Why, I wonder is my heart full of holes
And the feeling goes but my hair keeps growing
Will I set
the sun
On a big wheel wagon
Another Tuesday, another Taste! This week my original plans for the review was disrupted by rain and playoff basketball, but fortunately it all worked out extremely well in the end (for both the Raptors and my writing purposes).
Yep, we're back reviewing some ol' classic pub fare, this time from another prominent chain of pubs here in Toronto: Fox and Fiddle. Like the Firkin restaurants (whom which I am extremely familiar with), Fox and Fiddle was founded in the 1980s as a British style pub concept and expanded into several locations in the three decades since. Some outposts have shuttered in recent years (such as the Bloor/Huron one, more on that later) but the Fox chain still boasts about a dozen franchises throughout mostly Toronto, Hamilton and a lonely one out in Surrey, British Columbia.
That now lost location at Bloor and Huron is certainly the one I knew the best. Back in my Annex haunting days, that Fox and Fiddle was a much visited stop. One year during TIFF they even extended their last call to 4am, a very fortunate happenstance at the time for myself and friends working at the Madison a couple blocks away.
I don't recall on any occasion ever trying the food there (if I did my impressions are now lost in the crevices of memory) and so this time, visiting the Danforth location, seemed a good opportunity to give it a legitimate shot.
The Fox and Fiddle has rebranded itself since those hazy late autumn nights in 2010, switching from that old English font and patterned carpet decor into something more modern, sleek and minimalist. Their menu though still retains many pub favourites: fish and chips, burgers, tacos (because everybody does tacos these days), nachos, shepherd's pie and of course, chicken wings.
By this reviewer's good luck it happened to be a 1/2 price wings day, thus the double portion you see pictured above. I went with two different flavours for each pound: a whiskey BBQ (the darker ones up top) and an ancho-chipotle (the brighter red-ish ones below). First off, the wings themselves were quite solid. A very light crispiness to the exterior, the meat inside (aside from one wing) was never dry or overtly chewy... perhaps slightly undercooked in spots where a particular bite was more watery than tender... but not at all close to the point of there being rubbery bits to make your stomach churn. Pretty decent stuff.
As for the flavours... the whiskey BBQ was by far the superior participant. While I'm probably more fond of a sweet BBQ sauce than other people perhaps are, I'll concede that a sweeter tangy BBQ sauce works much better with pork than a fried chicken wing. This particular one reminded me much more of the kind of BBQ sauce you find slathered and dripping off a rack of ribs at a summer RibFest event (Beaches RibFest is coming back in late June, everybody!)... the whiskey flavour provides a very modest sting while the rest of it is a subtle blend of smokiness that's not too sweet and yet certainly not bland either. A problem with many BBQ sauces is how they insist upon themselves and overtake any other flavour, but not this one. Thumbs up.
Unfortunately I can't give much of a thumbs up to the other flavour, the ancho-chipotle. I ordered this hoping for a nice spicy counterbalance to the BBQ option, but instead this flavour left me completely underwhelmed. For a sauce advertising a duality of hot peppers, this was nothing resembling heat. Just an earthy, "meh" taste that's extremely hard to describe because it left so little impression. Nothing lingered on the tongue or snuck in for a notable aftertaste, and the fleeting initial flavour reminded me of a vindaloo with all the sharp spice and acidity wiped clean off. Even if it was going for a non-spicy taste (definitely what comes to mind when you think "chipotle"... sheesh), they completely failed because this sauce simply lacks any kind of depth or intrigue. A big disappointment.
Finally, the dips you see pictured. To me it tasted almost exactly like the Firkin Dip: a sort of thin yogurty dill cream that isn't as salty as ranch or domineering as a blue cheese. It's a perfectly agreeable dip for the veggies or the wings themselves if you swing that way.
Overall... I'd say I recommend these wings but with a major asterisk: don't go for the ancho-chipotle flavour and only get them when they're half price. Paying over sixteen bucks for just seven chicken wings is a completely ghastly thought for me to chew on... I mean I ate all of what you see above (aside from a carrot stick my friend swiped) and wasn't exactly stuffed once finished either. Not exactly a stellar bargain, but I can at least say the quality was solid and I strongly recommend the experience of being in a bar eating these with friends while the Raptors win a big game on the road to stay alive. That's worth the price right there.
Burnt Ends -- I've been dawdling on it (can you blame me) but yes I've been watching more Star Trek: Picard and yes I'll have some more torture (I mean another review) of the latest episodes soon. Even editing my own words about it are daunting... never has a show so completely shattered my expectations even once those have sunk lower than the molten core of the Earth.
This Week's No Context Looney Tunes Image -- A couple of weeks back I came across this very cool article filled with backgrounds from old Looney Tunes cartoons with the characters removed. Though the article describes them as "Creepy and Existential" (*cough* click-bait *cough*) some of these are just plain gorgeous if you're a fan of old animation. I definitely suggest checking out the full article (if you can wade through all the annoying pop-up ads). Anyhow, here's one I particularly like.
Tuesday Tune -- Before Friday, this was the last band I'd seen live in concert (not counting Maroon 5, who you'd have to pay me to see and that's what happened). Enjoy this lighter tune from the truly exceptional 1999 album Summerteeth:
That's all for this week. Until next time, stay safe out there, go Raptors and don't spill that mustard.
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