This week, that all went out the window when a coworker walked by my desk at work, saw me looking at the menu for Fat Boy Burgers, and said "Let's go there for lunch today!" Sometimes, spontaneity eclipses the well-laid plans of a young onion ring connoisseur, but the onion ring standard remains the same. Here's a review of onion rings from Fat Boy Burgers. Thank you to David Welch and Jimmy Birney (aka "The Jimmy") for joining me.
Presentation and Appearance: 4/5
The entire aesthetic of Fay Boy Burgers is grounded in nostalgia, particularly for old time diners of years past. The presentation of the onion rings is perfectly consistent with that, plated in a red plastic basket with the classic red and white paper resting beneath the onion rings. The presentation suits the onion rings well, and though it is a bit basic, it is certainly a classic.
The appearance of the onion rings immediately tells me they are freshly battered and handmade (though it does already claim that on the menu.) Like the presentation, the onion rings call back to an earlier age, and look like they'd be perfectly at home in any classic greasy spoon.
That said, there were some gnarly bits that were a tad excessive, and some chipped batter littered the bottom of the basket when I was done. There were no cracked rings, that I can recall, or missing breading.
Taste: 4.5/5
I was immediately drawn into these onion rings on first bite. They were rich, almost buttery, and layered with just enough grease. I usually dock onion rings for grease (often, because it's horribly excessive,) but I really didn't mind it on these. In fact, I think the grease contributed greatly to the flavor. The batter was fresh and well-seasoned, and blended beautifully with the underlying (and overlying) grease.
The onion itself, however, was not especially strong. There was a consistent, light onion taste, but it was certainly not the highlight of the rings. Like most good onion rings, the onions were definitely lightly sweated before being battered and fried, which improved the (somewhat weak) flavor dramatically.
Despite the shortcomings in the onion realm, I genuinely couldn't get enough of these onion rings. I found it hard to just eat one bite of a ring, and often ended up practically devouring them whole, chomping away at the ring bit by glorious bit. The one downside, however, was a lack of accompanying dipping sauce, which I think are necessarily to truly bring out the best in an onion ring.
Texture: 3.5/5
The texture of these onion rings fascinated me. They were not hard, or thick, or crunchy (like so many onion rings are.) Rather, they were soft, light, and airy. The delightfully light texture and the greasy, full-bodied flavor complement one another wonderfully. There was no deep, satisfying crunch, but I think this is a good change from the standard.
I've docked points solely because of the inconsistency in the batter, which lad to excessive chunks of overdone breading all over the onion ring. I always appreciate a bit of this just to mix things up a bit, and add some more unique texture to the onion ring, but these were just too much. In fact, just about the only crunch in these onion rings came from gnawing on the overdone batter.
I understand why this was the case, and I'd rather have some overcooked bits from a handmade ring than the perfectly smooth, frozen, manufactured chimera so common to cheap chain restaurants, but it was a mark against the rings nonetheless.
Value: 5/5
For $3.59, I got the "large" side of onion rings to go with my patty melt. Frankly, I would have been perfectly filled on just the side of onion rings! For the relatively small amount of money, one gets an enormous mound of homemade, greasy onion rings. I've paid much more and gotten far less at many other restaurants in the area.
Fat Boy Burgers has, to date, the best onion rings I've reviewed in the Grand Rapids area. Give them a try sometime.
Total: 17/20
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