Mighty Fine (Austin, TX)

On my sojourn to Texas, my brother took a vested interest in me sampling the many fine delights (provided these fine delights are just onion rings) of the culinary wonderland that is Austin. On hearing my somewhat unimpressed thoughts on our first outing of the trip (Hut's Hamburgers), he nodded sagely and said "I bet you'll like Mighty Fine." And so, we fought our way through the morass of Austin traffic to the nearest Mighty Fine, eager to get another hit of that sweet Allium.

Here is a review of onion rings from Mighty Fine Burgers Fries & Shakes in Austin, Texas.

Presentation and Appearance: 3/5

I genuinely can't think of a way to make the presentation of these onion rings simpler. Just about the only thing that comes to mind is a disgruntled employee grabbing them hot from the fire and flinging them at me, with my only hope to catch them with my bare hands. It's fitting with the ethos of Mighty Fine, that is, simple and unpretentious, with a delectable stack of onion rings nestled within a barely-shaped squiggle of white wax paper.

The unpretentious and simple attitude so evident in the cavalier wrapping of paper shines further in the onion rings. On the bad side, the battering is uneven, and cracks spread throughout the edifice, like the dying gasps of a doomed planet about to implode. A handful of the onion rings are cracked as well. On the good side, the batter has a unique hue of an Autumn sunset, in a slight shift from the classic golden brown. A handful of darkened bits of seasoning pepper the batter, like a flock of migrating birds desperate to escape the oncoming winter. The batter is, for lack of a better word, flaky.

Taste: 4.5/5

It should not come as a surprise that the freshly made onion rings at a restaurant with actual picnic tables as seating are greasy. Though not quite soaked to the point of drowning, there's more grease than is to my liking, my initial taste was a tad overwhelming.

This Protective Layer of Greasy Deception is the onion ring equivalent to non-poisonous tropical frogs, who front as dangerous by sharing their bright and alarming color pattern with poison frogs. Though I am personally dubious that a raw frog carcass would taste as good as these onion rings, the principle is the same.

Beneath the layer of grease one finds a moderately seasoned blend in the better, with just the right amount of salt and pepper, complemented by a buttery finish. The onions within are cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of give and just the right amount of onion juices. There's nothing extreme about these onion rings, perhaps with the exception of the grease, but the Golden Mean of Batter and Onions is executed with ease and professionalism.

Texture: 3/5

The menu warned me, before I even ordered, that these onion rings were "lightly battered," and it shows. The batter holds at best a tenuous grasp on the onions, threatening to crumble at any provocation. Shedding abounds, as bits and pieces of the tasty batter violently fly across the gingham table, with Zach admirably dodging as needed. The batter was hard and crunchy, but didn't adhere to the onion enough to mesh.

The onions are as solid in texture as they are on the tongue, maintaining their shape despite being moderately sweated to provide ample flavor. Unfortunately, they are overshadowed by the flaws in the batter.

Value: 4/5

$3.09 brings a good portion of good rings. As with the taste, these onion rings are solidly normal. They are not extreme, but they execute the classic battered onion ring, with a middling size at a middling price, with poise.

Total: 14.5/20