Donut Monster

Bakery: Donut Monster
Address: 246 Locke St, Hamilton ON 
Website: https://www.donutmonster.ca/
Style: Doughnuts 
Price: $$$

Donut Monster is, without a doubt, the gourmet doughnut destination in Hamilton, and seeing as it's always hard to resist doughnuts, I just had to give this newer place a try. With its rows of doughnut trays and more than a dozen labels at one time, they probably have the most selection in terms of flavour that I've ever seen in a gourmet doughnut shop. Many times, it's limited to three or four, at the most six at one time, so that is definitely fresh and exciting; of course, what's not exciting is to see most of those rows of doughnut trays and more than a dozen labels... empty. I always seem to have that kind of luck. However, another thing that Monster Donuts has going for it in addition to some classic items (apple fritter and cinnamon sugar) is its selection of inventive, unexpected flavour combinations: roasted beetroot or sriracha lime, anyone? That being said, as with most doughnut shops of this type, the difference in flavour is contained solely in the glaze on top, with the exception of the fritters and a few with some sort of filling (would have loved to try the milk tea one). I hope to one day find a place that changes it up and does something fun to the dough as well!

Nevertheless, back to the review: as mentioned before, Donut Monster seems to be quite the popular place, since the two times I've been there, it's never heaping with doughnuts or the doughnuts I want aren't available. It's gets pretty frustrating, but I did manage to come out with some promising picks.

I tried the lemon Earl Grey, a sangria (rear) and an apple fritter. Firstly, the Earl Grey with floral garnish had a unique thick and creamy icing more than a glaze or dip; with its tartness and spreadable texture, it almost reminded me of a cream cheese icing, though it's not. An interesting, flavour-packed concept, but I had a hard time picking out the Earl Grey.

The sangria doughnut with strawberry slices atop a deep pink glaze was certainly the worst for wear. This and the lemon simply could not survive a summer day in the car... It was my least favourite. The glaze had run away a bit and I would have liked to taste a little more of the wine. Of course. :P Finally, the apple fritter looked and tasted like the star attraction. Crunchy fried outside, glaze getting into all those grooves... oh yeah!

On a return trip and not pictured, I grabbed a cardamom glaze/honey dip, which was by far the simplest of the bunch, but probably my favourite in terms of flavour and the texture of the dough combined with the all-around glaze. However, in general, the doughnut is all about the dough and while the glazes and different flavours are really good, I think the dough itself could be slightly chewier and denser. Still, these are some tasty doughnuts and a doughnut shop is always a great addition to the neighbourhood!

Rating: ***