As extremely girly as I am in most aspects of my life, there’s a little bit of tomboy in me who likes to be one of the guys and hang out with the boys. So on the night of the Canada vs. USA hockey game during the World Juniors, the boyfriend and I headed out in search of wings, beer, and big screen TVs.
We ended up at House of Wings, which isn’t too far from the house, and located on an end unit in a plaza that has everything from a bank to a grocery store. It was still a little early when we walked in, and we were one of only two tables in the whole restaurant. The decor is homage to old-time Western saloons complete with antique looking chandeliers and swinging saloon doors leading to the washrooms. The booths, tables, chairs and basically anything you could see was made of thick, dark wood which made for a very dark atmosphere which was a little hard to see in.
The menu is straightforward and simple when it comes to things other than the wing sauces. The sauce list was exhaustive and ranged from the standard barbeque to the exotic pineapple curry, and everything in between. There had to have been over 50 sauces to choose from, categorized by level of heat.
We ordered Crunchy Munchy Chips ($6.99) which came with your choice of sauce either drizzled over the chips or on the side. We chose the Sultan’s Wing on the side, which was a mixture of barbeque, blue cheese and Cajun seasoning. The chips came out hot and were fried to a crisp without being greasy and were left unsalted. The decision to leave it unsalted bode well for the sauce because you really got to taste the natural potato flavour of the chip, and you definitely tasted every aspect of the sauce. I was extremely impressed with the Sultan’s Wing, and I’m not generally a blue cheese fan at all. There was sweetness from the barbeque that mixed wonderfully with the Cajun to mute the heat down to a pleasant tinge without it being overly spicy. The blue cheese was present but not overwhelming, and really enhanced the potato flavour of the chip. I could have ordered basket after basket of these chips and I don’t think I’d ever tire of them.
Next up were the Deep Fried Pickles ($5.99), which were long pickle spears tossed in a thin coating of breadcrumbs and deep fried to a golden crisp. Five spears came in the order and were served with a dill dressing, which to me seemed to be redundant. I would have much preferred them with something else – perhaps a ranch dressing so the dill from the pickle could be showcased separately from the sauce. The pickles themselves were piping hot and juicy (I’m pretty sure I burnt my tongue biting into the first one, even though I let it cool slightly), but not as sour as I was hoping. They also weren’t as crisp as I would have hoped, and I believe that was because they were either softer pickles to start with or left in the fryer too long and became overcooked.
We decided to each order a single order of wings ($9.99 each) so that we could each try a different sauce (rather than ordering a double order and being limited to one sauce). For mine, I chose Snake Eyes as my sauce because I’ve been on a honey mustard kick these days. Snakes Eyes is hot and honey mustard, which unfortunately was the spiciest sauce I could find on the menu that included honey mustard. The wings came out tossed in the hot sauce and drizzled with the honey mustard, which resulted in inconsistent flavours with each bite. The wings themselves were large and juicy, with not a lot of breading so the wings were very meaty. The hot sauce had a bit of a kick but neither the boyfriend nor I found it incredibly spicy. I wish the honey mustard was mixed with the hot sauce before the wings were tossed in it, because the bites I had with both flavours were amazing. The only problem is that it wasn’t enough, and it felt like I was just eating normal wings for most of the time.
The boyfriend went with Roman Aura: Caesar, Romano parmesan, hot and dill and it was a great combination of flavours. The sauce itself is very similar to the Spicy Garlic Parmesan sauce you see at many wing places, but the dill was an added touch that we had never seen before, and it really balanced out the sauce perfectly. There was a very slight heat to the wings, but again, I would classify it more as a medium sauce rather than a hot sauce.
More people started showing up as game time neared, and we soon found ourselves in a bar full of hockey loving individuals. I hear on Tuesdays they have a wing special which is buy a pound, get a pound free! With good food, good service and a fun atmosphere to watch the game, it was a great night. Of course, Canada winning was the perfect cap to a great evening!
3 comments:
I just went out for wings last night but I went to Wild Wing in the AMC plaza in Oakville. I ordered honey garlic and they were pretty good! The choices you guys made look delicious! Especially those Crunchy Munchy Chips.
I've got a post about that Wild Wing in my "to do" file :)
You neeeed to try those chips...omg I want to eat them right now!
Ooo can't wait to read it! And I will be sure to let you know when I try the chips.
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