wings ... how are you cooking them RIGHT NOW? Not necessarily your all time fave, but right this moment how do you want your wings cooked? You get 2 choices: GO!

I'm all about the deep fried. But a tandoor oven cooked wing I could go for right now as well. What about you?!?!?

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

#fryday = Buffalo Sauced Chicken Fingers

LOST REVIEW - Papa John's from 2015 - Toronto ON

It's #throwbackthursday & another LOST REVIEW!!!

With everything on lockdown and folks doing lots of take-out, I figured I'd dip into the vaults and find one of my lost reviews that has to do with delivery. The year was 2015, and while I was taking lots of photos of wings to do reviews, it seemed like I just never had time or energy to sit, edit and write. My job back then was 24/7 (I lived AT work), so that probably played a part. Anyways, here is what I have from my notes:

It was April 2015, the 27th to be exact, and a Monday (why was I ordering pizza on a Monday?!?!), after 7pm. I know all this because I have a copy of the receipt. I was living in Toronto and this was from the Papa John's on Dundas street, that hadn't been open very long.

 I don't know if I got a combo or not (I think it was) but I know I did get:

• 14" Original Pizza - light on sauce
• with Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, and Jalapenos
• 1 Garlic dipping sauce
• 1 Pepperoncini
• 8 Piece Buffalo Wings
• with 1 Garlic Sauce
• 2 Mountain Dews

The entire bill with delivery came to $30.48. 

Papa John's was not my go-to pizza joint at this time (or ever). Papa John's did not have a long history in Canada and before this I think I have only had it once or twice before in London and Kingston Ontario. I didn't hate the pizza, I liked the style and such, but never cared for the sauce itself. It's probably why I went with light on sauce.

This was a large pizza, 8 slices. You can see in the above photo there's a thick crust margin around the pie, but it at least has cheese baked on it. You can also see the Pepperoncinis that I don't know if they were free extras back then or an additional charge.

They had a good ratio for toppings for the pizza and each slice clearly gets lots of everything on it. It looks cheesy good too.

Here are some of my comments about the pizza:

• Pizza's ok - worried it won't last a second day (as in going stale quick)
• Toppings decent
• wasn't hot or fresh when I got it - disappointing.
• thin crust (didin't order thin crust, it's just thin)

 When I got the wings they gave me a choice for dip and for some reason I went with Garlic. They also gave me an extra dip with  my pizza and it too was garlic (would have changed one up if I had known). I was expecting a creamy garlic like Pizza Pizza gives, but this was more like a garlic butter dip. It was neon yellow, and it was delicious. I was like garlic movie butter, and it was perfect for dipping the crust at the end. It's very artificial tasting, and you know its chemical trash, but sometimes that's just they way something tasty is.

I also got an order of 8 wings. It came in a heavy duty card board box, and inside that were the 12 wings tightly wrapped in tin-foil with the other Garlic dip. I did not use that dip for my wings however.

So a few things - pretty sure the wings are baked, which means they aren't as crispy as a fried wing. But when you toss them in sauce and then encase them in tinfoil, these wings are going to get soft and soggy. And they did. And they were cold when I got them too. They look not bad though!

The wings were small to almost medium. They are pretty meaty, and they are tender.

The sauce on these were Buffalo, which isn't real Buffalo in flavour. It's a bit sweet, but not as sweet as say Domino's hot. But at least these were more spicy, but they weren't killer.

There was also lots of sauce and the wings were pretty well coated.

Everything was decent or ok, nothing special. The food came and wasn't hot. The pizza is ok, it has a nice crust and toppings but I was just not crazy about the pizza sauce. The dip was phenomenal. The wings weren't very big, they were soggy, but they were also tender and the flavour was pretty tasty.

I said at the end of my notes that if there was a good deal I would order Papa John's pizza and wings again, IF there was a good deal. And I think that was the last time I ate Papa John's.

This is a photo of Papa John's from Google street view from 2015

Papa John's
255 Dundas Street E, Toronto ON (and other locations)
papajohns.com