604: Duffin's Donuts (Vancouver)

I gotta admit that I came here with a very low expectation due to the poll result from my Instagram Stories. By the way, thank you to all of you who have been participating in all my polls. It's been fun to see the results of everyone's likes and dislikes. Of all the donut shops, Duffin was everyone's least favorite, so I didn't have much expectation of it. However, I feel that as a foodie I should at least check off this place since it's considered as a "Vancouver Special" after all. The shop is quite cute. I felt like I time-traveled back to the '90s. It was also intriguing to see the variety of products they carry - from donuts to fried chicken, fries, hamburgers, sandwiches, onion rings, shakes, and spring rolls... As always, I liked ordering the plain ones because (a.) the simplicity makes it that much harder to hide the flaws, and (b.) it's usually less sweet. Here I ordered a sugar raised, honey dip (a.k.a. the classic - originally glazed?), and what the heck, might as well grab an angel donut (I also wanted to try their coconut cream donut but it was all sold out, but I only wanted to try it because it seemed like it was a popular choice).

Okay, let's cut to the chase. With very little expectation, I was surprised by the outcome. I liked Duffin's a lot more than Lucky's Doughnuts. I thought it would be disgustingly sweet, but it was not. I thought it would be extremely heavy, but it was not. I thought it would be greasy, but it was not... I thought people liked it because it was dirt cheap ($3.60 for three donuts..) I am sorry I judged you Duffin Doughnuts! The donut dough isn't as fluffy as Lee's or Lucky's or Krispy Kreme, but overall, I like how light it is and it has a nice bread chew.

The sugar coated donut reminds me of the Chinese dessert Sugar Egg Puffs (沙翁 / 冰花蛋球). It's like eating an airy breadstick coated with some coarse sugar. The honey dip is pretty much an original glazed donut. It's a lot better than Lucky's in my opinion. At least I could enjoy eating this and didn't feel like I needed to spit it out. Finally, my friend and I really enjoyed the angel's donut. It had the same bread texture as the other two and was filled generously with a light chocolate cream with a pleasant cocoa flavor to taste. The powder sugar coating added a nice touch to it and added a nice vanilla fragrant to the donut, but didn't make it extra sweet. Amongst the three, I like the angel donut the most, which is rare because I normally find filled donuts to be too sweet and prefer the classic donuts. Now I'm extra curious to find out what the coconut cream tastes like.

I think Duffin Doughnuts will be more suitable for those who can't take sweets like me, and for those who have a sweet tooth, you would prefer Lucky's, and Lee's would be the perfect in between.

P.S - I'm not a fan of old-fashioned donuts. They are cakey to me. All my reviews are on yeast donuts.

📍Location: Here

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $1.19 per donut || half dozen $6.50 || one Dozen $12

🤤Taste: 4.2 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: ⭐️

🪑Seating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.9 / 5

Retention Rate: 200%

Menu: Here

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

• cheap

• not overly sweet

• not heavy or greasy

• lots of variety

• long business hours - 6 am to 12 am
  

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

• Things sell out quickly

• There's always a line up

• Donut isn't fluffy enough
  

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

• Felt like you walked into time-traveled back to the '90s. The store is super old school. It's retro and nostalgic.

• Sells all kinds of things including donuts, fried chicken, shakes, hamburgers, sandwiches, spring rolls, onion rings, fries, etc.

604: Banh Mi Saigon (Vancouver)

Ever since I had that Banh Mi at @lepetitsaigonhk in Hk, I was determined to find a similar Banh Mi in Vancouver. I mean it can't be hard since we really have a lot of authentic everything here. I tried out this special sub at Banh Mi Saigon today, and boy, just look at the line!

My friend also swore by it too. $6 for nearly a foot long Bahn Mi. 😳 soo reasonably priced, but I think the filling is really lacking 🧐 Extremely lacking.

The bread was also really crusty and sharp which end up stabbing my gum several times...

In conclusion, their Banh Mi is cheap but they are skimpy on the filling and their sub was overly toasted. I felt like I just ate a baguette with some mildly pickled vegetables and cilantros, with a few sad pieces of thin layered cold cuts and a hardly noticeable pate spread. Perhaps it's cheaper than the average Banh Mi out there, but when you do the math, you're really not getting any value out of it.

I would consider giving it another try when I discovered that they provide the option to add more meat, but considering how hard the bread was, I don't even think it's worth giving it a second shot.

📍Location: Here

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $5.50 - $6 per sub || $2 for extra meat

🤤Taste: 3 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: 2

🪑Seating: NA

📈 Price Performance ratio: 2.5 / 5

Retention Rate: 0%

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🌯 Giant Sub (just the sub)

🌯Buy 10 get 1 free (10% discount with bulk purchases)

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🌯 Long line ups

🌯 Skimpy on the filling

🌯 Bread is too crusty

🌯 Needs more pate

🌯 Expensive considering how little filling they provide

🌯 Cash only

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🌯 I would consider giving it another try when I discovered that they provide the option to add more meat, but considering how hard the bread was, I don't even think it's worth giving it a second shot.

604: Cartem's Donuts (Vancouver)

Since Cartem's came in as a runner up in my Donut Polls from the Instagram Story, I decided to try it out on my birthday. Did you know that Cartem give out free donuts of your choice on your birthday? All you have to do is to show your ID to them and you get your free claim!

Cartem's offer both yeast and cake donuts, and their selections are innovative and fun. I can see why so many of the voters are fond of Cartem's Donuts.

Many years ago, I tried out their cake donuts but were not impressed by the texture. Personally, I just don't like cakey donuts, but out of everything I tried, the earl grey cake donut left a deep impression.

Out of all the yeast donuts, I chose the classic (Vanilla bean) and the smoked maple walnut. Both donuts were springy and had a nice bread chew to it, but lacked the deep flavour from the Millard reaction from the deep frying. Compared to the Lee's Donuts, Lee's are much fluffier but a lot greasier. I believe Cartem's need a better control of the frying time and or temperature. On the bright side, the donuts don't soak up as much oil so it's healthier.

Both donuts were a little sweet but it was manageable! The smoked maple walnut was interesting but the smokey and maple flavor are both weak.

Overall, I enjoyed their donuts but still prefer Lee's donuts more. It's fluffier, it has a deeper flavour and it's less sweet. If you have a sweet tooth, you might prefer Cartem's more.

📍Location: Main Street || Pender Street

Menu: Here

💵 Price: $3.45 - $3.95 per 🍩

🤤Taste: 4.8 / 5

🕯Atmosphere: NA

🪑Seating: NA

📈 Price Performance ratio: 4.8 / 5

Retention Rate: 100%

ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕤:

🍩 Really springy and chewy. Almost like eating bread which I love

🍩 A little sweet but not overly sweet - manageable!

🍩 More innovative flavours

🍩 Not greasy

🍩 Has a lot of fun options

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤:

🍩 lack of deep flavor

🍩 my friend who has the Asian sweet tooth thinks it’s too sweet

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:

🍩 So I opt out the free donuts from Krispy Kreme on National Donut day and saved the donut quota for today. Did you know that Cartem gives out free donuts on your birthday??