Welcome to the fourth entry in the Mackinac Island onion ring review extravaganza. Prior to this anniversary trip, I hadn't been to the island since I was a child on our annual family trips. As such, there were a lot of things I didn't anticipate, including the benefits of being on an island with no motor vehicles while bar hopping, the staggering beauty of a night sky with almost no light pollution while sitting on a rocky beach, and the horrible, horrible wait times.
Some of this is, no doubt, a direct result of one of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's many petty executive orders limiting restaurant capacity, though more could be attributed to it being a nice weekend in August. In any case, by the time we made our way to Ice House BBQ, we were literally unable to get a table before they closed. Thankfully, they had an operating takeout window (surrounded by oddly unused seating) so I could check another step in the onion ring checklist off.
Here is a review of onion rings from Ice House BBQ.
Presentation and Appearance: 3.5/5
As could be reasonably expected from any takeout, the presentation isn't exactly wowing. Though a combination of draconian executive orders limiting restaurant capacity, the usual busy nature of Mackinac Island, and my own inability to plan ahead with a reservation makes this somewhat explainable. The rings are thrown together haphazardly in a black takeout container, a to-go cup of the dipping sauce balanced betwixt.
The rings themselves are pretty varied in size (though perhaps a bit too small to fit the advertised "colossal" size) and very clearly hand breaded with what looks to be Panko. Despite the hand-breading, they're actually fairly well covered and consistent, though the coating is not perfect. The color is a beautiful and almost archetypal golden brown, though there are some darkened bits around the edges.
I also ate this sitting on a rapidly cooling stone bench in Marquette Park but, again, that's on me.
Taste: 4.5/5
I've often found that breading tends to have a weaker flavor than batter, as a general rule. That said, this breading packs a pretty good taste, with happy mediums of both salt and grease shimmering across and throughout. The onions, though on the small side, are cooked well - just long and hot enough to release the liquid gold that is the onion juices without letting the onion disintegrate.
The superstar of this dish, however, is the cinnamon-chipotle dipping sauce. I'm increasingly jaded when it comes to onion ring dipping sauce - with most restaurants cycling through a familiar menagerie of ranch, "southwest" or "zesty" sauce, and the occasional disgusting spurt of ketchup. This dipping sauce, contrasting the pedestrian and familiar, is literally mind blowing and game changing.
It has flavors I have never even fathomed going with onion rings - an intoxicating mayo-based blend of spicy, sweet, and creamy. It soothes and mildly scorches the tongue in tandem, with an invigorating mixture. It even accomplishes the rare task of perfectly complementing, and not overpowering in any way, the flavors of the breading and the onion. This sauce was purpose built for these onion rings in some fantastic mixture of art, science, and divine inspiration.
Texture: 4/5
The Panko breading holds up well and maintains a respectable thickness throughout, without being too crunchy. One advantage of breadcrumbs over batter is the tendency for the breading to hold together under tooth-based assault, and this tends to be the case. Indeed, even as I cracked the rings to fit into the diminishing cinnamon-chipotle sauce container, they held firm. Though the onions seemed to be on the smaller side, they were softened just enough, thick, and meatier than I first thought.
For its merits, there was a not-insignificant amount of slippage for the amount of rings represented. My wife, against my protest, attributed this to "user error" on my part. The slippage incidence was much less than I'd expect from a breaded ring, a point in favor of preparation and execution.
Value: 4/5
Value is a tricky thing to determine on Mackinac Island. Were these onion rings good? Yes. Were they worth a whopping $15? In some respects, perhaps. Prices are naturally higher on Mackinac, hitting a trifecta of a secluded island, with heavy tourism, and all transportation by horse, and I'd expect to pay half to two-thirds of the amount for comparable rings on the mainland.
However, after suffering through the frozen garbage that passes for onion rings on most of Mackinac, these were a treat and a delight.
Total: 16/20
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