I’m not a doughnut fan, but via some e-letters with my cousin (many thanks!), I figured that I ought to try some famous ones since I’m in NYC. He asked about this shop that he saw on television with the black sign board outside it. It’s supposedly “Famous" with branches in Korea. Wow. If there are doughnuts famous enough to get TV air time in the tiny island of Singapore, I should try some! Hee. ;-D
As one of my friends gave me and my husband a book ‘Time Out 1000 Things to Do in New York (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)’ before we left Singapore, I remembered reading some thing about doughnuts in there. A quick flip, and there it was on number 975-978! It listed Alpha Donuts (45-16 Queens Blvd, Sunyside, Queens), The Donut Pub (203W 14th St), Doughnut Plant (379 Grand St), and Peter Pan Bakery (727 Manhatten Ave, Brooklyn). Since there were only 2 in Manhatten, a quick google identified Doughnut Plant as the one my cousin was talking about. Mark Israel, the owner of The Doughnut Plant was born into a family who had an affinity with baking for the past 2 generations, and found original recipes for making doughnuts left behind by his grandfather.
The Shop (image from Rob Tallia)
From the outside, it looks ordinary and small. Stepping inside, the area to serve customers is possibly about 12 to 20 sq ft (like 3 by 4, or 4 by 5)? There was some renovation going on inside. I wonder if there’s gonna be some sort of expansion? Maybe an area for customers to hangout? Hahaha…. That would be nice, because currently I have to sit on a bench or stand outside the shop to munch on a doughnut – luckily I was wearing something warm. The man who served me was chubby and dark-skinned. I can’t tell what his race is though. As I was deliberating what to buy, I decided to ask him for his opinion on the doughnuts. Apparently, he thinks that by telling me which doughnut is nicer, sales of the other doughnuts would be affected. :-/ “You’ve got to buy to try it for yourself lady! It’s just doughnuts, not life insurance! These are top of the line doughnuts!” Well dude, it’s not about the money, I just wanna limit the calories consumed. So fine, I bought 4 doughnuts. The Square peanut-butter glazed with strawberry jam filling, the Valrhona Chocolate, the Blackout, and the Rose Petal Doughnut.
The Doughnuts
I don’t have a picture of the square peanut butter glazed with strawberry jam filling, because I ate it before I reached home – I was hungry! The glaze was too sweet for my liking, but all glazes are like that right? And it’s not peanut-y enough. I’d like a richer peanut butter taste please! The jam was nice, especially when I researched that they make their own fruit jams without preservatives. Health-conscious mah! Hehe. ;-) Btw, they have 2 main types of doughnuts. The yeast type, and the cake type. This square doughnut was the yeast type, costs $2.75, and it is the size of one’s hand.
The Valrhona Chocolate is another example of a yeast type doughnut. You can tell by the taste, and the holes in the doughnut-bread. But once again, I’m not a big fan of the glaze, it’s just too sweet. I’ve read raving reviews of the Valrhona Chocolate, but I really can’t take the sweetness leh. The Valrhona lacked the chocolate-y taste I was hoping for. I probably won’t buy it again. I would guess that this doughnut costs $2.75 too, hand-sized.
The Blackout is a cake-type doughnut. And my, this one is great! It’s like a moist-chocolatey-cake-plus-cookie-crumble, and mine appeared to have some liquid chocolate in it. Not sure if it was chocolate sauce, or just uncooked batter. But it tastes heavenly! It’s sweet of course, but not over whelming like the glazed ones. I loved the richness of the chocolate, and it’s natural mildly bitter taste. Definitely better than the Valrhona Chocolate if you’re a chocolate lover. The Blackout costs $1.75 I think. I think there is the bigger version of it, but I bought the small version (palm sized) because I didn’t want to eat too much.
The Rose Petal Doughnut is a mother’s day
special item. This is a glazed cake-type doughnut. And wow, the taste is wonderfully fragrant. It’s weird that what I tasted is “fragrance” but it’s true. When I take a bite of it, I smell roses. As mentioned previously, I don’t really like glazes (like the Peanut Butter glazed and the Valrhona Chocolate) because it just tastes like a coat of sugar, but this one is good because of the roses. And yeah I might buy it again. My guess is that it is $2.50. A larger sized one would probably cost $3.50.
Pros
- Their cake-type doughnuts are very well made! I think this is where they excel!
- According to their website, all doughnuts are trans-fat free, preservative free, and contain no eggs and no artificial flavorings. All glazes are made with fresh fruit and fresh roasted nuts! Now that’s something notable.
- Doughnuts I’ve seen are usually glazed at the top half. But in Doughnut Plant, it seems that most doughnuts are covered on both sides. A cashew nut doughnut has glaze and cashew nut bits on both sides.
Cons
- Their yeast-type doughnuts are similar to most doughnuts I’ve eaten, not special.
- The glaze is too sweet for my liking.
- These doughnuts are much pricier than any other doughnuts I’ve bought in NYC or in Singapore. Yikes...Other than the cake-type Blackout I’ve tried today, the rest don’t really seem worth it. LOL
All in all, it is highly likely I would not be visiting the Doughnut Plant often, because I’m health conscious and it’s just too much sugar! Unless I have a chocolate craving… the small palm-sized Blackout would be apt.
The Doughnuts
I don’t have a picture of the square peanut butter glazed with strawberry jam filling, because I ate it before I reached home – I was hungry! The glaze was too sweet for my liking, but all glazes are like that right? And it’s not peanut-y enough. I’d like a richer peanut butter taste please! The jam was nice, especially when I researched that they make their own fruit jams without preservatives. Health-conscious mah! Hehe. ;-) Btw, they have 2 main types of doughnuts. The yeast type, and the cake type. This square doughnut was the yeast type, costs $2.75, and it is the size of one’s hand.
The Valrhona Chocolate is another example of a yeast type doughnut. You can tell by the taste, and the holes in the doughnut-bread. But once again, I’m not a big fan of the glaze, it’s just too sweet. I’ve read raving reviews of the Valrhona Chocolate, but I really can’t take the sweetness leh. The Valrhona lacked the chocolate-y taste I was hoping for. I probably won’t buy it again. I would guess that this doughnut costs $2.75 too, hand-sized.
The Blackout is a cake-type doughnut. And my, this one is great! It’s like a moist-chocolatey-cake-plus-cookie-crumble, and mine appeared to have some liquid chocolate in it. Not sure if it was chocolate sauce, or just uncooked batter. But it tastes heavenly! It’s sweet of course, but not over whelming like the glazed ones. I loved the richness of the chocolate, and it’s natural mildly bitter taste. Definitely better than the Valrhona Chocolate if you’re a chocolate lover. The Blackout costs $1.75 I think. I think there is the bigger version of it, but I bought the small version (palm sized) because I didn’t want to eat too much.The Rose Petal Doughnut is a mother’s day
special item. This is a glazed cake-type doughnut. And wow, the taste is wonderfully fragrant. It’s weird that what I tasted is “fragrance” but it’s true. When I take a bite of it, I smell roses. As mentioned previously, I don’t really like glazes (like the Peanut Butter glazed and the Valrhona Chocolate) because it just tastes like a coat of sugar, but this one is good because of the roses. And yeah I might buy it again. My guess is that it is $2.50. A larger sized one would probably cost $3.50.Pros
- Their cake-type doughnuts are very well made! I think this is where they excel!
- According to their website, all doughnuts are trans-fat free, preservative free, and contain no eggs and no artificial flavorings. All glazes are made with fresh fruit and fresh roasted nuts! Now that’s something notable.
- Doughnuts I’ve seen are usually glazed at the top half. But in Doughnut Plant, it seems that most doughnuts are covered on both sides. A cashew nut doughnut has glaze and cashew nut bits on both sides.
Cons
- Their yeast-type doughnuts are similar to most doughnuts I’ve eaten, not special.
- The glaze is too sweet for my liking.
- These doughnuts are much pricier than any other doughnuts I’ve bought in NYC or in Singapore. Yikes...Other than the cake-type Blackout I’ve tried today, the rest don’t really seem worth it. LOL
All in all, it is highly likely I would not be visiting the Doughnut Plant often, because I’m health conscious and it’s just too much sugar! Unless I have a chocolate craving… the small palm-sized Blackout would be apt.
wow u actually have a whole entry on doughnuts .. U do take nice food pix n describe em quite well .. Should think of doing ur own receipe book
ReplyDeleteThis article was so helpful. As a foodie, I love to know other opinions before venturing out to try a new food place. Not sure why it's important to mention that the guy that served you was dark skinned or that you couldn't guess his race though. Seems that's irrevelant.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it is irrelevant to the food. I blogged it down not because the guy was important, but just for memory sake. :-) I like remembering people after meeting them rather than just passing them by and forgetting. It was an account of my experience on this particular day, and in future when I read these details it would jolt my memory back to this day. Just like a diary. Have a good day!
ReplyDelete