Duffy's Irish Pub

Duffy's Irish Pub- website
2106 Vermont Ave, NW 

Duffy’s is a great little neighborhood bar that has all the wants of a local Irish pub: beer, pub food, good service and sports on the TV’s.  Duffy’s has been rated year after year as having the best wings in DC by the Washington City Paper and I have had the wings before and they are decent but I wouldn’t say they were the best.  I had to go back again and try some of the wings to give Duffy’s another rating to see how I thought of them now.  I tried four of the flavors with Scott G., Donna$$ and Melissa.

 
1.       Spicy BBQ:  I typically am never a fan of BBQ wings because I don’t like things that have a sweet taste to them.  However the table ruled that we had to order these wings.  The wings came out and were a very good sized meaty wing with a smoky but very sweet BBQ sauce.  The spicy part of the sauce was almost non-existent.  When eating the wings there was a slight after taste of heat in the wing sauce that you would be able to tell would make it the spicy BBQ but not enough that if you are sensitive to hot food this wing would bother you. This was a 50/50 vote on the table I would say these wings were FAIR.

2.       Spicy Asian:   I really like trying Asian flavored wings at restaurants for two reasons: 1. I love Asian food and the flavors they combine with chicken wings 2. I have yet to find a good Asian wing. When these wings came out they were also a good decent meaty size, though the sauce and gooey plate was a total turn off.  They looked very sticky and the sauce has some chili pepper flakes mixed in.  I have to say when I bit into the wings I was sadly disappointed in the flavor. The wings were sweet and the chili peppers gave no heat at all.  Don’t call the wings “spicy” if there is no spicy heat to the wing.  The wings were basically a sticky sweet wing with not even a ginger or soy type Asian flavor to them.  I would never eat these wings again. NEVER AGAIN

 

(Picture came out dark)

3.       Chesapeake:  Chesapeake comes in two types at Duffy’s. You can order them cooked or charbroiled.  We decided to order our wings charbroiled and I might try and get them cooked next time but we figured the charbroiled would have been the better bet.  The wings came out and had a grilled taste with a charred salty dry rub. You could see and taste that they were charbroiled and had the grill marks on the wings themselves.  The wings would have been better if they were not overly salty.  I love a good Chesapeake or Old Bay wing but many restaurants get carried away with the seasoning and turn it into a salt lick.  A little bit of seasoning can go a long way when dealing with Chesapeake or Old Bay seasoning?  These wings were slightly too salty but decent.  I would give them another shot. FAIR

4.       Hot: These wings were by far the table favorite.  I believe Donna$$ and Scott G. decided we needed a second order of these because of the ones we tried these were the best ones.  I would definitely get them again. When they arrived they were a decent sized meaty wing and were fried with a crispy skin.  The wings were covered in a spicy hot sauce that has a mixture of herbs in the sauce that adds ton of flavor and not just heat.  Their hot wings are very unique with the herbs and spices mixed into the sauce. I would get these wings again when I return to Duffy’s.  GOOD

 

Overall I am not a huge fan of Duffy’s Irish Pub’s wings.  I think they have other food there that should be recognized like the famous Duffy’s Monster Burger is a MUST with a side of tots.  Their wings are decent in size and cooked well however I they would not be what I would label as the best wings in DC. I like the Hot wing and would prefer the Spicy Asian to be more spicy and have more Asian flavor to be true to the name.  I will definitely go back and hope to have other wings with some tots too.