京輪 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 京輪 [Kyourin] 
Address: Shimobentencho 51-2, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Website: n/a
Style: Doughnuts, Japanese
Price: $-$$ 

Yes, it's a bit embarrassing, but I did choose to focus a little on doughnuts during my trip and tried to visit as many "doughnut shops" as I could, at least in Kyoto. Here is the first.

 While not a bakery, Kyourin is a quaint, busy cafe specializing in drinks, ice cream desserts (they also serve doughnuts topped with a scoop of ice cream), and baked cake doughnuts available in ten varieties, many of which are traditional Japanese flavours along with a few more unconventional choices. Unlike a great many doughnut shops where the difference between each variety is purely in the glaze, these simple, unadorned doughnuts are all about the dough.

I wanted something slightly different and went with the houjicha (roasted green tea) doughnut (150 yen). Dense, spongy and flavourful, the dough was greenish brown and packed with the bolder taste of roasted green tea. In addition to that, there were chunks of walnut here and there, which was nice. Classic old-fashioned doughnuts done right.

Rating: ***