The Donut Shop

Bakery: The Donut Shop
Address: #3 5440 Argyle St, Port Alberni BC 
Website: facebook 
Style: Doughnuts 
Price: $ 

Given how many proper doughnut shops I've visited lately, I'm thinking of adding a tag just for that: doughnuts -- and there you go! Because doughnuts are a beautiful thing. *-* They also happen to be one of the best products to pit against each other in a doughnut competition. Because everyone loves ranking doughnuts and deciding which doughnut will reign supreme! Port Alberni's Donut Shop has taken the ranking out of your hands and made a rather bold claim: they have the best doughnuts on Vancouver Island. And do they? Well, no. The best doughnuts on the island for me came from Tofino. And I can't even say that The Donut Shop has the best doughnuts in Port Alberni, because I had an amazing apple fritter (and it was gooood) from another bakery in town.

Not to say The Donut Shop isn't good -- on the contrary. They have quite a few varieties of doughnuts (around $1 each); however, the variety is mostly in the toppings, with the base for all being a classic cake doughnut. These toppings are of the old-fashioned kind: sprinkles, chocolate, nuts, coconut -- nothing too outlandish. If you don't like cake doughnuts, therefore, it may not be your cup of tea. For the rest of us, good dough consistency, nice varied flavours (pictured are sugar, maple walnut, and chocolate walnut) with good glaze and plenty of nuts. Most of all, it was fresh and tasty. Perhaps they won't win any medals here, but good doughnuts nonetheless.

Rating: ***