Unless you’ve been living on Mars, you probably know that there’s a new donut on the block. Krispy Kreme has sent Bangkokians bonkers for its boxes of baked rings. But are they really worth the three hours our correspondent spent waiting in line for our box? We decided to find out by submitting them to a blind taste test against the other leading donut brands in town. Let’s just say it’s been a while since our taste testers got this excited.
1. Daddy Dough
B22 per donut, B245 for a box of 12. For a complete list of branches, visit www.daddydough.com
With its pallid color and lack of any form of glaze it’s not particularly appealing to look at. Plus the hole was also a bit too small for our liking. Unfortunately, the taste was equally disappointing. It has the texture of a bad sponge cake and a taste that was described as non-existent and bland. One of our guinea pigs even compared it to cardboard.
2. Krispy Kreme
B28 per donut, B249 for a box of 12 original glazed. G/F, Siam Paragon, Rama 1 Rd., 02-402-4554. www.krispykreme.co.th. BTS Siam
So our correspondent had to wait a whopping three hours for this box which of course raised expectations. Still we’d like to point out that this was a blind taste test so we were unswayed by all the hype. The appearance is appealing, if a little uniform, with a layer of hard icing coating the perfectly formed ring. Perhaps not suprisingly, then, the initial taste is a heap of sweetness. It’s a shame, because the actual texture of the donut is very light, almost buttery. One taster even tried to chip off the glaze, to create what would be our perfect donut.
3. Bapple
B26 per donut, B78 for a box of 3 original. 4/F, Siam Discovery, Rama 1 Rd., 02-658 1748. BTS Siam
As this one isn’t glazed it does look very different from the others, with a slighly lighter color and a pleasant dusting of icing sugar instead of a hard, icy coating. The result is very floury and almost cloying on the first bite. It’s not helped by a spongy texture and a rather bland after taste. The final verdict is that this is less a donut and more a cross between a sponge cake and some overly sweet bread.
4. Dunkin’ Donuts WINNER!
B22 per donut, B119 for a box of 6. Call 02-664-1066 to find a branch near you.
First impressions aren’t great. Even though the true-blood American on our panel confirmed that it does have a proper hole, it looked a little greasy and crumpled. Yet these malformed rings get a very favorable response from the majority of our tasters who agree that it has a good balance: “not to sweet/not too bland,” and with a nice slightly chewy texture that someone even went as far as describing it as “tasting like a donut”. Surely there’s no higher praise than that.
5. Mister Donut
B10 per donut, B120 for a box of 12 For a complete list of branches, visit www.misterdonut.co.th
A close runner-up to Dunkin Donuts, Mister Donut’s plain glazed pastry has a pallid color as well, but we quickly put that aside when our teeth cut through the just-enough, even, semi-hard sugar glaze into the not-at-all greasy cake. Still, our loyalties remained firmly with DD because, while not too thick, Mister Donut’s glaze did end up being insanely sweet. We’d also have liked the cake to have more body and put up a bit more resistance.
Thai Donuts
For all this brand-name donut drama, we’re actually also huge fans of the street stall answer to this farang pastry. Usually much smaller, Thai donuts are easy enough to find on your lunchtime walk. We picked up these beauties on the corner of Soi Convent and Silom Road. We love the small size, the extreme chewiness, the pronounced vanilla flavor and the crunch of the large sugar grains. B20 for a bag. B20 for a bag.
