Mangez A Trois: The Book!

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Mangez A Trois

Vol 1: Enjoying th...

By Aimee, Michel & Pi...

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Burden of Perfection: Yummy Bar-B-Q Is Good

WHEN: March 19, 2007, 7:30pm-ish. WHERE: Yummy Bar-B-Q (522A Yonge Street, Toronto). WHO: michelaimeepierre. WHAT: Fast and cheap Korean food, Bar-B-Q style! We all had the bar-b-q combo with our choice of 2 meats. Chicken was very good, but we all agreed the beef and pork were excellent. Tasty, flavourful goodness. (Ribs were mediocre at best). Like any Korean worth its salt, came with plenty of tasty treats, although the kimchee was kinda sub-par. It's not fine dinning, but it's a lot of good food at a great price (sub $10). And despite the rumours, there's nothing wrong with the macaroni salad. WHY: Had had Korean a couple of days ago, but (foolishly) didn't get my bar-b-que fix at the time. Now I'm sated. HOW: Subway to Wellesley, walk south on Yonge about a minute. MMM/5

Fish & Chips that are Reliable. Get it?

WHEN: March 9, 2007, 7:30pm. WHERE: Reliable (954 Queen Street East, Toronto) WHO: M/A/P with this week's special guest K. K-MAP in da house! WHAT: Fish and chips, fool! Awesome, awesome, awesome. Apparently this place stops taking sit-down orders after 7:30? I almost missed out due to some unexpected tardiness. Amy wasn't so lucky due to her new job. As for the meal. Mmm, mmm. The batter was light and no soggy, oily taste on these bad boys. Loved the fries. Totally worth it. WHY: Place is small, about three or four tables from what I can remember. Neighbourhood ain't so great. But the fish and chips are fantastic and the owners are super nice (they let me order at 7:35pm so I have to mention that). Great for a first date with someone. HOW: Accessible by streetcar along Queen, or bus south on Carlaw (from Pape St.) MMMM/5

For Your Consideration: KOS Cafe

Where: Kos Cafe & Restaurant, 1070 Bathurst Street, 416-516-6495. What: Sunday brunch. Who: Pierre (along with my friends, Jewélle and Mikél - but not the Michel that we all know & love. Another one.)

So Mikél, Jewélle and I have decided to go bowling every other Sunday to try and get in shape. I must say that all this eating with the Mangez is really taking its toll on me. Especially since I don't work out (unless you count Wii Sports) and the fact that I sit on my arse for 8 hours each day at work - then come home and spend another 4-6 hour (at least) on my computer before I go to bed.

So we've decided that bowling is probably something we can continue to do all year round. I plan to do more, via a gym or something… we’ll see. Bowlerama has this great deal; 99 cents/game from 9am-12noon every Sunday. So we went today for the first time, skipping breakfast, so afterwards we're all dying from hunger.
We quickly decided that we'd celebrate our new activity, and all the "hard" (a.k.a. little) work we'd done today, with some brunch at the KOS Cafe. All three of us ordered the KOS egg Special: This includes 2 eggs (any style), coffee/tea/or juice, bacon/ham/ or sausage, toast and some of the best damn harsh brown potatoes I've ever had period. I once made the mistake of getting the egg benedict. I did not like it at all (the peameal tasted weird). The special is the way to go. Sure it’s $6.95 – but you are getting a drink and all those sides. Today we celebrated a bit extra by ordering a side order of pancakes. That bowling really works a mean appetite!

The ladies behind the counter are always friendly. We've never had an issue about parking or seating. Try the burgers for dinner as well. There supposed to be wicked/huge! MMM.5

Burrito Boyz in tha hizouse! Pierre et Gilles

WHEN: February 1st, 2006, 7ish WHERE: Burrito Boyz (647-439-4065, 218 Adelaide Street West, Toronto), although we started off at the original Peter Street location but because of a lack of seating (actually no seating) we went to the other location which had 2 tables, a picnic bench and a counter (inadequate seating). This is food to go with a kitchen that stays open late. Take out for after clubbing a la Mr. Pong's. WHO: The usual plus this week's special Mangez guest star, Gilles WHAT: Burritos, did you really have to ask. Chicken and steak with the works, although I was intrigued by the halibut and I'm also very partial to just beans and cheese which I think of as a very satisfying comfort food fix. We had the large and they were massive. Personally, I find that the flavours in most burritos, despite the myriad of ingredients, tend to run together as they did here. That's not a complaint. It was a satisfying mess of textures with a scotch bonnet kick. Extremely hearty, cooked to order, what's not to love? WHY: This restaurant REALLY fits our mandate of fun filling food for 10 dollars or less. It's also a great example of the diversity that can be found in Toronto's bustling cheap eats scene. HOW: Accessible by subway when amended by a short walk.
3MMM

Gerrard on the Danforth

WHERE: Gerrard Spaghetti & Pizza House, 1528 Danforth Avenue, Telephone : 416-463-7792 WHEN: Friday, Jan 19th. WHY: Location, location, location. Aimee had her eye on this place for a while, and with it being so close to everyone, we finally managed to secure a night that we could all make. HOW: Two cars (Pierre and Aimee) and one set of traffic lights (Michel)(sort of). (As for the parking, for some reason, it seems to be free after 6pm again? Is the city making this stuff up as they go along? Or is Coxwell and Danforth not considered downtown anymore?) WHAT: Pizza my friends. That’s what it’s all about.

Last night we finally all got together after a long hiatus. From all the holiday gatherings, dinners, and numerous trips to the hospital (for my mom – she’s doing alright, thanks for asking) we managed to mangez again. Last night was also a first of sorts (since the formation of Mangez as a blog). We had a guest join us for a very special “Mangez A Trios (et Une)”.

Michel’s better half, who I cannot think of a clever French name for, joined us for our review of GSPH. It was a pleasant surprise for Aimee and myself. And it added a little something to the conversation that was otherwise lacking in the past: Blang.

The place was a little more expensive than everyone was expecting. I had only brought around $11 cash with me that evening. I guess I figured, based on the past places we visited, I wasn't going to need more than 10 bucks. But have no fear. The problem was soon resolved with an 18" pizza for $22! And there were 4 of us!

So we ordered the food and our drinks and waited. And waited some more. It did take some time. But we used the time to catch up and talk about what we did over the holidays. How the water in Philly made bread taste better. Friends. The weather. Blogs.

When the pizza arrived, I must admit it was good. Maybe because I was really hungry after a long day at work. We decided to go with the traditional cheese and pepperoni. I liked how they brought the chili peppers and garlic oil to the table. I love putting extra stuff like that on my pizza. If they brought us some BBQ sauce, I’d be going there for pizza all the time.

Overall we’d agreed that it was worth the money and that the food was grand. We didn’t think it was better than the Danforth House, but it was pretty close. I’d personally like to go back and have something else in the menu. MMM/5.

What did you guys think?

Pasta Perfection, 462 Yonge Street, Toronto

IMG_0524, originally uploaded by cityhearts.

Tonight I met up with Mangez Guest Star, Christophe. I hadn't seen Christophe for awhile as he had been busy working on a film in India. It was good to catch up. We were both feeling brokish and between gigs, so the 10.00 cap worked well for our evening on the town. He suggested PP and I readily agreed having been once before. PP is cheap. 10.00 incl. tax, no tip needed as you basically serve yourself. That 10.00 (or less) buys you a lot of customization and you can watch your food being cooked before your eyes. Christophe had the Carne Amore special on rigatoni and I had pesto grilled chicken on whole wheat spaghetti. I really enjoyed mine, the perfect meal on a drizzly day after a punishing workout. Sort of - the portions aren't huge (you can double your noodles for an additional 2.00) and I'm afraid I had more to eat later. One other caveat, the PP experience is not completely unlike the film set pasta bar which the crew is supposed to be really jazzed about but then you realize you are having parboiled pasta, and that crazy sauce you told the lady to make (shrimp, chicken, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms and whatever) wasn't such a hot number after all. Having said that, sometimes you just feel like being on Yonge Street for a cheap bite on a Friday night and you could do a lot worse than PP.

Holiday Eats...

IMG_0445, originally uploaded by cityhearts.

I want to see your festive meals Pierre et Michel.

Holiday Eats Part 2...

IMG_0448, originally uploaded by cityhearts.

Hope that you enjoyed yourselves!

Random internet quote of the week

Danforth Pizza House - 3rd Hall of Fame Entry

You may have noticed that two of the Hall o' Fame certified restaurants on this blog are on the Danforth. In fact, these two restaurants, the one I'm discussing today and the beloved Square Boy are literally across the street from each other (and pretty much in the same block as the world's most awesome Starbucks - but that's another entry). I'm glad you brought this up because it gives me an opportunity to discuss the roots of Monday club which spawned the mind-blowing blog you are reading this very minute.

Location! Location! Location! Well, sort of. Let me take you back to the spring of 2005. I had just moved into a bachelorette apartment. A really, really tiny apartment. The good thing about it was that it was cheap and not a basement. Also bug-free. That's the extent of positive things I can say about it. It was on the wrong side of the Danforth - east of Pape and most people believe there is no point in making the culinary journey over to this dark side. They would be wrong! A less in-demand area makes for a different kind of entrepreneur. Less baggage, more adventurous. Sometimes simply crap. Sometimes genius. This part of the Danforth use to be an Italian enclave and a few businesses and some really awesome signs give evidence to this (the smattering of social clubs and gelaterias extends to Woodbine). I think it's gone but at one time a fabulous old sign was up east of Greenwood which was layers of hand-painted goodness and read Bari-Puglia. It was incredible, like a lost Rauchenberg!

Anyway, back to the postage stamp apartment. It was depressing. I had just finished a ridiculous non-relationship and here I was lonely, newly single and dying to entertain friends but with a completely unsuitable space. Mind you a bottle of red wine made people think it was fun to loll around on my bed or the floor, instead of you know, a couch. To ease the special despair that can only be found in a bedsit, my kind friends came round for dinner every Monday and hence Monday club was born.

Jesus! Get to the food already. It wasn't like I was going to do any cooking on that doll's stove which meant we had to find cheap local grub. We were in luck. Four dollars for a pizza at Maverick's. One dollar naan at Makkah's. This was ridiculous. And Danforth Pizza House. Good old Danforth Pizza House. With it's name hand-painted on the glass and a menu of well, pizza. This is back to basics, a real mom and pop gem. Or in this case, an older gentleman and occassionally his son. The pizza comes in 3 sizes (no party size madness) and has a standard ingredient list (goodbye argula!). There is pop in the fridge if you want to help yourself and it is all wrung up on a fabulously antiquated cash register.

The food is good. The mozzarella is nice and salty, the tomato sauce has depth of flavour. Don't ask for thin crust here or your mother is a whore! The atmosphere is like someone's rec room. It's almost like Sal's in Do The Right Thing minus the bigotry. A relic worth saving - the perfect antidote to Double-Double a few doors away.

YYYY.5
Danforth Pizza House 920 Danforth, at Jones, 416-463-4927

Elgin Street Diner

Three weekends ago I went to the Elgin Street Diner, in Ottawa (our nation's capital), with a buddy of mine. I was visiting him for a house warming party he was throwing. The last time I was in Ottawa, we went there too. It was a day after Canada Day in 2004, and an hour before I was leaving on my 4.5 hour drive back to Toronto!

Big mistake.

That was probably the stupidest thing I could have done. I made so many bathroom stops, it took me an extra hour to get home. I cursed my friend who honestly didn’t think it would have bothered me so much. What exactly did I eat? Probably the greatest poutine ever made outside of Quebec!

This time around, we’d just left The Comic Book Shoppe in downtown Ottawa. I picked up a Star Wars VOTC Han Solo from there for $10. I was happy about my purchase and we were starting to get a little hungry. The party wasn’t for another few hours... basically, we had some time to kill.

We hit the Elgin Street Diner at around 3pm that Saturday afternoon. Found a "TV parking" spot a few feet from the Diner... no line-ups walking in. Which was nice. We sat down and immediately ordered two Montreal Smoke Meat Poutines. Check out this baby in photo’s on the side.

Yeah. I know.

Basically, it had all the goodness of any average poutine; gravy (which was extra heavy), fries (cooked just right) and cheese curds (yummy), topped off with real Montreal Smoked Meat. Dee-Lish.

The only problem I had with it? Holy crap...it was filling.

I couldn’t finish it. I don't know how my friend did, but I could only eat half of it. It was so good, I wanted to eat more. I was forced, instead, to get a doggie bag. I felt like a moron.

It was so filling, that I didn’t need to eat anything else that evening at his party. I couldn't even drink alcohol that night. I looked at the snacks he had on his table, but couldn't force myself to have any of them.

The next day? I skipped breakfast. I munched on a few things throughout the day. But that was it. I didn’t eat an actual meal until about Wednesday that week. And I’m dead serious about this. Something about that poutine put me off food that I couldn’t eat for 4 days!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting the place down. It’s an institution around those parts. But the two times I’d been at the Elgin Street Diner have both been interesting experiences. I’d recommend going to that place just to see how it'll effect you!

It’s open 24 hours and the prices aren’t that bad. I honestly can't remember how much we spent, but it must have been around $20 for the two of us (and that's the poutine and a pop each). So check them out the next time you’re in Ottawa.

Love Me Two Times?

There's nothing better in this world than a good slice of pizza. Don't get me wrong. I love a good prime rib with horseradish. Or sarsoon ka saag at the best new joint in town. But my ever going quest for a consistently satisfying slice of pizza got a wrinkle on Wednesday. For the past year, I've depended on Momma's Pizza for my fix when I couldn't get down to the Big Slice on Yonge and Gerrard. And when in the East Side, I'll be buying my pie the Danforth Pizza House until the Italian gentlemen who appears to singlehandedly run the place moves. So I thought I had it all figured out. Until Wednesday. That's when I had Massimo's again.

You see, the best piece of pizza I ever ate was at Massimo's about 8 years ago. I went back nearly a dozen times afterwards, and they never matched the perfect balance between mozzarella, sauce, and crust. Salty, gooey cheese. Sauce tasted like the tomato base of the world's finest ragu. And a crisp dough that neither overpowered the rest nor skirted its substantive role. Yet day after day, week after week, the pizza I subsequently ate at Massimo's tasted little better than 2-for-1.

I don't know what had become of my once-beloved in the intervening years, but on Wednesday I found myself hungry and slightly intoxicated in the neighborhood of College and Spadina. On a whim, I decided to stop by, partly as a desperate ploy to avoid the ever-overrated Amato's down the street.

Is it possible to fall in love again? I don't know, but on that Wednesday night the old Massimo's was back. Could it have been the alcohol? Was I merely desperate? I don't know if we can make it work this time when our relationship failed in the past, but I've grown up a lot since last time and I know one thing: Even if we never again rekindled the magic and can't make it last, I know that on Wednesday I had the second best piece of pizza in my life. And nothing can take that away from me.

Even fucking more of 'em

It's not letting me post this! Unless you're reading this and then it did. Anyway, as I keep retyping, we had waaay too much sober fun and I found the sobreity a bit school-girlish, which is not a criticism. It's good actually, just nerdy.

More photos of Enjoying the enjoyment

Yes, I know some of these are blurry. I intentionally turned off the flash. I went to film school, so I'm arty like that!

Enjoying the enjoyment!

Holy crap, we had amazing GTX tonight (GTX=good times to the extreme!). After a wing epiphany at All-Star we decided that when in Rome (Scarborough/Markham) you have to do like the Taiwanese and have bubble tea. I wanted to go to this place in the Woodside mall which was was an awesome Wizard of Oz themed gay bubble tea joint...sadly long gone. We weren't dissapointed though because in it's place had opened an outpost of Bubble Tea & Me - I used to frequent the Yonge and Steeles location. Michel had his first piece of thick toast heaven. He wisely opted for the cripsy coconut flavour. It cost a friggin dollar and sent Michel to a deeply happy pace (see photos for proof). The gents had almond milk tea with tapioca, I had the sesame but rose would have been my first choice. For future reference the honeydew milk tea is very good and I would reccomend either green apple or tangerine for a clear tea. We perused our pirated movies. 3 for 10 dollars??? No wonder we were in a good mood!!! (again see photos). The Mangez have long been planning an album of soft rock ballads...we tossed around some album/title names. Best o' the bunch? "Enjoying the enjoyment" - Peter developed the perfect smug/scary laugh for the cover, prize given to whoever can identfy that photo. I'd list the others but perhaps you have to be in a moving Psuit to find them hilarious.

Tears are not enough: The photoshoot

Michel is SUPPOSED to be writing about our first trip to All-Star Wings & Ribs of Buttonville (Peter is a regular: see his blog about this further down). Here are the pictures to accompany his entry. I just spellchecked this entry and blogger flagged the word blog...um, OK?

Random internet quote of the week

My friend Beatrice sent me this link from freetobicoke.com. Yikes!

"Hi,

My daughter just had a baby on December 3, 2006 and is in desperate need of
an electric breast pump. Her son is a little tongue tied so he has trouble
feeding but she would like to continue to nurse him but cannot afford to
purchase or rent one. If anyone has one that they are no longer using and
wouldn't mind parting with it would be put to great use and would be greatly
appreciated. I live in the Dufferin and Dupont St. area and cannot travel a
great distance.

Thank you
Nanaberry"

A USED BREASTPUMP? FROM A COMPLETE STRANGER IN CYBERSPACE? YUCK!!!

Random internet quote of the week

"Every home should always have a kitten around. Their magical enthusiasm and zest for mischief are pure delight. If you have captured these moments or have other great shots of your beautiful kitten, send them on in, so we can all have the pleasure of seeing them".


How do people come up with this stuff? This is, unsurprisingly, from catgallery.com. Why was I there? Oh, fuck off!

S-quire vs. S-quare: The Battle of SQs

I think this battle is years in the making. I'm not talking White Spy vs. Black Spy. Star Wars vs. Star Trek. Doonesbury vs. America. No. Instead: Chicken Souvlaki Battle Royale to the XTREME!

The Challenger: Esquire Souvlaki Steak and Grill. "Best Souvlaki in town" 2581 Victoria Park Scarborough, ON.

vs.

The Defending Champ: Square-Boy Drive-In. 875 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON.

The meal: Chicken Souvlaki combo (with fries/gravy and a Pepsi).

The low down: Unlike Morgan Spurlock, I'm not doing this to prove a point. Eating this stuff on the same day is probably stupid, dumb and childish. But then? So is high school.

I know that I will probably lay off the chicken souvlaki for the next few days... But dammit... today's experiment was worth it! I'll state right off the bat that both places have fantastic food. Although this battle can only have one winner. No POWs here, except for the clothes in my laundry room.

2:30pm. After having a cold for the last few days, I finally started getting my appetite back today. Although, I didn't feel like eating at 12noon, as I usually do, I had made plans with my co-worker Donna to have lunch with her at Esquire. She was the person who suggested checking this place out for this site. And she really needed to eat lunch with someone who is cool, so I obliged. Here's a picture of what I got:
Total: $10.60.

What I thought of it: Chicken? Tender. The meat was pearl white and tasted just right. Of the two places I went to today, this was what chicken was supposed to be like. Unlike cheaper places I’ve been to over the years, there was no fat at all. And it was not undercooked. They didn't put on too many toppings, which was fine. I held back on the onions because I still had to work with people I care about. But man the tzatziki was wicked. The fries and gravy weren't the best, they were good, but again...not the traditional mom and pop fries I'm used to. In fact next time I will probably skip them altogether. They were the thin McCain's kind. The only thing that bothered me wasn’t really the food, but the presentation of it. Styrofoam plate? And they cut the bun in half? What’s up with that? Here's what Donna got:

Price: I don't know, but it must have been under $10. She didn’t get a drink. The salad comes with garlic bread, and she opted for a pita instead of a bun. I was originally going to get the souvlaki dinner, but passed on the salad as I can't stand lettuce with feta anymore. She enjoyed her meal. We talked about people using the bathroom at work. That made the food taste better.

7:00pm. Later that evening I joined my fellow Mangez's at Hall of Famer Square Boy Drive-In. Aimee had to drive in from Hamilton so she was a bit tardy. Michel and I were re-inventing Galaga, while we waited next to the cocktail style game, and dreamed of how we would spend our millions (to ourselves). When Aimee arrived, we ordered. Here is a picture of my meal:

Price: $5.40. Okay actually, that’s a picture of Michel's meal (minus the beer and adding my Pepsi). I couldn't force myself to get another fries with gravy after that huge lunch at Esquire. Hence the cheaper price. But note: Fries with gravy don’t cost $5 when you get the combo. And I've had them both at Skewby and it's a lot better. And don’t even think about ordering a Coke here. We’re in Greek Town. It’s Pepsi or your mother is a whore!

Based on eating the two meals back to back, my favorite place is still Skewby aka SQ aka Square Boy Drive-In. Here’s why:

The major difference with Skewby and Esquire is the fact that Skewby's chicken is smokier. Maybe people don't like that? I do. To each his own. Still, the meat isn’t just the factor. Price is. Skewby is cheaper. I also like the special sauce more. Although the tzatziki at Esquire is probably a little better.

I also like the fact that Skewby doesn't cut the bun in half. Again, as you can tell, that bothered me. It's like the lady at Esquire thought I couldn't handle my meat between her buns? And that, as a man, is a no-no. Seriously? I can handle making a mess with my meal. It just tastes better.

Finally, Skewby isn’t in Scarborough. It’s almost in Scarborough. It’s closer to my house and that matters to me. That’s a biased comment, I know. But Aimee just lives down the street from there. And Michel's girlfriend is nearby too. So I guess in the end, whatever is closer wins in our books. Location is everything these days people.

So if you're miles away from Greek Town, and in the Vic Park and Sheppard area, check out Esquire. You won't be disappointed.

And...scene....

This week was boring without you guys. That's not true, but I really want to wish it was. Looking forward to next week...!

Pierogorium

WHERE: Cafe Polonez, 195 Roncesvalles Avenue. WHEN: Wednesday (I think), last week. WHY: I'd mentioned Polonez before because it is somewhere I go when I am working in the area. I'd met some resistence from Pierre about pierogies - he calls them a "side-dish". Michel, a fellow carboholic was easily on board. HOW: Cars and transit. You can park easily on Roncesvalles on a weekday evening and it is transit accessible.
WHAT: Dinner for three at this outpost of all things Polish. Pierre, after a lot of pierogie put-downs ponied up for a plate. He ordered the cheese and potato, a solid, solid choice that comes with sour cream, bacon and caramelized onions - what's not to love? Michel had cabbage rolls, again can you get more Polish? He and his lovely girlfriend are on a cabbage roll kick of sorts.

I had what I get here when I am feeling, uh, well-rounded: a stellar cheese omelette with a trio of old world salads. Yay for beets! They start you off with lots of rye bread and butter. That's capital K as in Klassy. As an aside, I saw an older woman driving a beatup Tercel with the license plate "klasyldy". Klassy, indeed. Did I mention that was in Hamilton? Yeah, anyway. We enjoyed the hearty fare. The atmosphere is casual and has improved with a recentish reno. Lots of copper etchings of Old Warsaw. The service is competent. Lots of cute new arrivals.

YYY.5 While the food was undeniably tasty and filling we still went over our $10 each budget. You can probably get equally tasty, cheaper pierogies. Recommended though.

There's nothing wrong with you (imagine that the you had been italicized and I was giving you a lascivious look)!

Pierre came up with the ultimate relationship test/meaningless question. Keep in mind this question could only be posed by a woman. A woman in a relationship with a man and that relationship has reached some kind of crossroads. A woman who is a) finding out how much of an asshat you are by giving this question any serious thought and b) is hoping, in a dark recess of her brain, that your answer will provide answers to important questions such as "What do I mean to you?" and "Where is this going?".

Here is the question: What animal would we be a year from now?

And you needed further proof that PK is a genius!

For Your Consideration: All Stars Wings and Ribs

Located at: Hwy 16 and Woodbine, Buttonville, ON

I’d heard about this place for about a week now. Aimee had mentioned it once or twice. My co-worker Daniel goes there religiously for many sporting events, and my friend Eleni (who invited me out to dinner tonight) has become hooked on it ever since her boyfriend introduced it to her.

The place itself was nothing to write home about. The sports bar feel, with pictures of famous athletes, and banners were typical. My favorite was the busty Budweiser ad next to the kitchen window. The waitress wasn’t particularly spectacular, but we tipped her anyway. The men’s washroom, although clean, had an interesting arrangement of toilet vs. urinal placement - especially since there was no divider between them.

But as for the food? All I can say is why do they even bother with the Ribs part!? The wings were fantastic. And unlike the experience we had last week, the rating system actually made sense. They have a special on Monday nights (15 wings for the price of 10. Regular price was $6-7 for 10). I mean everybody loves a deal!

I ordered 15 x "Mardi Gras" (2 baseballs on the sweetness chart) and 15 x ”Thai Homi” (3 chili’s on the hotness chart), while Eleni had 15 x “Canadian” (2 chili’s) sprinkled with feta cheese (she also asked for an extra feta sprinkles on the side).

Eleni tried something new almost every time she's gone there. But her favorite was the “Canadian”. She let me try a couple, and it tasted like hot sauce and a hint of vinegar (a little hotter than the top layer of my “Thai Homi”, but that was before I got to the bottom where the sauce was), but the sprinkled feta cheese, and dipped in some non-lumpy blue cheese sauce, really brought it home. What a combo.

The chicken in general was melt in your mouth. Cooked just right, no dryness, and hardly any fat. The meat slid off the bone. Eleni and I knew each other for over a year now, so we felt comfortable making a mess of ourselves for the sake of getting the chow down our throats as fast as we could. It was that good.

30 wings was a lot of wings though. I could only eat around 21 of them. I loved it so much, I asked them to put it in a doggy bag. Looking forward to tonight’s midnight snack. Although I must admit it probably won’t taste as good coming out of the microwave.

With ~100 flavors to choose from on the menu, I might be making a few more trips up there during my lunch hour (since it’s about 10 minutes away on the 404).

When suicide isn't hot enough

When the supposed hottest of the hot just won't cut it: you order the suicide wings hoping for flames to burst from your ears and tears to stain your clothes but after a few mouthfuls you're willingly take a $20 bet to rub them into your eyeballs.

That's my two cents.

Thank you for being a friend

That's what I forgot to name the Wingporium post. A strange version of that song made itself known on the radio yesterday. Sung without irony, by a man on a lite hitz station. Pierre felt it was Davis Hasselhoff. So what's shaking with that song? Is that the original? Or did somebody cover the Golden Girls theme song? I must know!

P.S. I can't stress how much you shouldn't go to Wingporium. I was up late last night while my stomach grappled with it's Wingporium contents. After a fitful sleep, my stomach continued grappling all day. God, I'm whining again.

CNN Breaking News

So this is what shows up in my mailbox as "breaking news" from CNN:

CNN projects Vermont independent Bernie Sanders -- who says he will caucus with Democrats -- will win Senate seat, and Republican Richard Lugar re-elected in Indiana.

CNN projects Democrat Sherrod Brown will win Ohio Senate Race, defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Mike DeWine

CNN projects Democrats have picked up 15 House seats, giving them control of the House.

Britney Spears files for divorce from her husband Kevin Federline, citing irreconcilable differences.

[Singing]: "One of these things...is not like the other."

Wingporium

WHAT: Wings. Pounds upon pounds of them...ugh, should have stopped at a pound each. It was like going to McDonald's and having 8 quarter pounders...each. Flavours sampled: hot & sweet, mesquite BBQ (I'd call it no-name barbecue sauce - but whatevs), mapled glazed inferno, spicy teriyaki and suicide tornado or something. The last flavour, while impressively dripping with chili seeds was just kind of hot, not even an unqualified hot. Mike was able to gage it's heatlessness from the smell alone. The wings themselves were fine. Pete find them moist. I found them not gross-soggy. The sauce list was impressive but could have benefited from honing a top-five. I think there were some repeats or reasonable facsimiles thereof in the mix. WHEN: Tuesday, November 7th, 7:45 WHERE: Wingporium 1000 Islington Avenue, Etobicoke - not that we would suggest you go. The atmosphere was strictly sportsbar, the anonymous strip mall kind. We were underwhelmed. The music was heavy on Nickelback stuff. The clientele was so solidly male it could have been a gay bar. We knew it wasn't though because of the young pretty waitressess. Mike and Pete found them to have the heat the wings promised but did not deliver. WHO: Just us chickens. WHY: Good question. There is a lengthy backstory here but let's just say it boils down to some bad judgment on my part. It's a sports bar Amy, duh! HOW: Two cars.
Rating: YY out of a possible 5. The service was Slowwww. The value sucked. A whopping 18.00 bucks each inc. tax tip and no beer. Don't go, but you probably wouldn't thought of going in the first place.

When last time we dined...

WHEN: November 1st, 7:30ish WHERE: California Sandwiches, 1603 The Queensway WHAT: Massive veal sandwiches for the men, wimpy chicken for me (I am not against veal, I'm conflicted). No one could quite bring themselves to order everything, although provolone was considered mandatory. We have definitely planned a second trip where we will all order everything and I vow to have the veal. I regret not having had a container of olives. I also dropped an empty Brio bottle in slow motion. We all watched it fall thinking someone else would reach out and prevent the catastrophe. Ah well. WHY: Obviously you haven't been there. Also it fits our mandate of 10.00 max (not a hard and fast rule). We also seem to lean toward hungryman fare, i.e. carbs, lard, meat. We're macho like that. HOW: We travelled by Pursuit and rental Cobalt if you really must know. Look out for this week's excting installment...stay tuned!

In response...

Ooh we're schnazzy now. Yes, LOTS to discuss. Where is Mike Mangez's first post? The bastard has lucked out on the best moniker of the bunch.

Fer sure...

Murse reads like morse, as in the code. Yeah as you know now, my bag with my digital camera is gone. Stolen by some jackasses in the Cabbagetown/Regent park area. I can't re-take the photo on the site until I get a new one. Oh wait I keep forgetting that you're going to bring your new one at the next meeting. Looking forward to it. Have a lot to talk about.

Hooray!

We're here, we're queer - get used to it! What do you mean bag? Do you mean your murse or a less important bag? I'm hating our picture btw. Can't we (and by we I mean me) look passably attractive? Arty photos following the already agreed-upon shoulders up rule form here on out! I'll stop complaining now.

First ever post! Yeah!

They stole my bag today, right from my car, while I was downtown tonight, Boo!