Junk Food Nation, I’m off to Miami today, and will be seeking to find the best Cuban food I can!  Admittedly, the only things I know about Miami are Lebron James, Giancarlo Stanton, Cubano sandwiches, and 2 Fast 2 Furious.  If you have any suggestions, please post in the comments below.  No, I will not be doing any trip blogging this time – only down there for a wedding and a jump, so the posts here should remain uninterrupted.  Lucky you!

Anyways, let’s do a little Saturday Sports Roundup, shall we?

1) So the NBA Western Conference Finals are set.  It’s the sizzling Oklahoma City Thunder vs…the San Antonio Spurs?? The team I said would not even MAKE the playoffs at the beginning of the year?  I have to give big apologies to Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker: I thought you were old. Well, old like me. I can barely jump 6 inches off the ground. I thought you’d have the same problems.  I am not an NBA player. I should have realized that. Forgive me, Spurs?

2) After taking a 2-1 lead in the series, the Indiana Pacers decided to poke the sleeping giant and piss off the Miami Heat…provoking them to win the next three games straight and propel themselves into the Eastern Conference finals.  What’s with all the posturing, Pacers?? You haven’t won anything yet! Stop making choking pantomimes and get back to learning how to sink shots, idiots.

3) CM DUBS IS BACK! That’s Chien-Ming Wang, people, and if you’re a Taiwanese baseball fanboy like myself, you’re excited.  The former Yankee is on the Nationals, and returned last night with sterling results. There’s lots of reason to like Chien-Ming Wang, Nation.  (a) He’s a 6’3″ Asian Dude who DOESN’T look like a genetic freak and play lumbering basketball, and (2) as reader Stanley Goodspeed noted, “Who isn’t excited about the reinsertion of Wang?”

Today’s junk food: Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips!

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips: The Money Shot

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips were spotted and purchased in my local Giant Food Mart. Just another in the line of Ruffles trying to make chips that taste like things.  I reviewed Loaded Chili and Cheese and Molten Hot Wing Chips before.  Onion Rings up next!

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips: I really enjoy onion rings, so I'm curious how the potato version will be.

What do you like dipping onion rings in? I’ve dipped them in ketchup, BBQ sauce, Outback sauce, and mayo before.  Is there a right answer to what you dip onion rings in?  And if there is…should I dip these chips into them too?

These chips aren’t new, per se, but these are the first time I’d seen them.  Check out the reviews from two other blogs I read, The Impulsive Buy and the Fat Guy Food Blog.

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips: I like how the onion ring flavor contains beer as the VERY LAST ingredient

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips: Not a bad description

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips: Standard look

After I opened up this bag of Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips, I took a big whiff: strong caramlized onion smell.  Either caramelized or just plain cooked onion smell.  Surprisingly strong.

Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips

A few bites of these Ruffles Beer Battered Onion Rings Potato Chips and I had my verdict – these tasted VERY MUCH like onion rings!  The chips had a standard flavor – crispy, oily, and potato-y. But the flavoring itself was spot on – HEAVY onion taste; the chip was covered with so much onion powder it was a little overwhelming.  There was enough slight smokiness and bready taste that made it actually taste like the husk of an onion ring, rather than just the flavor of cooked onions themselves.

The problem? Even though the first couple bites tasted EXACTLY like onion rings, there wasn’t enough savoriness for me.  No garlic powder to balance the flavor, no other spices to combat the REALLY POWERFUL onion taste.  But, chances are, fi those spices had been added, it would no longer taste like onion rings!

So yes, you’ll REALLY like these if you love onion rings.  Ruffles got it spot on. But for me, I’ll probably pass next time.

Thoughts? Hit me in the comments below or hit me on Twitter @junkfoodguy or on my Facebook Page.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy