I have been trying Chicken Wings at different places within Ottawa and this time I ended up ordering myself Chicken Wings at the Royal Oak (Bank Street). I had noticed that the restaurant had not only just Hot Wings, but they also offered Extreme flavored sauce for their Chicken Wings.

I enquired about what was the difference between the Hot and Extreme and was told that the restaurant used Frank’s Hot Sauce for Hot Wings while they had something a bit more hotter for the Extreme Wings. I decided to give the Extreme Chicken Wings a go.

The Extreme Chicken Wings definitely smelled hot, and came with a few pieces of celery/carrots and sour cream to tame the heat. Trying these wings, yes they felt they were a little bit more hot but not extremely hot as I was thinking.

I think that the wings had a little bit of tabasco and vinegar apart from the hot sauce added into it for that extra hot flavoring. The wings did taste good but I didn’t felt amazed by them.

You do have the option to have the chicken wings classic or breaded. Also if you think Extreme flavor is not for you the place does offer mild as well as salt and pepper flavoring for their chicken wings.

The overall vibe at the place is good for a group hangout. It feels like the restaurant does attract a sports crowd as they have a number of TV screens with sports playing all the time.

Rating – 7/10

Address: 318 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K2P 1X7

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

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Vimy Brewing Company is a popular craft brewery in the Ottawa area. I decided to check it out since I was around the Industrial Area.

I had expected the place to be a bit busy however when I arrived it was just my friend and the server. The place however looked very clean and can be a good place to have a big group without running into seating issues.

There did appear to be a couple of people coming in however since it’s a brewery, it’s just people who come in for picking up their order of beers.

I wanted to try out their Flights so that I get to sample a variety of drinks that they offer however I was told that a number of items on the menu were not being offered! Disappointing! So I ended up ordering a cream ale, which I was told is a light beer that they offer. The froth was a bit bitter but I think I like the taste of it!

Another thing I didn’t like is that there is no food! I think it would have been great if they place had some snacks to munch on with your drinks! Though they do allow you to bring in food from other places.

I think I might end up at Vimy Brewing Company again if I ever had a large group of friends headed to have some drinks.

Address: 830 Industrial Ave Unit 11, Ottawa, ON K1G 4B8

Rating – 7/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

This time we went to Rooftop Ottawa which is one of the newer rooftop bars that have opened up in the area. Rooftop Ottawa is located in the Byward Market, and is right above Apothecary Lounge.

The place looks slick and has a really nice vibe. I liked the music as well. You can see the streets of Byward Market busy with people, some people playing loud music in their pimped up cars from the Rooftop!

The only issue appeared to be really slow service at the place. After sitting down, we just had to keep waiting for the server to come to our table and then it took a while to get our drinks as well. We had to call servers tending at other tables to get us water.

I could see people just leaving after waiting on their tables long enough. Luckily I got my drink after waiting quite a bit. I had ordered their Layover cocktail which consisted of Rye, Chamomile, and Lemon. The drink tasted strong enough and I could taste the alcohol more than the lemon.

I think the rooftop bar offers a great atmosphere for small groups to hangout however they need to improve a lot on their service.

I was lucky that I had eaten already so didn’t have to order food otherwise I might have ended up waiting for an hour or so.

Address: 54 York St, Ottawa, ON K1N 6Z9

Rating – 5.5/10

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

I have been looking to get a Tire Change for a while now. Canadian Tire told me it could take 2 days to get my tires changed and would have to leave the car, Mr Lube (Walmart) couldn’t change my tires due to them being low profile and Speedy Auto told me they would need atleast 2 weeks to do a tire change!

Finally I gave a call to Jiffy Lube who informed me they can change my tires straight away. It took them approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour to change my winter tires to summer tires (more time due to them not being on rims)

While changing my tires, I actually ended up learning something that the other service centers never told me before! I was filling my tires at wrong air pressure! Apparently the previous owner had gotten different types of tires than what the car comes with and they need to be inflated at a higher pressure. I had been damaging my rims before which is something I had not noticed before!

They also noticed some issues with my tires and patched it up for free.

However Jiffy does charge a bit more than other providers out there. I think my tire change cost me $160+ however I think it was worth it as I hadn’t been able to get a tire change quick enough anywhere else and also am hoping that my rims won’t be getting damaged anymore due to lower air pressure!

If you are looking to get your tires changed and don’t have time, then definitely head out to Jiffy Lube! This was prolly the quickest tire change I have gotten while being in the Ottawa Gatineau area.

Rating – 10/10

Address: 660 Boulevard Saint-Joseph, Gatineau, Quebec J8Y 4A8

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

My hunt for finding out the hottest chicken wings in the Ottawa region continues. A while back, I was recommended by someone to try the hot chicken wings at the Summerhays Grill and finally found the opportunity to do so this month.

The restaurant has a number of different flavors for their chicken wings to suit your taste – from BBQ to specialty sauces like sweet mustard, Dave’s sauce and crazy Paula’s but their hottest flavor they have is called ‘Suicide’.

As soon as the order arrived at the table, everyone could smell the amount of heat that was packed in these wings. The Suicide Chicken Wing at Summerhays Grill are one of the most dark red colored wings I have seen and they do deliver well on their name.

I prefer to enjoy my wings so usually go with ranch dressing when eating really hot wings. For these ones, I definitely recommend as even if you are used to hot food, you are going to need something to cool you off a bit!

Trying out these wings and being at a number of other restaurants that offer hot wings, I can definitely say that these are so far the hottest wings that I have had so far in the city. (Though I have had even hotter wings in other places)

Do give the Sucide Wings at Summerhays Grill a try if you are looking to try some really hot and delicious chicken wings. They would not disappoint you! Caution needs to be exercised if you have not had hot/spicy food before.

In case you are looking for something that is less spicy you could either go for their Medium or Cajun wings. Personally, I got to try the Cajun wings and didn’t enjoy them all, so wouldn’t recommend anyone to go for the Cajun Wings.

Rating: 7.5/10 (overall rating – based on vibe, service, food etc)

Business website: https://summerhaysgrill.ca/

Address: 1971 Baseline Rd, Ottawa, ON K2C 0C7

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/

Finding a good buffet spot can be a bit hard to find as such restaurants usually tend to focus on quantity rather than quality. Not this one though!

PakIndia is a Pakistani and Indian cuisine restaurant located in Orleans and is a good 15-20 minute drive from downtown Ottawa. This was my first time going to a Pakistani Buffet restaurant and I had lower expectations from this restaurant (because of it being a buffet). The place does look like an ordinary hangout spot.

One thing that I have never noticed before is that this place serves Rooh Afza (drink), I have been to a decent number of Indian restaurants before and have never seen that drink before at any! Also, I think the last time I saw that drink was more than a decade back!

Their Buffet has a variety of dishes that serve both vegetarians as well as meat lovers! I ended up trying out their lamb and chicken dishes along with some biryani and naan bread but my favorite one of all the dishes was the lamb.

I didn’t feel if any of the dishes were very spicy. They just had the right amount of spice for someone who might be looking to try Pakistani or Indian food.

Also; they did have a limited dessert option as part of the buffet which includes rice pudding and other Indian sweets like Gulab Jamun/Rasgulla.

Since this restaurant offers a halal menu, they do not have any pork options. While the food is definitely enjoyable, the place lacks a bit of atmosphere because maybe they cater more to people who want takeout food. Also the service is a bit limited, so if you need anything you will need to go to the counter and ask for it.

Rating: 7/10 ; Good food! Okay atmosphere.

Business website: https://www.pakindiarestaurant.com/

Address: 4025 Innes Rd, Orléans, ON K1C 1T1

Tom Mehra

Tom Mehra, an Ottawa-based Software Engineer with a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Texas at Dallas, shares insights on local food spots and top attractions in Canada and the US. He’s also a former resident of the US, UK, and India, and in 2023, his blog was nominated for an Ottawa Award by Faces Magazine. He is also a cat sitter.

tommera.com/