Among the numerous shames in my pitifully short life is what I call the Onion Ring Graveyard. Embedded deep in my notes are a plethora of notes on onion rings throughout the nation that never quite made it to Sola Cepa, for one reason or another.
Each of these tell a story - such as the time I was struggling into a tuxedo in a hotel room in Los Angeles before going to meet Drew Carey (true story), but not before I got onion rings from a random restaurant in downtown LA. Others are less interesting, like "I had too much beer while eating the onion rings and lost interest in taking good notes," and there are far more of these than I'd like to admit.
Today marks the first time I exhume the rotting corpse of one of the reviews long buried in the Onion Ring Graveyard, hoping desperately to breathe life into it anew. Over two years ago, with Sola Cepa superfans/my college roommates Garrett and Eric, along with Hillary (Garrett's wife), I sojourned to the Old Depot section of Ypsilanti, to the aptly named Sidetrack, to eat their onion rings.
I wrote down extensive notes and promptly forgot about them until I went to Ypsilanti again two years later to watch a cat (shout out to Milo), and now seek to reform my dire misdeeds, albeit alone.
Here is a review of onion rings from Sidetrack in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Presentation and Appearance: (4.5/5)
The onion rings arrive plated in a classic, practically quintessential, black plastic tray, with plain wax paper beneath. The simple and unassuming style allows the appearance of the rings to shine even brighter, albeit with a nearly overflowing plastic cup of ranch delicately balanced betwixt batter and barrier.
In contrast to many onion rings, they're not served in an overflowing pile. Rather, they are tastefully plated in a delicate layer of cascading circles, bringing to mind a fried and breaded ratatouille, exclusively made from onions, and at a bar for some reason.
The onion rings themselves are very clearly hand battered, with the telltale sign of crumbs, pock marks, and small mountains of hardened batter throughout the rings, though chiefly concentrated on the interior. The coloring is a delightful golden brown, though some of the aforementioned bits are somewhat darker in color.
Despite the hand breading, the batter is generally smooth, and relatively consistent, with a few patchy areas on the bottom, which also covers a surprisingly large pool of grease at the bottom of the basket.
Taste: (3.5/5)
With onion rings, there's often a standout star, whether the batter or the onion, and rarely are they both top billed. The marquee of Sidetrack's onion rings (if it existed) would be shining through the deluge of rain that evening with one, golden brown word: batter.
Though, as mentioned above, it had some issues with excessive grease, that's usually a sign of strong flavor. This was no exception. The taste of the batter was more buttery than greasy, well seasoned with just the right amount of salt, and left a pleasant aftertaste. The onions were decidedly weaker, with a subtle, sweet sensation, possibly because the interior was just slightly undercooked, and unable to release more of the deluge of Alium flavor I so desperately crave.
The accompanying ranch, which certainly tasted house-made, was mouthwatering, and truly excellent. The slight tang, and an even subtler kick of some unidentified spice, meshed beautifully with both the buttery batter and the sweeter onion.
Texture: (3.5/5)
The batter continued its stardom through texture as well, combining a delicate, popcorn like crunch with something that literally melts in your mouth, dissolving almost instantaneously after each bite. The crunch is not too hard, as one might find in burnt or overcooked onion rings, nor is it too abrasive, as you might see with some thicker, breaded rings.
Though not one-to-one, the batter reminds me in many ways of a tempura battered onion ring, particularly through the heavy grease and the pockmarks sprinkled throughout. The grease does bring the texture down somewhat, as the onion rings were almost wet at times, and not with any juices from the onion.
The onion core again fails to stand out from the batter. It was just a little too hard, though not quite raw, making it sort of feel like a thick paper straw in your mouth. On reflection, I think the onions were deliberately undercooked, because otherwise the delicate batter would collapse in on itself like a dying, greasy star.
Due to the undercooked onions, slippage was not present at all. However, its obscure cousin, shedding, made a few appearances, as the batter chipped off the onion rings in bits and flecks on a handful of bites.
Value: (4/5)
$5.75 will get you nine or so homemade, medium-to-large sized onion rings, with a light, flavorful batter, albeit lacking a bit in onion taste. All told, these were of a good quality, and a more than ample quantity for a dinner for one (at least, if you're the kind of person who would just eat onion rings for dinner, like me).
Total: (15.5/20)
