Bob’s Coffee and Donuts features on many a ‘best donut list’, for the life of me I don’t know why. Bob’s is nestled in LA’s Original farmers market and has an old school American feel that doesn’t seemed to have changed since it opened in 1970. I was so ready to love this place however after ordering a coffee, a white chocolate swirl and an apple fritter I knew Bobs was not the one. Whilst the White Chocolate swirl doughnut was photogenic, it also was so sweet it made my mouth hurt and the texture was more like a sweet bread than a doughnut. The apple fritter was as heavy as a brick and tasted about as good as one. Hideously over fried and with a distinct lack of apple flavor. As for the coffee, don’t even ask.
www.bobscoffeeanddoughnuts.com/
When I walked in I saw on the wall I saw: ‘[Fō•nuts] n. – A donut that is baked and/or steamed, never fried. Origin: Faux- donut.’ I found this fairly worrying. Call me a purist but expect a donut to raise my cholesterol levels. Never the less they did have some pretty interesting flavor combinations, I tried Cheese and Chorizo and Rosemary and Olive oil .The Cheese and chorizo flavors were pretty good, tangy and smoky but a little skimpy on the chorizo for my liking. The texture was odd, light but distinctly bready in flavor. It wasn’t particularly offensive but it wasn’t a doughnut either. The Rosemary and Olive oil was surprisingly sweet (I was hoping for a savory doughnut) and also had a dominant lemon flavor. Once again whilst the flavors weren’t bad, the texture was off putting. This ‘fonut’ was basically a lemon drizzle cake in texture, it was crumbly, wet and a bit greasy from the olive oil. Fonuts reminded me of the great Ron Swanson who said, ‘Dear frozen yoghurt, you are the celery of deserts. Be ice-cream or be nothing. Zero Stars’. Fonuts, be doughnuts or nothing please.
www.fonuts.com/
Randy’s Donuts
Randy’s is a LA icon. It’s appeared in countless movies and was even spoofed by the Simpsons. After following the 7 meter tall doughnut beacon, I was happy to find some old school American doughnuts that didn’t disappoint. The classic raspberry jam, chocolate glazed and bear claw, each with a light and tasty dough, simple, delicious flavors. The bear claw particularly shone with all American cinnamon and apple flavors. Classic and delicious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy's_Donuts
Based in Westwood, Stan’s Doughnuts are a staple stress food for UCLA students. This small humble stand attracts a lot of trade. I can see why. I had the maple nut and the chocolate cheese and they were really great. The maple nut had a nice flavor but what really made it stand out is the soft open texture, it felt like biting into a cloud. The chocolate cheese sounded like a disaster but was surprisingly pleasant, frosted with chocolate icing and filled with a sweet cream mixture that tasted kind of like a tangy custard; A curve ball but I liked it. www.stansdoughnuts.com/
California Donuts
This retro window service doughnut shop has extremely instagramable doughnuts thanks to the edgy array of flavors and techniques. After developing innate doughnut sign language – a necessary task in order to communicate through the thick glass window which displays the resplendent Doughnuts – I settled on four flavors: a maple bacon croissant donut, a lemon filled, a strawberry with white chocolate and a Matcha green tea. They were all pretty incredible, across the board texture was soft, open and tasty with just the right amount of chew. The croissant doughnut amazed me. It was doughnut dough layered like puff pastry creating this surprising consistency in the dough, chewy but in a very pleasant way.
Flavor wise the strawberry and white chocolate stood out, the strawberries were freeze dried rather than candied so they added a freshness that balanced the doughnut very well. The Matcha green tea was a pretty edgy one too but they nailed it, the flavors were intense and unmistakable.
www.cadonuts.com
Dk’s is an old dog with a lot of new tricks up its sleeve, serving notably trendy doughnuts such as Ube doughnuts, Maple bacon and the o-nut (a croissant doughnut hybrid). The Ube doughnut was a completely new one for me, soft and crumbly with a sort of clove-y flavor, topped with salty pistachios … oh and by the way it was PURPLE INSIDE. The o-nut was nice if slightly underdone, could have had a little more puff in the lamination. The real winner for me was the maple bacon bar; crispy, salty bacon against soft, sweet, exceptional dough glazed with a maple frosting. The balance of salt and sweet, soft and crunch was masterful.
www.dksdonuts.com/
Piece by Lucy Gorman, Food Goblin Correspondent
