Edgewater Hotel Sign Comes Down
Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Vandalist: My Dog's Name Is "Shadow"
Todd Barry a Not-So Excitable Boy
Skin Deep
Robert Salnek, Robin De Groot, and Chef Robert L. Rainford meticulously judge each chicken wing.
So who has the best chicken wings in Toronto? That’s just the question that Brian and Robert Salnek of the marketing company Northern Management sought to answer this Wednesday by organizing the first annual Toronto Wing-Off. "We had looked up reviews, and we found that there was no definite answer as to who had the best wings," explained Brian. "The Americans make these things a chow-down—we wanted this event to be like a wine tasting, except for wings." The event, which was hosted by Tortilla Flats, featured five contenders—Hooters, Jack Astor’s, Duff’s Famous Wings, St. Louis Bar and Grill, and the Crown and Dragon—and seven judges, including Chef Robert L. Rainford of Food Network Canada's License to Grill and Robin De Groot, the former lead designer of the infamous Restaurant Makeover. Ten restaurants and bars were invited to compete, but since only five participated, we’re not sure if the contest definitively determined the city's best wings—the winner certainly has bragging rights though.
The setup was fairly simple. There were four different categories: mild-traditional, hot-traditional, international flavour, and most creative taste. Each round, a different establishment cooked up their wings, and the Tortilla Flats staff served them in order to keep their origins a secret. Although the judges couldn’t agree on the key features of a good wing, the results were still unanimous—the Crown and Dragon won by a landslide, scoring first in every category. Duff's Famous Wings and St. Louis Bar and Grill alternated between second and third, while Jack Astor’s and Hooters bottomed out in almost every category. "We feel great," exclaimed Stephanie Coones, the owner of the Crown and Dragon, after the big win. "We just came in as the little guy."
The results weren’t surprising. The Crown’s wings rocked—particularly their rosemary and lemon chicken wing. "The size and texture of the [Crown and Dragon’s] wings were good," explained judge Suzanne Lejeune after the event. "They must be doing them in a home-style way. That’s how they stand out from the Jack Astor’s and Hooters who just use a bunch of pre-packaged sauces."
The event went smoothly, but it was not without its moments. After the judges had finished the last round of wings, the waitress at Tortilla Flats brought out a plate of suicide wings made especially for De Groot, who had been complaining that the wings lacked kick. While De Groot managed to down the wings without incident, CityTV sports anchor Hugh Burrill went beet red after three bites. "I’m Irish—what are you doing to me?" yelled Burrill. "I think I need a tongue-ectomy." We were offered some suicide wings, but wisely wussed out.
Photos by Stephen Michalowicz/Torontoist.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
i discount any food competition that involves Hooters or Jack Astors.
anyways, some really excellent wings can be found at Congee Star on Don Mills and Lawrence. ask for them with CHinese spice.
Totally not a real best-wing contest without Einstein's.
De Groot looks like Jack Black in Tropic Thunder in that picture
Wings are one of my 'guilty pleasures' but I can't seem to find the ones I like here in Toronto. I love the ones that are battered, deep fried, then tossed in hot sauce. All the ones I find here are not battered, trying to imitate the 'dry roasted' variety but are still deep fried. Any suggestions as to where to find the battered variety?
The Richmond Rogue has battered and deep fried, then tossed in hot sauce.
Thanks!
Yah, I was surprised Stein's wasn't in there too. Also no surprise Hooter's and Astor's were bottom-dwellers.
But now I'll have to try the Crown and Dragon.
YEAH.... RESULTS ARE NOT SIGNIFICANT AT ALL IF THEY DON'T INCLUDE EIN-STEN'S WINGS
I agree that the competition results are null and void without an entry from Ein-steins!
Anyone know who the other five invitees were?
I think the other invitees were Gabby's, Allen's, the Pilot's Tavern, All-Star Wings and Ribs, and Hemingway's.
Ein-steins is a great bar, but are their wings really good, or just wicked cheap?
I'm sure Ein-stein wasn't included because it would have blew the the other wing places out of the water hands down. Ah, Hammer wings... mmm.
No Kilgour's? Baked, fried, then grilled... and they're huge! Friggin' gigantic.
Oddly, of the few times I've been to Einsteins, I have never tried their chicken wings! The Crown and Dragon is now on my list as well.
My current favourite purveyor is Cranberries Bar & Grill in the Parliament and Wellesley area. The wings are comfortably large, with crisp, dusted (but not battered) skin and juicy, tasty meat. I prefer my wings plain with sauce on the side for dipping.
I figure a great chicken wing has to be so good that you could eat them without any sauce. Once you achieve that, then bring on the spices and seasonings. Cranberries meets this requirement.
Then you'll like Hemingway's. I'm disappointed to hear they didn't show up. When I did chicken wing reviews a few years ago they were my very favourite, along with Allen's, too bad they didn't show up either.
But Hemingway's serves them dry, with sauce on the side. They're really really good.
The Crown and Dragon was Toronto's best kept secret for wings, I guess not any more. I will make sure I arrive early for the 1/2 price night now !!!!