The Waffle

Still, we had to eat.  We started with some naan.  The equivalent of two breads, cut in thick slices, and sprinkled with sweet paprika.  They obviously make it on site, because it was very fresh, soft and warm.  Some purists might not like it, but I didn’t mind them.  I was also starving.

Melissa decided to get the red pepper and curry soup.  It came with a generous portion of naan-like sticks, but crunchier.  There was also a generous dash of cream to garnish the concoction, and I would argue a little too much.  The soup was really thick, but it didn’t need to be that thick.  They had the good idea of serving the soup with a quarter of fresh lime on the side, which gave the soup a fresh tangy zip.

For myself, I ordered their chicken quesadillas.  It was a smaller portion than most establishment in Ottawa, with only four pieces.  The chicken was alright, and the quesedillas were also filled with coriander and mango.  Dipped in the hot sauce and the sour cream served on the side, it made for a light and fresh snack.

I have to say that I was satisfied with our meal, even with the banishment of the Tandoori chicken wings.  But I have heard a lot of bad things about the service there, and even though I’d never witnessed anything myself, I figured I should mention it, and web reviews here seems to confirm what I heard.  But again, I never had any problems.

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La Cage aux Sports was founded in 1984. Regrouping 48 restaurants throughout Québec, La Cage is now well established in the Quebec Sports/Food scene.  Although the newer Cage seem to all be built on the same model, each Cage has a unique interior and all of them have an atmosphere focused on sports.

I don’t mind the Cage in Hull.  The bar in the middle is quite big, with lots of TV screens all around. There are plenty of booths available in the restaurant area, lots of TVs too but sometimes they are hard to see.  It can get very packed in there for big games, especially when the Habs or the Sens are playing.  It is a little more quiet for other sports, usually.

Tonight, they were showing on their main system the Habs playing the Hurricanes.  Go Canes go, I said.

La Cage’s menu is quite diverse.  Their wings are famous (Buffalo or 9-1-1, they are small but tasty - and they are only $0.49 each on Thursdays afer 4pm), but you can also get chicken, ribs, steaks, sandwiches and hamburgers.

But today, we took advantage of their “Tuesday Stars”. Starting at 11 am, all pizzas are $9.99, and so are pitchers of Molson Export.  So pizza it is.

I picked the Grilled Chicken Pizza.  It is basically a breast (half a breast?) cut in strips, deployed on the pie, with red pepper strips in between each piece of bird.  That’s it.  The pizza is of a nice size, for a personnal portion.  Not too big, yet filling.  The crust is well done, quite thick but light at the same time.  The sauce is a tad sweet for my taste - but I suppose it is hard to go too spicy with chicken and red peppers.

Mel went for the classic all-dressed.  Pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers AND red peppers too.  Nice touch. Again, a nice pizza. Probably better balanced than the one I had, the sauce working well the toppings.  The mushrooms were nicely dried out, not squishy at all, and it is very pleasant to look at.

We left with a $40 bill.  They gave me an extra $3 off because I showed my CAA card.  Thank you, CAA!

Even better, the Hurricanes won!!

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Burning grocery carts with anything you can find in the parking lot.  Could there be anything better?

There are now 6 of us, all checked in at our headquarters, the Buffalo Airport Red Roof Inn.  A magnificent facility if there was ever one, we left as soon as everyone was ready because we didn’t want to indulge too much.

First stop:  supplies.  Jerry and I had stopped earlier at a scary cornerstore near Main Street, where I got three XL white T-shirts for 9.99$ and, most importantly, a case of beer.  18 cans of Coors, the Banquet Beer.  A Legend since 1873.  12$.  Fan-tas-tic.  Although this guy doesn’t seem to agree.

Now, in Canada, Coors is truly a legend as nobody has actually seen one lately.  Contrary to its Light cousin, the Coors never took off in Canada.

I remember when they were both first introduced - they were, in Quebec anyway, the first long neck bottles of beer on the market.  Which was really annoying for the little guy that I was, working in a “dépanneur,” because the single bottle beer racks were a tad too short for these long necks.  So it meant that we had to insert them slowly one-by-one in the rack, instead of sliding them fast to fill up the row.

It does have more taste than the Light however, which is to show what advertising can do to a beer brand.

The Coors is the kind of beer that can be drank all night long - especially if the goal is to not remember it.

I can’t comment on the appearance, as tailgating means drinking from the can, but I can tell you that you can almost taste corn in there.  Nothing memorable, though.

As for the food available for our tailgating, we did great.  We went to a Tops grocery store to pick things up - and on a top shelf, I spotted a fantastic unfolding grill for 5 dollars! We got that, some charcoal, some sausages, some buns, a couple bags of chips and some condiments, more beers, and off we went to the Ralph Wilson Stadium.

What a superb view we had from our parking lot spot!  After zigzagging through the broken bottles, we establish our camp and proceeded to crack a few beers.

We then proceeded to set up the grill.  One might think that a 5$ grill would be easy to assemble, but the geniuses that were with me took their time to figure it out, and even tried to take some shortcuts by, for instance, not screwing the legs on.  A breeze brought everything down, of course.

But they figured it out eventually.  Then, we proceeded to light it up.  Not as easy of a task as some might think, as Ian and Glen almost set a car on fire in the process. It was a windy day, however, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  But soon, Matty was working the grill.  The nice smell of the meat in a tube started to spread around our little camp, slowly taking over the underlying odour of cold urine, spilled beer and other human-produced fragrance.

I have got to say that our sausages were pretty good.  Juicy, tender, well cooked, they warmed our soul and gave us the necessary courage to get inside the stadium.

We, of course, were already very well liked, thanks to the chicken wing hat I had previously purchased.  It is a Buffalo classic, and when you wear it, they instantly recognize you as one of them.

A Bills’ game is always an excellent adventure. One never knows how many fans will get arrested or thrown out of the stadium.  The fans can get very rowdy in Buffalo, and on Monday Night, they’ve been entertaining themselves all day and are still going strong.

Some games, the action is in the stands, not in the stadium.  The yellow coats of the security crew are running around the stadium faster than the Bills receivers.  But this year, it was cold, and the fans were calmer then usual.  We, however, miraculously avoided the snow the poured all around the area all day, but the skies over the Ralph Wilson Stadium held on.

Buffalo QB Trent Edwards poured even more cold water on the fans as he threw three interceptions in the first quarter.

Still, the fourth quarter began with a 16-13 score.

Cleveland scored a TD first, but on the following kickoff, Buffalo returned the ball for a TD.

The Browns added another field goal to give the Brown’s a 26-20 lead, which was then followed by a Buffalo drive leading to a TD, 27-26 for the Bills.

The next Cleveland drive brougt them down the field to a spot that gave their kicker a chance to win the game with a 56-yard field goal. Kick is GOOD. 29-27 Browns.

The Bills didn’t give up, and another drive gave the Bills kicker Ryan Lindell a chance to be the hero, from 47 yards out.  Perfect snap, perfect hold. Kick is… WIDE RIGHT, WIDE RIGHT!!! Bills lose. 29-27.

Still, a great time.  And better yet, we didn’t have to go out and enjoy Buffalo’s lively night life.

Also, a movie is coming out about the day, but there has been some delay. The fans are eagerly waiting.

Because it is here, in 1964, in a small establishment of Main Street, Buffalo, NY, USA, that the chicken wings were born.  The blessed nativity happened at the Anchor Bar.

I’ve always wanted to go, but although it is on Main Street, it is still a few blocks away from downtown Buffalo.  On our annual football trip, we usually stay at the Adam’s Mark, as it is walking distance from the classy night life experience one only can get in downtown Buffalo, an All America City.

Monday Night Football was changing our plans, as there was no need to enjoy said nightlife.  But it also meant we had time for an All America Lunch.  So off we went to the Anchor Bar.

If I understood the story correctly, the chicken wings were invented one Friday night in 1964, as the son of the owners, Dominic, was hanging out with a bunch of his friends at the bar.  Emptying the beer kegs, they got hungry.  Teresa Bellissimo was asked by her son to feed his friends, but it being Friday night, and it being late, and them being drunk, she didn’t feel the need to feed them with fancy food.  She took the chicken wings she had reserved to make soup stock, and dunked them in a deep fryer. She then tossed them in a “secret sauce” ( A blend of cayenne pepper, vinegar, salt, garlic and margarine) and served them with a blue cheese dressing on the side to cut the heat for the sissies amongs Dominic’s friends. They apparently liked the dish, ordered more beers, more wings, et voilà!  A new star was born, and the Buffalo chicken wings are now a favourite accross North America, still spreading around the world.

We arrived around 1 pm.  The parking was packed, which I assumed was pretty normal for game day.  Still, we were 7 hours away from kick-off.  The place was really busy - we lined-up in order to be part of the experience.  Ivano Toscani, the Executive Chef, was welcoming people and making sure to move people along quickly.  It took about 10 minutes before we were able to sit down in a corner table, not far from the piano.  - Yes, they have live entertainment - but not today.

Today is all about Monday Night Football.  Most of the patrons are wearing either Buffalo Bills‘ gear, or Cleveland Browns‘ apparel.  Cleveland is not that far from Buffalo, so lots of Browns’ fans are in town, and lots of them are at the Anchor.

Jerry and I had a quick look at their lunch menu, but that was mostly just for show. Hell, we were here for wings, so we barely looked at the salads, soup, sandwiches, pizza and other available items to focus on the Holy Grail:  the original wings! (They also have a dinner menu, expanded to include pasta dishes and seafood.)

Anchor Bar Wings are available in five flavours:  mild, medium, hot, bar-b-que and suicide. The original version, I gather, is the medium one. We ordered 20 wings

To chase them down, I went for a pint of Genesee Cream Ale.  Funny enough, of the 29 beers available at the Anchor Bar, 1 is Irish, 1 is Dutch, 2 are Mexican, 8 are Canadian, and 17 are American.  The Genesse Cream Ale is quite clear for a Cream Ale, very pale too.  Pretty weak aroma, it is quite smooth and therefore a good beer to chase down wings.

While waiting for the wings, I went to their souvenir shop.  I bought a great chicken wing hat!!!  It would be a huge hit later, I was sure of it.  You can order a lot of the stuff on-line.

And then, the wings came.