Helsinki and Spicy Chicken Wings part 3

With the perfect chicken wing in mind, we set out, once again to find the best chicken wing restaurant in Helsinki. The taste buds tuned to the spiciness, we search the internet for a few more places to visit and go ourselves a list.

The first restaurant, with a promising name of Colorado, which serves supposedly great steaks had chicken wings on a menu. So far so good. However, when reading a bit more, they were marinated in honey-chili sauce, so obviously not what we are looking for. Anyway, we stayed and order a small portion. The wings were nice and juicy, but the sauce and the dip, just horrible,so if you are after good wings, this is definitely not the place to go.

Our next stop ended up somewhat rock clubish looking Henry's Pub, which was located in the old bus station in Kamppi. When first looking at the menu, this seems our hearts started to beat faster and faster. The only thing we found was wings with multitude of sauces. Unfortunately, they didn't have XXHot sauce that day, so we had to downgrade to only XHot. Anyway, the wings sauce was the closest to a Buffalo wing so far, however, on the bad note, the wings were very dry. I am not sure if this was due to the fact that they probably freeze the hell out of them or they just had a bad batch coming out of the oven. We do have to go again to confirm which theory it is. The blue cheese dip and the fries were excellent, so this is definitely the place to go visit.

Our wing hunt is not over yet, will keep you posted with our next endeavors.

Buffalo Wings in Helsinki Continues

A new buffalo wing experience awaited us in the American-Mexican style bar(smoking allowed - which is weird in Finland) called Texas. The wings there were actually quite ok, but still not the ultimate American style wings that one would expect. The wings come already marinated in sauce, but are far from being hot. I believe they also have a BBQ sauce, but that just destroys the Buffalo wing idea all together.

Newly discovered frozen marinated wings in a German type grocery store called Lidl might just be the ideal wings out there.

So far it has been impossible to find naked wings without a marinated in Finland. Actually, there is more marinated meat out here than anywhere else I have ever lived in. Only some stores can get you a good naked meat, so you can marinate it yourself.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Hunt in Helsinki, Finland

After our initial Prague Buffalo wing hunt, which really wasn't all that successful, so needs to be repeated, we decided to attempt similar in Helsinki, Finland. Now, Finland is not known for its spicy food. Actually, Finnish people are not too keen on spicy stuff, but Helsinki is so international nowadays that it is not a problem to get some spiciness into your life.

Our first stop was the hip restaurant in the center (Kamppi) called Memphis. The chicken wings here weren't the real deal, however, the spicy dip that came with them was not bad at all. Otherwise, the wings were a bit too dry. The next place we went to was a typical American restaurant called Chico's. With that name, one would assume they would have great buffalo wings, however, big mistake. There was no sign of chicken wings on the menu and the burgers we ordered were little to be desired, so this is one is a no go.

Third try was the Southern Fried Chicken fast food joint in Kamppi again. Who else would know how to make some wings than this place. And it wasn't far from the truth. The chicken wings came already dipped in a spicy sauce which was not that bad for Finland, but it still left a bit more to be desired for the real Buffalo wings.

After the different restaurant dining, we decided to visit local supermarkets to see if we can make the spicy chicken wings we desire ourselves. Finland is actually known for having a lot of different already marinated meats available in the stores, so it didn't take long to find two different chicken wings packets soaking in delicious red spicy sauce. After about an hour in the oven, we were munching on probably the best wings we have had in a while. They weren't perfect, but were damn good. Especially if we can add some cayenne pepper and some Thai spicy chili sauce.

Our quest is of course not over yet, so stay tuned for more delicious spicy sticky wing stories.

Hang on now. Breaking news :). Just came across the finnish society of spicy sauces (in Finnish) and got the original Buffalo Wing Sauce from them, so will have to try it out. Will probably be the winner there.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Hunt in Prague

If you have ever visited the United States for a bit longer than just a couple of days, there is no way you could not come across the typical Anchor Bar spicy buffalo wings which are served almost in every restaurant (obviously some better some worse). Some restaurants even specialize only in this delicious treat from our feathered friends. It does not get much better than a big plate of the spiciest wings, fries and a good beer to flush it down with. The real wings are suppose to be marinated in a wonderful spicy sauce which gets your pores dripping with sweat and turns your nose into a leaking dam.

In the true sense of the chicken wing fashion, we decided to explore Prague's restaurant scene and see if the Czechs have mastered the art of the chicken wing. After a short search on the internet we found a few restaurants around the center (Wenceslas Square) which advertised spicy chicken wings on their menu. Equipped with empty stomachs, carefully selected chicken wing criteria (1.spice-level 2.meat 3.dips 4.price 5.service and other factors), the optimism that we will succeed in our mission and a few crowns, we embarked on the Chicken wing tour de Prague.

(Needless to say, this is once again one of those non-vegetarian posts. Viewer discretion is advised.)

The first restaurant we visited was called Amigos and was portrayed as a real Mexican joint. From the menu, one could tell that they were serious about the Mexican dishes, so I'd definitely go back to try some of the food from our latin brothers. However, since our focus were the spicy wings, we went right to the business and ordered a big plate to share with couple of Gambrinus beers along with a plate of fries. The waiting staff did not seem to be the most enthusiastic bunch, nevertheless, they did manage to get our order in and out quite fast (10 mins tops). The order was 12 wings for 99 Czech crowns which is about 8.25 crowns per chicken wing. Very reasonably priced for center of Prague. Well, if the price was good, the wings were lacking a bit. It is true that the wings themselves were very tasty and crispy, but they were not marinated in a sauce. Instead, it came with a separate spicy dip which was nothing more than a Tabasco sauce poured right out of the bottle, so obviously that does not constitute a good chicken wing experience. Furthermore, the fries were taken out a bit too early out of the pot, so weren't the crispiest. The wings did come with a blue cheese dressing which was actually made out of the real deal cheese, but was quite thin. The only thing that was quite well served were the carrots :).

Our second victim was an American western style restaurant called Buffalo Bills. This place really has some attitude and the decor is just great with the American country music playing in the background. Sets the mood just right for some wings. Since we were here for the wings, all the other distractions were secondary though. Buffalo Bills advertised 8 spicy wings for 136 Crowns called Annie Oakley's. This puts the price per wing at about 17 Czech crowns, about double from Amigos, so quite pricey. Nevertheless, we got some Corona and waited for our order. We did have to ask for extra blue cheese on a side as the wings were advertised with ranch dressing only. Long story short, the wings came out very quickly, so that was good, however, the spiciness would be at zero as they looked more like a BBQ or Jack Daniels sauce wings. After asking the waitress if these are really the spicy wings we ordered, the answer was a disappointing yes. The only thing that was right with these suckers was that they actually were marinated in a sauce and not served with the sauce on the side. The fries were very very good, but that was offset by the carrots which were quite tasteless and old. The waiters were nice and spoke English, so that was a plus.

After running into a couple of already closed restaurants which were advertising spicy wings, we found another Mexican place, called Czech-Mex. Our hopes were very low at this point. The wings we tried so far were so close, but yet so far from the original spicy buffalo wings. Czech-Mex had 16 spicy wings for 115 crowns which puts the price per wing at 8.25 Czech crowns, so the price was right. The wait time was not too bad either about 10-15 minutes and the waitresses pleasant. You can probably guess now though what the result is going to be :). Not wanting to break out of the pattern, we received good looking wings which were dry and the sauce was of course where else than on the side. Furthermore, the so called spicy sauce was nothing more than a few spoons taken straight out of a Sweet Chili sauce bottle. So spiciness very low. The fries was too thick and they did not even have the blue cheese dressing, so we decided to try tartar sauce on a side which was ok.

So, in conclusion of our first chicken wing escapade in Prague, Amigos was probably the closest as far as the true chicken wings go, however, still very very very far from the original stuff. Quite a disappointment so far, but we promise we will keep looking until the ultimate spicy buffalo chicken wing joint is found or established. If you know of some places that might qualify, even outside of Prague around Europe, PLEASE do let us know in the comments as we are wings crazy and want to satisfy the craving :).