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Esurientes - The Comfort Zone

Friday, January 19, 2007

Best doughnut in Melbourne?


Is this the best doughnut in Melbourne? It could well be; it's definitely the best one I've tasted in a long while. Except for the amazing Polish plum jam donuts from Europa bakery in Acland Street.
It's a bomboloni, or bombolini, or bomboleo or something bomby from Dench's at 109 Scotchmer Street, North Fitzroy, almost opposite the excellent Piedimonte's supermarket on St George's Rd, where I can find all kinds of weird and exciting imported European foods, as well as any type of exotic dairy I want (sheep's yoghurt, quark..). That pocket of North Fitzroy is a foodie haven; if you haven't had brunch at The Greengrocer, and finished it off by picking up a block of Green & Black's chocolate, then I say, go treat yourself!
The donut is a typical deep fried, yeasted donut filled with custard, but superior in every way. It seems I'm not the only blogging fan, either (and his photo is much better 'cos you can see all the custard). The custard is light and eggy, with a hint of lemon - real Italian custard. And the donut is not heavy or leaden, even though it does pack a punch calorie-wise; your paper bag turns transparent from the oil pretty quickly. Eat up! They're tossed in sugar, so each bite is a mouthful of crunchy sugar, light donut and creamy, lemony custard. Ok, so not an everyday treat, but as occasional indulgences go, one of my favourites.
Dench is known for its sourdough breads, which are mainly supplied to restaurants around Melbourne, but they do have a shopfront selling products, and a few tables for breakfasts & lunches packed in pretty tightly. But for me it's all about the bombolonis.

12 Comments:

  • OHHH! and here I thought that the custard was made by angels! I've been eating those donuts since I was a little girl, and I've always been lucky enough to either work or live near a bakery that sells them and I don't think I can choose who makes the best - they're a divine donut!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/21/2007 10:16:00 am  

  • Yes, Niki, there's nothing quite like a custard bomboloni... and the Dench version is a contender for best.

    Other players in this game include Sugardough, in Brunswick, and Baker D. Chirico in St Kilda. I ate one of the latter just this morning, and they are hard to fault. They also supply Cafe Racer...

    Mmmmm... Bomboloni...

    By Blogger Jamie Wodetzki, at 1/21/2007 08:26:00 pm  

  • Hi Niki!
    Enjoy reading your blog...my fav doughnut in Melb has got to be the spanish doughtnuts at Vicmart!
    I live in KL, studied in Melb previously, the last time I had the doughnuts were more than 2 years ago!! Just love it and I'll be back!
    Cheers.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/24/2007 12:24:00 am  

  • Sounds delicious! Anything with custard.. yum!

    By Blogger Dianka, at 1/24/2007 09:56:00 am  

  • Trivelli cakes in Sydney Road comes close. Their cakes are fantastic.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/24/2007 11:19:00 am  

  • I'll definitely give those a try!
    I'm also a fan of the custard donuts at Laurent....I use them to bribe my staff.

    By Blogger jodie, at 1/24/2007 04:36:00 pm  

  • I love the ones at the Vic Markets with the jam inside. MMMMMMmmmmm sacrilicious.

    By Blogger Squishy, at 1/24/2007 11:29:00 pm  

  • I do love a good custard doughnut, but seriously, the hand rolled, jam filled, sugar crusted yeasty little beauties at Vic Market do the trick for me:-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/25/2007 08:03:00 pm  

  • not that I've tried the Dench one and therefore am not in a position to provide you with a comparison, but Jamie is right on about Sugardough's version. The pastries at Sugardough are some of the best we've tried in Melbourne - we just didn't have a camera on us at the time!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1/27/2007 10:36:00 pm  

  • Murrumbeena Bakery on Murrumbeena Rd (in, um, Murrumbeena, near Carnegie) has wonderful custard donuts, for anyone who lives in the South. You'd have to be pretty keen to come all the way out to Murrumbeena for a custard donut, but they are very much worth it.

    I had the great misfortune to be sucked in by the marketing strategy of a certain donut chain with a retro image. Don't do it, kids!

    By Blogger Ms .45, at 1/31/2007 01:48:00 am  

  • Hi there. Great blog! I added your blog as a link on mine. Hope you dun mind. Shaz a foodie blogger from Singapore.

    By Blogger shaz, at 2/07/2007 09:03:00 pm  

  • hehheh, love those! miss melbourne. =(

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/10/2008 12:56:00 am  

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