Scorched (Buffalo Wings) @ Sunset Grill & Bar

This wasn’t about the recent devastating bush fires in Australia, nor was it about the sunny weather in Singapore. It was, again, a food expedition I had.

Buffalo Wings.

No again kids; buffalo has no wings but they do have wind; which I prefer not to elaborate.

According to Wikipedia (my favourite), buffalo wings are actually chicken wing sections (called wings or "flats") and wing drummettes that are deep fried and then coated in sauce. Traditional Buffalo-style chicken wing sauce is composed of two ingredients: a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and margarine or butter.

To say the truth, I have never heard about Buffalo wings until I was in my twenties. It was supposed to be a must try but for a poor boy (then) with no car, it was not high on my list. I saw it in the menu on a trip to Buckaroo but to pay more than $3 for a chicken wing was just not my cup of tea. Give me a $2 char kway teow anytime!

That was until the usual gang of 4 found themselves travelling the rural countryside in Seletar; admiring the vast, un-spoilt nature and the seemingly empty, spooky colonial houses. If memory did not fail me, I believe it was Weeyuan who suggested a place beside Seletar airport that sells Buffalo wings.

Sunset Grill & Bar

Like the name suggests, this place glows when the sun sets. With the runway just mere meters away, I can imagine the laid back feel when you are outside sipping a glass of beer and watching the private planes landing.

That is, before the mosquitoes bite!

Disregard the above, air-con area is and has always been the choice since the alfresco area is always filled to the brim.

Coming back, I tried Buffalo wings number 3 then. I used my fingers, licked them with the same ferocity like the KFC slogan (finger licking good!) and regretted with tears as I feel my lips swelling and the spiciness tickling into my throat.

In case some of you are unaware, Buffalo wings in Singapore come in numbers (I am not sure about other countries). Number 1 is the least spicy and the spiciness increases as the number rises. The highest in Sunset is number 10 although you can customize it to an even higher level.

They were good though! Without the excessive Cayenne pepper, I believe they were better than my mom’s freshly fried chicken wings. The pepper adds a special taste to the wings; something that triggers the numerous taste buds on your tongue and giving it the ultimatum to explore the wings more intricately.

After that particular out of the mind experience, I steered clear of Sunset Grill & Bar. I was never a “spicy” person but unfortunately had a lot of “spicy” friends. I was so amazed by one of those friends who literally dump chilli padi into her food that I jokingly agreed to sponsor her two number 10 buffalo wings.

And she remembered that well; to the extent she would 'casually' ask me when we are going to try Buffalo wings. I am a nice guy, always am and I dun really want to hurt her feelings (I am so nice right??). So here I go again; this time to see how my friend suffers at the mercy of those petite wings!

It was crowded as usual and the pricing has changed as you are required to buy at least half a dozen! My friend was a bit hesitant about trying number 10 after hearing some stories and we decided to try number 6 first.

Number 6!

I felt that number 6 should be bearable for me (since we have to order 6 anyway) and after eating it with knife and fork; yes, it was not that spicy! A bit tingling on the tongue and definitely not as bad as before. Standard has dropped or I can readily accept spicier food nowadays?

Number 6 was quite a disappointment and we followed up with number 10! This time, I regretted it! Burning burning burning! My tongue was scorched! Only with the constant soothing with multiple cubes of ice did I manage to survive.

Number 10! See the red hot coating!

Our two friends were nonchalant about the spiciness; one was even eating the wings with chilli sauce (she argued that it reduced the spiciness). But another friend of mine suffered more than me! Look below for the traumatizing experience!

Would I try it again? I think I would.