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Writer's pictureJoyee Eats

604: Duffin's Donuts (Vancouver)

Updated: Jul 16, 2021

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.




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