In Search of the Elusive Chicken Wings - An Adventure from Patois to Jackpot Chicken Rice

Earlier this year at the Stop Night Market, they were sampling the best darn chicken wings. Those sugarcane and garlic chicken wings were at the Patois restaurant booth and a second taste of those delicious, mouthwatering babies was necessary in the future.

Flash forward to last month, we finally made it to Patois itself. Excited to be there I introduced myself to Chef Craig Wong who took time out of the buzzing back kitchen to come out front and welcome me to his restaurant. It was a busy night and we didn’t have a reservation, so we ended up sitting at the bar. Sadly though, the chicken wings weren't on the menu.

Extremely disappointed we were quick to recover once we tasted our delicious meal. This Caribbean-Asian fusion restaurant has quite an interesting menu. Still in the mood for chicken wings we ordered the O.G. Fried Chicken, Jerk Chicken Chow mien and the Chinese "Pineapple" Bun Burger.

The fried chicken was served with watermelon pickle which was quite refreshing and a delicious sweet and sour sriracha sauce. The chicken was perfectly crispy, not at all greasy and could satisfy any chicken fix.

The Chow Mein, Chang’s signature dish, reminded me of the “Pheonix Nest” dish my mom used to order at Chinese food restaurants when I was a kid. Stir fried veg sitting on top of crispy fried noodles with jerk chicken that was tops. This dish was quite spicy but the flavours worked well together.

The star of the night, however, was the burger. This double burger topped with melted Swiss cheese, oyster sauce mayo and hickory sticks knocked it out of the park. The slightly sweet bun tones down the saltiness from the hickory sticks and oyster sauce but the juiciness of the patties are what would bring me back. If you get a chance to try it you won’t be disappointed but be sure to have a glass of their rum punch to wash it down.

But this post is not about Patois, rather its sister restaurant also by Chef Wong, called Jackpot Chicken Rice. Here it turns out, is where the sugarcane and garlic chicken wings were hiding.

When you first walk into Jackpot Chicken Rice on the edge of Toronto’s Chinatown, you are hit by the colourful atmosphere. The main design focal point is a vibrant mural; the tables are covered in bright, primary-coloured floral papers, and the lantern-style lighting is made from different sized rice colanders in a variety of colours. In the evening the restaurant is so dim it is difficult to read the menu so bring your phone or a flashlight to help out. The staff there was very welcoming, friendly and knowledgeable.

As soon as we sat down we ordered the chicken wings. I was so looking forward to tasting these wings again, and let me tell you, they didn't disappoint. These wings were juicy, crispy, and gigantic! And the flavour, so intense. I’m drooling just writing about them.

Next we ordered from The Go All In menu (menu pictured below) - your choice of any two snacks, any two large plates, with crispy skin (our waitress encouraged us to break the skin into pieces and mix it in with the rice), shmaltzy rice, soy eggs and soup. Our choices were Kaffir broccoli tempura, Thai apple salad (with lime, chilli, peanuts and crispy shallots), Jackpot stickers (shrimp dumplings in a Japanese curry) , Cereal Killa Prawns (Jumbo shrimp covered in wheat cereal with egg floss) and Popcorn chicken. I could have passed on the soup, but everything else was top notch.

The standout dish of the meal was the broccoli tempura. This was the lightest tempura with a deep crunch and intense lime flavour. I literally fought off my eating companion and licked the plate clean. The cocktails were great but my fave was the Typhoon with Gosling's black seal, five spice, kaffir lime and ginger beer.

After our meal I needed to walk off all that food, so we strolled down Spadina and browsed the Chinese shops and market. My adventure may have started back in June, and it took me until November to hunt down those elusive chicken wings, but along the way I found two amazing hot spots to add to my growing list of amazing restaurants in Toronto.

Jackpot Chicken Rice: 318 Spadina Avenue

Patois: 794 Dundas St. W

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PS. I didn’t get a photo of the chicken wings because I was too excited to dig in and eat them!