Hyde’s on Buskey Bay is a couple of miles down County Road H when you turn on it from Hwy 2 in Iron River. It overlooks a large lake which you can see if you chose seating on the enclosed porch. I always have preferred to sit in the back section, which is the older portion with softer lighting and where the bar is located. This night had live music in the form of an electronic keyboard playing at a nice volume in that back portion. In the winter it’s less crowded but in the summer or other more tourist heavy times you are best to call ahead for a reservation. The welcoming owners, Don and Helen Hyde, divide the duties with Helen running the kitchen and Don watching over the dining area while tending bar. The large menu is all a la carte with nightly specials Wednesday thru Saturday. All dinners and specials come with a trip to the salad bar, soup and dessert bar. Many plates also include a choice of potato. Portions are generous as are pours in the wine-by-the-glass. Selection of wines is limited but a full bar can provide cocktails and beer. This night our server was efficient, friendly and good with pacing.
We started with a couple brandy old fashioned, that are a standard in this area. They were tasty but the addition of an olive was unique touch.
We made a trip to the salad bar which was stocked with fresh, well sized lettuce pieces, chopped tomatoes, red onion, a couple of dressings, croutons and seeds. There was also a good selection of creamy salads, bean salad, pickled carrots, pickled herring and so on. The soup was a hamburger rice and fairly tasty with a good amount of taste to the broth and a nice balance of meat, rice and vegetables.
These kept us busy until our Famous Blooming Onion arrived. It is a house special with each bloom cooked until golden and served with ranch dressing. It is huge and probably best ordered when you have a bunch of people but it it a fun way to eat onion. The rings are sliced into ‘fingers’ which all get coated and then fried into one large ‘onion blossom’. It was good with the ranch but also with ketchup or just eaten with salt.
For a main course we had their Saturday night prime rib special. It is coated with their own special rub and then slow roasted before finishing on the grill and offered in 3 different sizes. We had the King cut which is 16-18 ounces which came surrounded by a tasty beef jus. It had good roasted flavor and the broth had just enough salt to nicely season the perfectly rare piece. For a side we tried the hash brown potatoes which were soft and delicate with a good crisp to them and not a hint of greasiness. Also tried the red potatoes which were chunked and seasoned and nice but I preferred the hash browns.
We finished with a couple of pieces of two different cakes that were on the dessert bar. There were a number of selection but these looked homemade. They were fine but I think the cake originated from a box, however it was just a nice sweet taste to finish off the meal and who can argue with complimentary.
