Tebasaki Wing House is a Little Italy sports bar serving Japanese-style wings. 

The interior is what you'd expect of a typical bar, complete with six widescreens playing games nightly, plus a wraparound bar. However, the menu here is a refreshing step away from the usual greasy — and often underwhelming — pub fare. 

Owner Jeffrey Chu is hoping to redefine bar dining by challenging people's expectations of the food you'd eat at a sports bar.

No stranger to Japanese fare, Chu also runs Yuugi Izakaya and Japanese listening bar 915 Dupont.

Chu noticed there was a shortage of izakayas in the area. "For every 100 sports bars in the city, you maybe have 10 izakayas."

In order to set themselves apart, they decided to specialize in something that no one is currently offering: Japanese wings. 

"The city has a lot of fried chicken options but not a single Japanese fried chicken that's not a karaage."

Chu tapped Yuugi head chef Yuki Tenaka, a Nagoya native, to develop a unique menu. It's divided into four sections: snacking bar bites, shareable appetizers, wings, and mains. 

They also have cocktails and mocktails pouring on tap, which are served in a tall pint glass. Try the special Tebasaki Tea cocktail ($9) that uses peach black currant oolong leaves. It's basically an adult iced tea. 

The Lemon Sour ($9) is another popular drink. Consisting of vodka, lemon, and soda, it'll be familiar to most drinkers. 
Wings are done in two ways: tempura battered ($8) or traditional Nagoya-style ($7). Choose your type of batter and one of 10 flavours to create your own order.

There's even a tempura-battered cauliflower option for vegetarians. 

We had the traditional style wings in Nagoya Sweet Soy sauce — their most popular flavour — and it was a great balance of salty and sweet. The batter is super thin, which lets you de-bone the wings quicker.   

The tempura battered wings are much thicker, and keep the meat juicier thanks to the evaporation of water between the skin and batter in the frying process. 

There are super unique Japanese sauces and dry toppings here, like Kombu Salt, Sweet Plum, Osaka BBQ, and Sansho Chili Pepper.

The Osaka BBQ was not spicy despite the name and would be an easy wing to start with. It uses a soy sauce base you'd commonly find in yakiniku. Fearless tongues can opt for a Chipotle Chili or Habanero Buffalo for guaranteed heat.

On the mains, there's a variety of options like Fried Rice ($15) and even late-night Shio Chicken Ramen ($17). A spin on the classic burger is the Teriyaki Wagyu Burger ($19) that has all the standard frills on a brioche bun.

For people looking to lightly accompany their drinks or add to their meal, there are some fun bar bites to try. Scallop Kimchi ($13) is made using Hokkaido scallop sashimi, kombu seaweed, and Japanese pepper powder for a mild palate cleanser. 

Ehire Yaki ($9) is a traditional drinking snack in Japan. Almost like a jerky, it's chewy and quite salty. Dried stingray is pan-fried and served in bite-sized pieces to dip in togarashi mayo. If you're feeling sweet, try the Fig Butter Toast ($8). A slice of toasted milk bread comes with fig butter and chili honey that's smooth and spreadable.

The last call for food is 2 a.m. — an intentional move by Chu to keep the kitchen open so people can eat good food into the late hours of the evening. 

Tebasaki Wing House is located at 638 College Street.