Let me start by saying that I am a “heatseeker.” I have done many hot sauce challenges and can tolerate millions of Scovile Heat Units. As such, I am often disappointed by restaurants claiming to offer the “hottest” of something. Indeed, most don’t have the ingredients to make something hot enough for me. I might add a Wall of Shame listing such disappointments to this review but for now, I will concentrate on those that offer “legit” heat!

Wingmaster

Home to my second “wing incident” Wingmaster in Brantford makes the hottest food I have ever had! The first time I tried their Blackenstein, it was listed at 6 million SHU! They discontinued this sauce for a while but brought it back with a vengeance with a claimed 10 MILLION SHU! I believe it. The wings cost $6 EACH but I defy anyone to eat more than one!

Blackenstein is not their only super hot offering. For example, The Hulk is dill flavoured with a legit over 1 million SHU of Ghost pepper heat in a beautiful toxic green!

Covid protocols were in place during my last visit so I had to get the wings takeout. The Hulk lost its beautiful green colour during the long drive home but neither sauce lost its heat!

closeup of Blackenstein

closeup of The Hulk

I cant imagine anyone topping Wingmaster’s heat levels.

C.W. Coop

While the Port Perry location where I had my (in)famous “wing incident” closed down, I have since learned that there are other locations still in operation. Their CooCoo waiver sauce is the only thing I have ever had that comes close to Wingmaster so I would definitely like to revisit them. Next time I will be sure to take pics as well (of the wings and aftermath, if there is any).

Duff’s Famous Wings

Duff’s and Anchor Bar, both hailing out of Buffalo, claim to be the originators of Buffalo Wings. Either way, I prefer Duff’s for both heat and flavour.

They no longer sound the alarm for Armageddon or ring the death toll bell for Death, their second hottest sauce, but these two sauces maintain their 850,000 and 500,000 SHU ratings respectively.

I typically order 2 pounds, one of each of Armageddon and SuperHot (150,000 SHU)

Closeups of Armageddon

And SuperHot

The Wing Factory

I was super impressed when I tried TWF’s Apocalypse sauce. They don’t list the ingredients of provide an SHU rating but I can say that it is easily on the level of Duff’s Death and maybe even Armageddon and Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin Reaper (sadly no longer available in Canada). Good company for sure!

Dave’s Hot Chicken

I must admit that I was a bit skeptical given that this is a chain and Drake’s involvement in bringing them to Canada but let me assure you, their Reaper sauce is not watered down! It is HOT! They definitely kept the essence of my favourite heat source, Carolina Reaper. I love how their disclaimer says it can cause “emotional distress, or even death.” Lol

I have ordered two sliders but have found that, given the heat level, one is enough lol.

barBurrito

Another option that makes legitimate use of the Carolina Reaper, the limited edition Norther Reaper, available with your choice of protein.

The first time it was offered I chose to have it with ground beef.

It was brought back a year or two later, but this time only available in a small size. I had a few of them with crispy chicken and all were scorching hot!

Sadly, their latest run is over. I hope they bring it back soon!

T.J.’s Curry in a Hurry

Phaal curry actually originated in the UK. With the closing of Bristol Bombay in downtown Toronto (thanks to Covid), T.J’s in Barrie is the only place in Canada (that I know of) to offer it.

The curry is claimed to be 1 Million SHU. It was indeed the hottest Indian food I have ever had although in terms of absolute heat it is not on the same level as some of the others I have mentioned.

Bombay Bhel

Slightly less ambitious than T.J’s claim of being the hottest in the world, Bombay Bhel claimed to have Canada’s Hottest Curry. I say “claimed” because I believe they took it off the menu when they moved to a new location.

The curry, which did not contain any meat or vegetables, was said to be made from 19 different spices ranging from 450,000 to 1,100,000 SHU.

It was definitely hot but I would say T.J.s is hotter. Given that it didn’t contain meat, I ordered a chicken Vindaloo at their second highest spice level as well.

Closeup of Canada’s Hottest Curry

And the chicken Vindaloo

I should mention that their garlic Naan was the best I have ever had.

Midori

Midori’s Ghost Spice Halloween special is simultaneously the hottest and best tasting Ramen I have ever had! And this despite the fact that it doesn’t actually contain Ghost peppers.

I hope they bring it back next Halloween. Actually, I hope they keep it on the menu permanently.

Kenzo

Easily matching, if not surpassing Midori’s spice level, but not quite matching the flavour, Kenzo’s Spicy Charsu with Level 3 spice lives up to its reputation for heat. It is now my “go to” Ramen.

KAMEN RAMEN

The first time I did the Volcano Challenge at Kamen Ramen they made me sign a waiver and It wasn’t that hot. In fairness, they made some modifications for me so maybe that was a factor. Also, it wasn’t at their main location.

I have since tried it again at their main location. Ironically, no waiver this time yet it was MUCH hotter!

it even managed to elicit some tears

but I finished it

and ended up on their Hall of Flame

btw, I washed it down with a strawberry maccaroon which was very good!

Afro’s Pizza

Afro’s pizza was the hottest pizza I have ever had. Let me clarify that though. The Davis Jr. is pretty spicy itself but it was the side addition of Mango Reaper that set this pie apart.

Normally I don’t like sweet with my heat so I was a bit concerned about the “hot honey” and mixing Reaper with mango. However, the heat was sufficient to wipe out any sweet flavour profile. This Reaper mango sauce is legit!

Past contenders

As I mentioned, Buffalo Wild Wing has pulled out of the Canadian market. They used to have a Blazin Ghost, which was later upgraded to Blazin Reaper that put out some serious heat. Unlike others, their heat really built up in the sense that the first wing wasn’t so bad but by the time you got to the third or fourth you were really suffering. In fact, the pic of me at the top of this review was taken after eating Blazin Reaper.

Sadly I don’t remember the name of the old place on Augusta Avenue in Chinatown that used to offer Scorpion pepper sauce wings. They were scorching hot and I don’t know of any other place that uses Scorpion peppers.

Wall of Shame

I have to think about how to cover this. There are A LOT of places I have tried that don’t match their claims of being the “hottest”, even those that offer challenges and require you to sign a waiver (I have won several hats and tshirts lol).

My search for heat continues…

RL

Some of the best things about visiting my hometown of Montreal are the incredible meals and of course re-connecting with friends and family! I had the chance to do both of those with lunch at Monarque, one of the top restos in the city, with my high-school friend, Michael Vathilakis, whom I haven’t seen in 34 years! Michael is now a top lawyer, and no, I am not in any trouble lol!

I started with the escargot over bone marrow

while Michael had the salmon tartare

for a main dish, i had the blood pudding

while Michael had the seared tuna

selection of chocolates and sweets for dessert

for drinks i had their Pistachio cocktail

and Blanton’s

yup, we were pretty happy with our meal! And it was so great to catch-up with Michael and share stories of old and new. All in all a great experience!

RL