Restaurant Review: Glory Hole Doughnuts

GLORY HOLE DOUGHNUTS

1596 Queen Street West ~ gloryholedoughnuts.com Twitter: @GHoleDoughnuts ~ Instagram: @gloryholedoughnuts Co-Diner: Tim Golem

Let me just say right off the bat that I am fully sold on Glory Hole. Wow! NOW Toronto named them the #1 Best Donut 2018 and blogTO has them as #1 Best Donuts... And both of these things make complete sense to me. Are these the best donuts that I've ever eaten? You'll find their original location in Parkdale although they do have a second location now. I ducked in fairly early on a Saturday and was fully prepared for the impending donut feast to count as my breakfast. (The best part about being an adult? No one stops you when you decide to eat donuts for breakfast.) The shop is small but there's a large communal table that is very useful in aiding the consumption of your donuts right now. The vibe is clean, laid-back, and cool. Skateboard decks decorate the walls and in fact, the menu is even printed on them. There's also a beautiful, bight pink floral feature on the wall that easily catches the eye. First stop: The glass case. Get yourself ready to gaze lovingly over some donuts. Every single one of them looked amazing but I was easily drawn to the Ferrero Rocher and the Toast & Butter. These are probably the two that I'd heard the most hype about. We also grabbed a Raspberry Pistachio for good measure. The friendly staff happily boxed them up. Yeast donuts are $4.25 each. (They also make cake donuts, of which I am not a fan. Although maybe trying their's would change my mind.)

We sat ourselves down at the table and fully intended to crush all of these donuts in one sitting. Let's begin with the Ferrero Rocher (Yeast raised doughnut with Nutella, roasted hazelnuts, and feuilletine). This was my overall favourite and it completely blew me away. So decadent and gooey, I loved the crunch from the hazelnuts, and not one drop of Nutella was held back. (I typically find that treats using Nutella are overrated.) The real thing that made this donut special and better than any other that I've tried is the dough. This was, easily, the freshest, lightest, not-too-sweet, most pillowy-soft yeast donut dough that I've ever experienced. It is absolutely perfect and unmatched. It makes other donuts look stupid. None of their flavours can be wrong on a base like that. Next I tried the Toast & Butter (Whipped brown butter frosting topped with sweet breadcrumbs and cinnamon). Most donut shops tend to have a "wild card" flavour and this seems to be Glory Hole's effort. Again, I loved this. It really did taste like buttered toast, but in the most amazing way. The buttery frosting totally worked and somehow didn't make me feel like I was "eating butter," but at the same time it totally tasted like a warm brown butter situation. This one is truly unique. Lastly, the Raspberry Pistachio (Raspberry glazed doughnut topped with toasted pistachio pieces). This one wouldn't have been a go-to choice for me, but I really enjoyed it. The raspberry was tangy and bright, while the crunchy pistachio really stood out and offered a beautiful sweet and nutty flavour. They serve drinks as well; coffee and tea for the most part. I wanted my visit to be well-rounded and so I also ordered a London Fog ($4.25).

Unfortunately, this beverage did not hit the mark for me. It mostly just tasted like a cup of warm milk. The tea didn't seem to ever really steep through, no matter how long I let it sit. The vanilla flavour seemed to be MIA altogether. We loved the donuts so much that we took our empty box back up to the counter and had them fill our box again. We got another Ferrero Rocher and Toast & Butter but this time added in the Rice Krispie Treat and the Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake.

We decided to bring these to a party that we were attending later in the evening. (No, we didn't sit down and devour them as well. We're monsters, but we do have some restraint.) All of the donuts at Glory Hole are hand-made fresh every day by real genuine humans and it shows. They use fresh, local, and organic ingredients whenever possible and it shows. They offer vegan donuts as well. I would love to try their Birthday Cake (cake donut) and Hibiscus Glaze. But that Ferrero Rocher seriously has my heart. I am completely converted. All other donuts are dead to me.