“Elephant & Castle, always dependable, set the bar high with their American style buffalo wings.”The competition for claiming the title of ‘best wings’ is encouraging restaurants to come out with more inventive flavours. Irish meat-eaters are constantly on the hunt for the best chicken wings and there are a few Dublin restaurants in the running. The cult names are Elephant & Castle, Blue Bar, and Tribeca.Elephant & Castle, always dependable, set the bar high with their American style buffalo wings. The wings are marvelous, but the location is even better: right in the heart of Temple Bar. Tribeca, the sister-restaurant to Canal Bank in Ranelagh, has had its name mentioned multiple times and for good reason. When you look around the restaurant you'd swear there was nothing else on the menu at all, everyone is eating their famous wings. Blue Bar usually comes out on top. The beautiful location, looking out over the quaint Skerries Harbour, is hard to beat. Combine that with their secret wing recipe, and Blue Bar becomes a top contender.
There are a few other restaurants new to the game that are serving wings and gaining popularity quickly. Crackbird has innovative flavours, like 'soy fried' and 'habanero and honey.' Wishbone, on Montague St, opened last year and has made a splash. As they specialize in wings, they have created some interesting flavours, like salted toffee apple and spiced orange. Don't be skeptical, they are delicious. Each of these restaurants are certainly worthy contenders, but the winner may come as shock.Located not too far from the UCD campus, Kielys of Donnybrook is the real winner. The wings are called the Kielys Kilo. Yes, a kilo of wings, is there anything better in this world? Their unique honey sesame wings sauce is outstanding: aromatic, sweet, and tangy. The chicken is succulent and crispy on the outside. The staff are lovely too, a bustling rugby dwellers pub with great drink selections. At €15, the price seems slightly above average but when you see the portion you know you're getting value for money. They also come with fries. It’s an absolute feast, big enough for two, but too good to share. Nothing like beating the mid-week hump with Wings Wednesday in Kielys.“When you look around the restaurant you'd swear there was nothing else on the menu at all, everyone is eating their famous wings.”