Mill Street Brewpub – Toronto, ON

On my second night in Toronto, I visited a well-liked brewpub located in the old "Distillery District" by the name of Mill Street Brew Pub.  I was pleased to find IPA on cask draught, and a ESB regular draft option available.  As a starter, I had to try the wings.  Mill Street offers 3 levels of hot wings, plus a "Honey Garlic" and a "Soya Ginger."  Speaking with the bartender, he told me the hot wings were your standard buffalo wings – a.k.a. Franks and margarine – so I had to choose between the Honey Garlic and Soya Ginger.  I really wanted to try both, but the minimum order for a flavor of wings is 10.  I was craving a soy based sauce after the previous night’s wings, so I went with the Soya Ginger.

The sauce didn’t disappoint at all, with plenty of flavor and a nice glaze-like sauce.  I think I detected some Chinese Five Spice in it.  They were particularly large wings, and were also breaded, which is perhaps "the thing to do" in Toronto?  However, like the other wings in Toronto, non-breaded wings with more sauce would have been better, but also like the previous night’s, these hardly disappointed.

RATING: 4 out 5 Stars.

Crown & Dragon Pub – Toronto, ON

The first international review on Hot n’ Saucy Wings!  While in Toronto on business, a friend took me to the Crown & Dragon Pub knowing that I enjoy wings.   The selection here is extensive – over 20 styles of wings, many with an Asian or Indian influence, reflecting the tastes of both Toronto and the pub’s owners.  I went with a fairly traditional type wing, their "Dragon Wings" which were listed as "Hottest." 

The wings were nice and meaty, and perfectly cooked.  They were of the breaded variety which I don’t usually like as much as the non-breaded versions, but they were smart enough to serve them quickly and not drown them sauce.  The sauce itself was very close to a traditional buffalo wing sauce.  Supposedly it is an original recipe that they "stumbled upon" and is very hot.  There was definitely heat – but moderately hot – and the sauce tasted fairly traditional to me.  The lose a few points for not living up to the billing, but overall, very satisfying wings. 

My dining companion went for their sesame-soy variety, called "Turning Japanese." A sucker for soy-based wing sauces, I had to try one, and they were very good, with a pronounced sesame flavor.  A bit more sauce might have made it better.

On a non-wing related note, try the hand-cut yam fries.  The fries themselves are really good, but the dipping sauce is fantastic.  I don’t know if they serve wings in the sauce, but if they don’t, they should!  Loaded with red chili flakes, soy, and what I think was fish sauce, not only did it compliment the fries, but the onion rings and both wings on on the table.  If the beer hadn’t been so good, it might have even made the beer taste better!

Dragon Wings RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Turning Japanese RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Dipping sauce served with yam fries RATING: 5 out of 5 stars!