Tag Archives: chicken wings

Chinatown meets Flavourtown at this funky Asian tapas joint!!!!

Now, we’re no strangers to R&D, this Asian fusion joint that’s been bringing some upscale funk to downtown Chinatown. But now there’s this new funky joint up the street that might be giving them a run for their renminbi — this is Bitter Melon, bro!

We’re starting off with a glass of Lee Ho Fook, a drink named after my favourite place to get a big dish of beef chow mein, Bro-ren Zevon! This crafty cocktail contains El Gobernador, baiju, lychee and yogurt soda(!), filled with ice and topped with a lime leaf. Tart and tangy, but quite refreshing.

You can’t actually get chow mein here, but they do stuff some beef in these potstickers, along with water chestnuts. Dude, that’s chest-nuts!!!!

For relaxing times, they’re making this Shennong Old Fashioned with Suntory whisky, cane sugar and jasmine tea. And one big-ass ice cube, apparently. This drink can lip my stockings any time, bro!!!!

One of the signature dishes at this place is baby octopus, which comes on a bed of bitter melon. These succulent little sea monsters taste even better with a great big dab of that yuzu donkey sauce, son!!!!

Also sold separately is this chewy pork belly, with a nice little slaw-sa of pineapple, jalapeno and cilantro. Pig sooooooey!

Who needs a lazy Susan when you’ve got a Lay Zi Fizz, son? This sweet young thing has rum, jackfruit, lemon and seltzer, topped with a coconut yuzu foam. Dude, that’s coco-nuts!!!!

Of course, every good Asian fusion joint has some kind of chicken wings, and this place is no exception. These wings are tossed in Maggi sauce, with garlic powder and black pepper, and topped with sesame seeds. It’s kinda like honey garlic wings, without the honey. Good thing I saved these till the end…

Of course, we’re not eating wings with a rum and jackfruit cocktail — this is Triple B, after all. So I’m glad they’ve got Collective Arts Life in the Clouds on tap, which is my second favourite light IPA. (Blood Light FTW!) A couple more of these and I might not need dessert…

But you KNOW I’ve always got room for a Korean corn dog, bro! This good boy is equal parts cheese and Taiwanese sausage, smothered in honey mustard and hot sauce. Can I get like four more to go????

Curry duck that doesn’t suck @ Alma!

The other day, we had some real-deal (non spicy) Chinese food at Mimi, but now we’re switching it up just a bit. Alma, this funky little joint about three doors down from the Burdock Brewery, near Bloor and Dufferin, is definitely more Asian fusion, and their menu changes so often that they don’t even put it on their website. While you can expect some Chinese classics like char siu and shrimp fried rice, tonight we’re gonna funk it up a notch, starting with these morcilla dumplings:

You definitely don’t see Spanish blood sausage inside a pan-fried dumpling every day, dude! Since this place is pretty small, this dish — along with everything else I ordered — was coming in too hot to touch, so I actually needed a fork to pick it up. Man, this is like Empanadas Gone Wild in Flavourtown, bro! Rich meaty texture inside that nice chewy dumpling skin — I’ll take 20 more to go!!!!

But you know I gotta save room for (at least) a couple more courses, right? These chili chicken wings are nice ‘n crispy, with a bit of a dry heat — I wouldn’t lick that chili paste off the plate, put it that way…

But now it’s time for the main event… and it’s all it’s quacked up to be! This duck leg rendang is super-tender, meat just falls off the bone. Served in a tangy curry with literally two potatoes and a side of white rice. The duck is definitely the star of the show here, and it doesn’t disappoint!!!!

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, and this time we’re taking a break from your regularly scheduled chocolatey programming with this coconut peanut crepe brulee. The crepe is nice ‘n thick, and you get a lotta nutty texture from the coconuts and the peanuts. But the caramel sauce on the plate is what makes it. Dude, this is like Pancakes Gone Wild in Flavourtown!!!!!

Eating all the non-spicy things @ Mimi Chinese

Dude, Mimi Chinese has been known as one of the fanciest, funkiest Chinese food places in the city ever since it opened — they’re pretty fly for a white guy, bro! And while my philosophy on food is sharing means you couldn’t finish it yourself, and you weren’t trying hard enough… when it comes to Chinese, you’re really supposed to order more than one thing. I mean, that’s why they put the spinning wheel in the middle of the table, right?

Now, Mimi’s menu has all sorts of spicy Sichuan dishes that would send this white guy straight to the Poo Ping Palace, so we’re gonna avoid the $110 Chef’s Menu that gives you a little bit of everything, and stick to the non-spicy stuff. But that still gives you plenty of options here — and you end up spending a lot less per person in the process!

Round 1 is all about seafood, with scallops, seabream and shrimp toast (oh my!) along with some pork and scallion dumplings, just to switch things up a bit. The standout has gotta be the shrimp toast, though — you’ve got some greasy greasy frybread stuffed with big chunks of shrimp, topped with sesame seeds and served with a side of hot mustard (I stayed away from the hot stuff).

But now we’re about to kick it up a notch with char siu pork, stuffed chicken wings and a four-foot belt noodle, which they cut into pieces at the table. The noodle wasn’t spicy, but the the chili oil on top made my tongue tingle (in a good way). And man, if they ever had 25 cent wing night, I’d be there all night long for those wings stuffed with rice and mushrooms, son!!!!

This Greatest Hits album in Flavourtown keeps going with some black pepper beef, braised eggplant with garlic sauce (Yu Xiang Qie Zi) and a Supreme Fried Rice that’s packing shrimp, scallops, eggs and Chinese sausage. But the star of the show has gotta be the beef, bro! You’ve got an 18 oz boneless ribeye, chopped up into little pieces, cooked in black pepper sauce and topped with onions. This dish alone will cost ya a cool hundred, but split six ways, it’s only $16.34. 😉

But you KNOW the Triple B Road Krew has always got room for dessert, bro! And we’re ordering everything on the dessert menu — mango pudding, steamed cake with custard and black sesame ice cream. Now, none of these desserts would go in my all-time top 10, but when you pour the custard onto the cake, then I eat them both up!!!!!!!!!

These fguys also own Sunnys Chinese in Kensington Market, and how’s this for cold tea? Their Sunny G ginger sour is perfect with Chinese food — light, tart and refreshing. The ginger is definitely there, but unlike when you accidentally eat a whole piece of ginger in a beef hot pot, it’s not overpowering at all. Now put that in your lunchbox and drink it, son!!!!!!

PATIO LIT EATS: Funky Japanese tapas & beers in Little Portland

Just when you thought patio season was over, they pull you back in with a mini heatwave sending temperatures up to 24 degrees at the start of October, son! So, we’re hanging out in Little Portland, around Dundas and Ossington, where some of the most popular patios are already packed — but they still had several tables available at Bar Shozan, this funky little Japanese joint. You can get sushi and ramen here, but for 10 bucks a pop, they’ve also got some real-deal izakaya-style bar food…dude, this is body by izakaya-style bar food!!!!

These shrimp ‘n corn skewers are coming in hot, bro! These seafood lollipops in Flavourtown pop with nice bites of shrimp and little kernels of corn. Pretty sure I could slam, like, 10 of these…I just need to wait for them to cool down first!!!!

Speaking of skewers, this pork belly yakiton is too legit to quit! Pork is fork-tender, with a nice, tangy miso sauce and one green onion for that serving of veggies. This was probably my favourite dish, right here…

Now, when I saw they had wings on the menu, I couldn’t NOT order them, bro! These Tebasaki wings were nice ‘n crispy, a little sweet, with just a bit of a kick at the end. Oh, and there was enough green onions on this plate to feed Booker T and the MGs!!!!

Now, this place is serving up all three main Japanese beers — Sapporo, Asahi AND Kirin — as well as five different beers from Far Yeast Brewing, including a couple I’ve never even seen before. But I stayed in Toronto with an Otsukaresama from our local Japanese-influences craft brewers at Godspeed. Despite its name, which apparently means something like “good job” (I speak the third most Japanese in the Triple B Posse, bro!), this is actually a German-style lager, with hops and malt straight outta Dortmund. And it goes great with some wings and pork skewers… Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto!!!!

GRAND REOPENING: Giant pretzel & jumbo wings @ Rec Room

Yesterday, Toronto moved into Step/Stage/Phase 3, which means that most indoor things are allowed to open, at a limited capacity. So you KNOW we’re heading down to the Rec Room to crush some arcade games, son! But before killing it at Pop-a-Shot, we gotta fill up on some snacks. And at Triple B, it’s all about go big or go home — we’re talking giant pretzel with a dozen jumbo wings, bro!!!!

While this wasn’t the biggest giant pretzel I’ve ever seen, it still checked all the boxes — hot, soft and salty. The beer cheese queso was TheBomb.Mexico…but I wasn’t really into the dill ranch so much. Even with the wings, it was just OK.

Now, the jumbo wings were meaty, big and crispy, so they didn’t disappoint me. You could choose two different sauces, and I went with sweet heat and smoky chipotle BBQ. Well, the first one was sweet, but not even a little spicy, and the smoky chipotle BBQ didn’t really taste like any of those things. So maybe next time, I’ll just go with “Medium Buffalo,” bro!

Now, I know the name of this blog isn’t Burgers, Bacon & Hard Iced Tea, but when the only beers on tap are Budweiser, Bud Light, Mill Street Organic and Stella, can you even blame me, bro???

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Final Four fusion food feast!

Now, the last time Gonzaga was in the Final Four, I flew to Phoenix, Arizona for all the festivities. But this year, I can’t even cross the border without isolating for 14 days…and who wants to spend 14 days in Indiana!? So while I had to watch Jalen Suggs hit one of the greatest shots in NCAA Tournament history at home, at least I didn’t go hungry, bro!

Kinka Izakaya, this funky Japanese joint on Church St, is serving up a March Madness special that was meant for two…but it’s really just a light snack in Flavourtown. You’ve got two pounds of wings with fries, salmon oshizushi, takoyaki and gyoza dumplings, along with a six-pack of Sapporo to help the medicine go down. And since I had another 40% offer from Uber Eats, I took almost 30 bucks off — which means Gonzaga wasn’t the only winner, winner, chicken dinner last night!!!!!

Of course, we gotta start with the wings. These babies were nice ‘n crispy, with a Taiwanese-style crunchy batter. They came in two flavours, Original or Spicy, and since I figured a Japanese joint probably wouldn’t be dishing out face-melting heat, I went with the Spicy…and I was right. A decent little kick, but nothing two outrageous. I could easily slam two takeout boxes of these without being bound by wild desire the next day…

Now, these deep-fried gyoza dumplings were a nice little side dish. They’re basically two-biters, and you get four to an order, so they’re not gonna fill you up, buttercup. Pretty sure they were vegan, though — I’m like, where’s the beef, bro???

This was not my first time tackling takoyaki, the Japanese fried dough balls with a piece of octopus inside. These ones were very saucy, which left ’em a little soggy — but you KNOW I still put all them balls in my mouth, bro!!!!

Now, while you might not find gyoza dumplings or octopus balls at your local sports bar, I can still dig them as game-day eats — pretty much anything that’s battered and deep-fried will do it for me! But now, this is something that I’d never think to order for the big game… salmon oshizushi, or pressed sushi, with layers of fish squished together on top of some rice. Now, there was nothing wrong with this dish at all, it’s just that next time I’m watching sports, I don’t see myself chowing down on sushi. But hey, if you put it in a combo meal, I mean, it’s not like I won’t eat all of it…

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Katsu sandos with black chicken wings…

Now, over in Tokyo, katsu sandos are everywhere — you can even get ’em at 7/11, son! But they’re not so popular in Toronto… Me, I’ve only ever had one, and that was a couple years ago. So when I heard that Tokyo Sando & Chicken was serving ’em up outta Kinka Izakaya on Church Street, I couldn’t have just one, so I ordered two. Oh, and some chicken wings, too. Hey, it’s right there in the name, so it’s gotta be good, right?

This here’s the classic pork katsu sando, a big, thick piece of breaded pork served between two slices of plain white toast with cabbage, truffle butter and a Dijon donkey sauce. Dude, this sandwich eats like a meal…and that’s only half of it!

But you KNOW I’m not gonna eat just one sando, bro! This here’s the ebi katsu, with deep-fried shrimp, more cabbage, some Japanese tartar sauce and teriyaki. The shrimp’s a little lighter than the pork, but you do get four to a sando, so I can’t really complain, though…

But now we’re gonna kick it up a notch! These Kurogoma wings are smothered in a black sesame sauce for a flavour that’s just nuts, bro! Let’s just say I killed a few napkins downing these bad boys…

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Super Bowl party for one!

One of my last memories from before Coronavirus was going out to a Super Bowl party, where they were serving up a buffet spread of game-day eats, showing the game on the big screen, and I even won the grand prize in the raffle. Of course, this year, there was no going out, no big screen and no grand prize — but I did chow down on a pretty solid Super Bowl spread, thanks to Firkin on Harbour and the Kensington Brewing Company!

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the Firkin, but when I saw that they were serving up a Super Bowl 55 Super Package with two pounds of wings, cheeseburger spring rolls, Buffalo chicken potato skins, fries, tater tots AND deep-fried pickles, I was all over that like the Tampa Bay D-line on Patrick Mahomes, bro!!!

Now, with such a big box of food, the only decision I had to make was what kinda sauce to put on the wings. I went with 40 Creek BBQ, which didn’t taste much like whiskey — or BBQ — but added a little bit of tang to these crispy, meaty wings!

Now, I guess there was a piece of Buffalo chicken on top of this potato skin, but it didn’t really add much flavour. Did that stop me from scarfing it down, though, bro? No way Jose!!!!

These cheeseburger spring rolls were my Super Bowl MVP. They were the only thing that was still really hot when my food arrived — and it was only a seven-minute drive, bro! And while I didn’t really taste the cheese, if you stuff a spring roll wrapper with ground beef and fry it, I’m gonna be all over that like Tom Brady in the red zone!!!!

Now, Kensington Brewing Company, from right in the heart of Kensington Market, was offering up a pretty sweet Super Bowl special of their own — a six-pack of tallboys, with two different beers, for 17 bucks… with free game-day shipping! Mine arrived in plenty of time before kickoff, so they were nice ‘n cold to crack open. This Market Pils was the lighter of the two, at 4.7%, but I gotta say it had to be the hoppiest, fruitiest pilsner I ever had. Clocking in at 23 IBUs, it was almost like a Jr. IPA — albeit without that bitter beer aftertaste.

The other beer in the Super Bowl six-pack was Nasch Vienna Lager, named after a big market in Austria. This one’s a little richer and heavier, at 5.3%, and kinda reminded me of a beer I had at the Steam Whistle Biergarten, Von Bugle Munich Lager. Anyhoo, I only slammed a couple of these bad boys with dinner, but polished off the rest of them before the game was over. Dude, I destroyed that spread like the Tampa Bay defence — can you say Chompa Bay, bro???

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Slammin’ down some Spicy P wings!!!

Now, the Raptors are playing outta Tampa this season, so I’m not gonna be slammin’ down some brewskis at a basketball game anytime soon. But I can still crush some classic comfort food at home — we’re talking wings, chili cheese fries…and maybe even a brewski or seven. I found this funky little joint called Cabano’s Comfort Food, just a long-distance 3-pointer from Bay and Bloor, that’s serving up burgers, fried chicken, and these Flavourtown All-Stars — Spicy P chicken wings!

Dude, these wings are TheBomb.ca, bro! Pretty good kick, but not too spicy, drizzled with a dill ranch — you could put that on a high-top, and it would still taste good! But even though I ordered not one, but two pounds of wings, you KNOW I still got room for some chili cheese fries, bro!!!!

Dude, this chili had a pretty decent kick — I think it was even hotter than the wings… Fries were thin, but nice ‘n crispy, and then they smother it in queso, which is like one of the five food groups in Flavourtown!!!

Of course, you can’t have wings without beer, so we’re crushing The Mutants Are Revolting, a nice, crushable IPA from Flying Monkeys. You definitely get a hit of hops, without it being too heavy… I could crush at least 10 of these, bro!!!

And of course, you KNOW there was no fry left behind, broseph!!!

TORONTO’S TOP TAKEOUT: Thai-style chicken wings & poutine!

Bangkok Garden is one of the OG Thai joints in this city, serving up authentic Thai dishes downtown since the early 80’s. When we ate here in person, a couple years back, I scarfed down some succulent seafood skewers — but this time, for takeout, we’re going with their take on a couple Canadian classics… poutine AND chicken wings!

Now, I think you actually can get chicken wings in Thailand — or at least at other Thai restaurants in town. But I always thought that Thai wings were a little too sweet. These ones definitely weren’t though, nice ‘n crispy with a little bit of Sriracha heat, and then some fish sauce for dipping. For 10 bucks, I definitely can’t complain!

But the Thai poutine is where they really take it to another level! First of all, the fresh-cut fries were fricken delicious — definitely the best fries I’ve ever had from any Asian joint! But what kicks it up another notch is the red curry sauce. I mean, you wouldn’t think that fries, cheese and curry would go together, but the end result is magically delicious. I would totally order this the next time I dine in at Bangkok Garden!!!

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