Dun-Well Donuts

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eat as many vegan donuts as you want, it is made of all veggies so it is good for you right?

There is very little vegan food I like. I will try it with an open mind but besides tofu and like…fruits and veggies. The idea of say vegan cookies or just vegan bake goods are generally as appealing to me as asked to eat bark and leaves. The last time I had a vegan cookie, I just wanted to slather it in nutella or butter because it was so dry and crackly. Thankfully, my run with vegan donuts has fared better. Having tried the donuts at Babycakes, I hear about Dun-well Donuts in East Williamsburg. The donuts here are vegan, which primal instincts would be a pass, but I got pass that and I am glad I did. The donuts are of the yeasted variety and they have filled and glazed donuts. I tired the Crème Brulee, Peanut Butter and Jelly from their filled selection and the cinnamon sugar and Mexican Chocolate from their regular/glazed donuts. 

Creme Brulee

PB&J

The donuts are good; they are soft, moist and have a bit of a chew to them. The Crème Brulee has a little disk of harden sugar to mimic the crust of your typical brulee. However, as good as the donut was, the “custard” was not really to my liking, it was somewhat blandish and did not have the richness that you get from a crème brulee. However the peanut butter and jelly donut was stellar, with a thick rich jelly filling and nutty peanut butter glaze. The glazed donuts fared very well too, the Mexican Chocolate had warm spices mixed in and the cinnamon sugar had just the right about of sweetness. Regardless of their vegan status, their donuts rivals some of the other donuts being made in the city and doing it better than some. 

Mexican Chocolate

Cinnamon Sugar

Dun-Well Donuts

222 Montrose Avenue

 Brooklyn, NY

http://www.dunwelldoughnuts.com/

Pies and Thighs

Om Nomz Hero note to Self: Addicted to the combination of hot sauce and syrup

Pecan crunch donut

I have been meaning to go to Pies and Thighs for a while, but could never really drag myself or anyone else over there. But, I was in Williamsburg Saturday morning and it finally clicked and a quick walk over, I finally made it to Pies and Thighs. I have also been craving Chicken and Waffles like a drunken stoner and knew they had it on their menu so this was a no brainer to me. The place unfortunately reeks of hipster. The place and the majority of the customers are the epitome of hipster culture. I fortunately, can ignore the hipness in the name of food and hunger, but be duly noted. After being seated at a vintage-like table, went with the chicken and waffles and started off with some doughnuts. They have two kinds of doughnut, cake and yeasted and I went with the old fashioned cake doughnut and the yeasted pecan crunch doughnut. The doughnuts here were big, the size of children floaties. I am pretty sure that if I have a sock and shoved one of these doughnuts in, I could have used it as a weapon or part of a fraternity initiation.  Back to the doughnuts, they were actually quite good, the old fashioned had a nice cinnamon sugar coat and was like eating a dense cake in a good way. The yeasted pecan crunch doughnut was good, but I was expecting it to be lighter and there was very little discernible difference in texture and density between their yeasted and cake doughnuts. In a hungover state, I most likely would not be able to tell the difference.  

Old fashion donut

The chicken and waffles came out promptly and I was surprised at what I got. The chicken was there, dark meat which is a huge plus but the waffles threw me off and are apparently buckwheat waffles, which gives it the color of gargoyle. The chicken was great and I cannot stress enough of it being dark meat, I mean if you have a choice, why do you do white? Here they save you the trouble of you making an idiotic decision and give you a leg and a thigh (Pies and Thighs get it?). The chicken is truly good and the skin just shatters on first bite. I think it was Huffington Post that rated this as one of the best fried chickens and I cannot really argue with that, it one of the best chickens I had in a while. Though the chicken was great, the waffle was not as good unfortunately. The waffle was limp and the tasted bread-y, a bit of a shame given how good the chicken was. The taste fruit compote and the butter did not help it all that much. 

Chicken and Waffles

I unfortunately did not get the pie here because I did not want to too like a big gavone but the food here is good, despite the hipster repertoire and the not so great waffles. I can see myself returning for the chicken and to check out the pies, come here early, because after 11 on a weekend, there is a good chance you may have to wait.

Pies and Thighs 
166 S.4th Street 
Brooklyn NY
http://news.piesnthighs.com/

Donut Quest: Taiwan Dispatch

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Why does food taste better when shaped as animals?

The Donut Quest has been going and this time, it went abroad. Donuts are not all made equally and thankfully, Dunkin Donuts does not reign all over…yet. One of the chain donut shops in Taiwan that is popular is Mr. Donut. Originally from Japan, I remember back in the late 90s when the first Mr. Donut opened up in Taiwan and remembered the line that snaked out the door. Now there are a number of Mr. Donuts in Taiwan and will mostly likely find on the any mall in Taipei.

Since there is no Thanksgiving in Taiwan, they got started early on the Christmas spirit and they had some Christmas themed donuts, such as their donut holes. 

You have to give it to them for presentation; these things looked like a box of chocolates. The little donut holes are all colorfully decorated and various coatings. One thing to mention is that though they do yeasted and cake donuts, they also do mocha donuts which give them a chewiness and difference in flavor or I at least think it is different. Each of these donut holes were colorfully decorated and had that odd pastel coloring too them and like all things from Asia, they looked cute and I am surprised it had no Sanrio characters donning it. Donuts after the jump!

Fried Dough Goodness: Sullivan St. and DessertTruck Works

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Pizza Bianca + Bombolini = Viva la Roma hangover breakfast?

My fried dough quest led me to places that you would not think to have doughnuts and if they do, they would probably taste bad. Thankfully this was not the case when I ventured out to Hell’s Kitchen to Sullivan Street Bakery. Sullivan Street Bakery is not on Sullivan Street, more like 97th. 

The bakery is owned by Jim Lahey, most notably known for his no-knead bread technique which truly does work and produces great bread. Sullivan Street bakery is a bread bakery, and does not go for the whole, cupcakes and brownies and the cavity inducing sweets, but one of the few sweet breads that is being made there are the bombolinis. They sit there innocently enough on the counter and are outcast to the side, away from the savory breads and pizzas. To not try this would be a mistake on your part. The bombolini do not have a variety of fillings, it is either jam or cream filling. Given I just ate one of the potato pizza slice, which is the ultimate hangover morning food I realized, I just went with the cream filled bombolini. 

 

Bombolini at Sullivan

 

The Bombolini is different from others that I have sampled in which it was noticeably a lot less greasy and did not leave a translucent grease stain on the paper. The bombolini is a lot doughier and lacks the crisp lightness that the ones at Falai had. However, this bombolini is delectable and I actually prefer this one. Though it lacks crispness, it has a doughy and pillow like texture to it and the vanilla cream is thick and on the heavy side, but works well with the bombolini. This is a good donut that is a hidden treat in a bread focused bakery.

 

Donuts at DessertTruck Works 

 

Donut Quest Part II: My Search for Nostalgia?

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Dude asking for a Metro Card swipe will take a donut instead, apparently a donut=metro card swipe

In my quest to find the best and unfortunately the worst (not actively trying to find the worst) donuts in New York City, I came upon two in the Outer Boroughs, Alpha Donuts in Queens and Peter Pan Bakery in Brooklyn. I know there are other doughnut places in Brooklyn especially such as Mike’s Donuts and the newly opened Dough, but these two fall into the New York counter doughnuts and I had to check them out.

Take 2 in the future?

First up was Alpha Donuts all the way up in Queens. I am a bit of a nostalgic person and I tend to romanticize places, especially places dealings with food. Sometimes the image in my head is in sync with reality, but unfortunately Alpha Donuts was not. Alpha Donuts is located right outside the no. 7 train stop and the counter was filled. Everything about it was picturesque: the huge coffee machine going, people at the counter reading the newspaper and eating breakfast. To give it an even more New York vibe, two guys were talking about the upcoming season and Andy Petite retiring (this is truly sad, one of the great Yankee Pitchers). I wanted to start talking with that stereotypical Queens accent and dropping “o” and calling it “New Yawk”.