National Donut Day + Go Go Curry
- By Robyn Lee
- Jun 2, 2007
- Comments
Everyone loves doughnuts—anyone who says he doesn't is either lying or has never had a good one.
- Nancy Silverton, "Pastries from the La Brea Bakery"
I found this quote worthwhile to record on my tumblr page because after having eaten way too many donuts in the name of being a Serious Eater, I think Nancy has the right idea.
- Donut Day!
Yesterday we celebrated National Doughnut (or "Donut", as I prefer) at Serious Eats. You can read a little history about the holiday, which lands on the first Friday of June, at the awesome donut-obsessed Blognut. SE interviewed the blognut himself, Bret Stetka, at The Donut Pub, a favorite destination of mine and some of my friends for tasty unhealthy things. As it's open 24 hours a day, it's probably good to go to if you're drunk at 3 AM, assuming you have enough consciousness to find it. Of course, I have no experience with drunken donut eating...
I drew the happy cavorting donuts to illustrate how happy this day of donuts is, but to be honest I'm not a big donut fan, although I may like them more now than I did before going through a donut tasting. [puts up a shield to deflect bullets and sharp pokey things from angry donut lovers.] I don't hate them and I do enjoy reading about them or staring at them in all their cute rotund-ness, but I've never eaten a donut that made me think, "Damn, that was a really good donut. I think I will eat five more of those. Right now." While growing up I distinctly remember disliking doughnuts from my neighborhood grocery store, Market Basket, for tasting like heavy, somewhat dry, not very flavorful cake.
- donut tasting
This week we prepared to talk about donuts by eating them. A lot of them. I missed out on the NYC donut tasting, but got the full blast of the cross-country tasting, which involved shipping boxes of donuts from Portland, Seattle, and Beverly Hills overnight so we could eat them in their day-old glory. Obviously it's not the optimal situation for eating donuts—I don't think they improve with age—but it was the best we could do and we weren't planning on rating them for the site.
However, this is my site! So I can rate them! Haha! As fairly as I can, of course.
- Top Pot donuts
Seattle's Top Pot sent us a dozen donuts. Sadly, I don't recall much about them. I think the time and travel took their toll on whatever deliciousness the donuts may have possibly once held. They weren't bad, they just didn't conjure up that, "OMG, SO TASTY!" reaction that I like to have. One thing that I don't think would've changed with age is the flavor of the chocolate donut, which oddly didn't really taste like chocolate. None of us could put on finger on it. Surely it's real chocolate. Unless chocolate undergoes some kind of transformation in the donuting process...
- Voodoo Dougnuts
We also obtained a box of donuts from Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts, but not without some difficulty. Ed made his call to the donut shop and requested a box shipped overnight to NYC. Of course, it's not surprising that someone would question that. ...Or think that we were insane. Whoever Ed talked to was against sending his donut offspring so far from their homeland. We understood his stance; the donuts would lose most of their magical donuty essence in the process of flying across the country.
Instead, Ed got a friend in Portland to buy us a box of donuts and ship it to us. It seems a bit underhanded, but Ed did inform the Voodoo Doughnuts guy that we would do that instead. As we were not on some kind of evil donut-fueled mission involving the sacrifice of innocence children's souls, we didn't think this was a bad thing to do.
Sadly, we found out that these donuts really do not travel well, maybe even worse than the Top Pot donuts. Oops. (They look cute though, eh?) I'm sure they're good fresh from the source, but I'll never know unless I visit Portland. The first donut is a maple bacon bar, which, despite that I say I like to try everything, I really didn't want to try. How much would you hate me if I said I wasn't a fan of bacon? [cowers in fear]
Update (6/3): I just remembered that there was something from Voodoo that I liked. ...But it wasn't a donut. At least, it wasn't rotund. It looked like a small pound cake, but tasted a million times better, with a crisp crust and tender...um...cakey innards. Nothing like the donuts. HOORAY, MYSTERY CAKE!
- saving the best for last
While Frittelli's donuts from Beverly Hills arrived in a Tiffany's-blue box so mangled (hence why I didn't take photos of them except for one photogenic specimen), they were possibly the best tasting donuts I had ever eaten, keeping in mind that I haven't eaten that many donuts in my life. Frittelli's piqued Ed's interest after he found out that they were approved by Nancy Silverton, who seems to be a goddess in world of baking (something I would be more sure about if I could eat some of her creations).
They didn't taste like they suffered at the hands of aging, which Santos said may be due to preservatives, but ye know...they were pretty damn good, so I'm okay with it. The crust was delicate and crisp unlike any other donut I had eaten and the crumb was light, tender and moist in a way that wasn't like...anything else. Not a cake, nor a quickbread. Just DONUT. The apple fritter was also "OMG GIVE ME MORE" good, with all the tastiness of something that is deep fried without the grease or heaviness that I would be afraid to get from a ball of dough and apple chunks dunked in a vat of oil. I'm sure there are many places to get donuts of the same awesomeness quotient (or more, while being more accessible than Beverly Hills); I just haven't been to any of these donut shops yet.
Of course, if I go to LA I do expect some kind of donut hunting adventure to occur. :]
Although I do not love donuts as Nancy says I should, I like them more than I used to. Maybe I should make it my mission to sample the best donuts when possible in hopes of finding the Holy Grail of donuts, to taste the one that will fill my soul with incalculably obsessive donut love, so that can never part from donuts ever agaaaain...
On second though, I probably shouldn't.
and now for some curry
- Go! Go! Curry! Power! Awesome!
My curry-loving heart skipped a beat when I heard that curry shop Go Go Curry opened in NYC. A restaurant solely dedicated to Japanese curry, a foodstuff that, despite looking like a bad case of the runs, tastes like awesome happy sweet spicy thick sodiumy probably MSG-enhanced....tastiness...of some sort...
- curry over time
If you like Japanese curry as much as I do, surely you understand. I grew up eating curry, whether out of a retort pouch, homemade with condensed curry cubes (at least once in Paris), from our family friend's Japanese take-out in NJ, at Mitsuwa, at a curry shop in Taipei, at buffets in Taipei, at the American Club in Taipei, practically ANYWHERE that sold it in Japan (I wasn't an adventurous eater when I was younger), at Wagamama, and...well, anywhere else that I could find it. [eyes glaze over in a curry-filled reverie] I LOVE THAT BROWN GOOPY SAUCE, YES I DO. Stop looking at me funnily.
- $5!...no longer
Nathan didn't mind where we ate out as long as it was cheap. Luckily I remembered that Go Go Curry was having an "EVERYTHING IS ONLY $5!!!" campaign all throughout May in honor of its opening. Which means you can't have in on the cheapness anymore. Sorry.
- medium pork katsu curry
Although I could've gotten a large for the same price, it seemed best to limit the size to a medium because if given the chance I could down a large dish of rice smothered in curry sauce. This thing called "willpower" doesn't exist around curry. The medium ended up being a perfect size; I ate it all without wanting to pump my stomach afterwards. The curry sauce lacked the chunks of potato and carrot that I was used to seeing in other curries, but it was noticeably more flavorful and spicy that what I was used to eating. Even better was the pork katsu—the perfect accompaniment to curry, surely—whose tender meat was encased in an exceptionally light, thin crispy coating. I wouldn't say I'm a katsu expert, but having eaten so much katsu in my life (which has since become part of my thighs) I'd label this as one of my favorites. For something that I naturally love like pork katsu to register in my brain as memorable, it has to do some major poking on my brain cells with a stick of deliciousness. THE STICK, IT HAS POKETHED ME.
- chicken curry
The medium chicken curry came with more meat, but it's simply not as tasty as pork. GET THE PIGGY! Piggy loves you.
Go Go Curry wasn't crowded when we went for dinner, but I heard that going at lunchtime feels like being herded into a zoo. A crowded zoo. So it's good, but keep that in mind. I think they're offering take-out now anyway, which wasn't available in May.
- Pinkberry
Afterwards at Nathan's request we went to Pinkberry for dessert. Although it tasted better this time than during my first visit, I'm still immune to the supposed awesomeness of Pinkberry. If I want something that tastes like yogurt, I'd rather eat yogurt; if I want something frozen, I'd rather eat ice cream/gelato; if I want something fruity, I'd rather eat fruit. Just personal preference. Of course, Pinkberry does great business with three locations in NYC so far and probably more to come, so I'll stick to my beloved creamy fat-filled desserts.
Random things
My latest Gothamist post about my favorite lunch spot Kofoo is up.
I'm not posting as much as I'd like to. Sorry. :( I'll just say from now on that I'll post once a week (and sometimes more), probably on the weekend since that seems to be the only time that I can devote more than an ounce of brainpower to the task. And honestly, it doesn't require that much brain power, but that gives you an idea of how much I had to begin with. I hate to think that people are actually visiting this site every day to see if I've updated when my laziness has prevented it.
addresses
Top Pot
2124 5th Ave, Seattle WA
Voodoo Doughnuts
2 SW 3rd Ave, Portland OR
Comments
You don't love bacon? You don't love donuts? What's up with that? How is that even possible? Everything gets better with bacon! Anything savory at least.
Oh, and there's nothing to better accompany my favorite beverage, coffee, than a donut. I long for american donuts! I want a huge donut store to open in Bergen. It's possible (but not all that likely) that I'll be in L.A. this summer. I should visit that world-renowned-baker-approved-donut-store, I suppose. I'll write it down if I go.
I understand the fact that you don't love donuts. I like 'em, don't love 'em. I only crave them on rare occasions...even though I like fried food and love pastries from a dough (which is almost anything and everything?).
I LOATHE bacon. So, you are not alone. I especially hate the smell of bacon, something which my roommates do not care to remember.
You're only going to be posting once a week now? Why? I'm going to miss all your pictures!
regarding pinkberry, i second your thought. I'll never understand what's the big deal. the berries suck just like crappy supermarket tomatoes in February. The frozen yogurt isn't even real frozen yogurt.
the frenzy for pinkberry dumbfounds me. just as i'll never understand how david chang gets away with some of the worst, headache inducing ramen broth and rubbery noodles. (though I am a fan of ssam bar)
as for go-go curry, now that's the real deal. can't wait for a chilly fall day for belly warming curry.
I like donuts...maybe like once a year though lol. I remember when I was younger, donuts would make me sick a bit.
About Pinkberry, it does seem over hyped. Although my friend who is a foodie, loves it! He calls it "crackberry." I remember someone saying that the first time you eat it, it's like nastiness, but then you get used to it and it's good. I haven't had it yet myself, but I think it's also sort of a ripoff haha.
I love bacon haha...everyone is different though. The curry place looks fun! I'd love to go to NYC someday.
too bad about the donuts. a reader of mine went to paris and insisted on getting me a box of pierre herme macs and fed ex-ing it when she got home to l.a., it arrived all smushed to the one side, half of them like pudding. lesson learned.
anything that's fried tastes best when it's minutes out of the fryer. even bad fried food will be tasty if it's fresh and crunchy.
great photos. those voodoo donuts look as if they're dumping a crapload of stuff on it to mask a mediocre donut underneath.
Hey Robyn. Yeah, Nancy Silverton is awesome, but I don't like doughnuts much either (ie. not at all)... she has a kickin' recipe for Ginger Scones that I have fiddled with to my liking (mass amounts of crystallized ginger wake up your tongue in the morning!) so if you want a recipe, let me know.
-Sam
Oohhh I <3 japanese curry as well. If you make it to L.A. you'll have to try Hurry Curry on Sawtelle Blvd, definetly a must for a curry fan. I'm amazed by your dedication to the official donut day, I still haven't tried Fritelli's yet and it's less than 5 miles from me. I'll have to go ---- SOON. Nice entry! -ruth
Donuts=overrated. You'd think that fried pieces of dough covered in chocolate and sugar "would" be like a mini-fireworks explosion in one's oral cavity. You'd think. But alas, every donut I've had has resulted in disappointment. You're not alone there.
Totally agree with you about Pinkberry. Why do people have to keep morphing foods together? Seriously, why? Like those pizzas that taste like burgers. If I wanted a burger, I'd eat a burger. Oh, lord, can you just imagine a world when nothing tastes the way it should and tastes like everything else so that your tastebuds can't take the excess of flavors and just malfunction and then everything just starts tasting like...chicken? Let's hope that day never comes...
I don't know if you already knew this, but there are now THREE! Wagamamas in Boston. I have been to them in London and Sydney, and I am sooo excited to have some Wagamama lovin' again stateside. :D
Morten: WHAT'S UP WITH YOU HUUHH? [points]
Okay, sometimes bacon tastes good IN things, but on its own I'm not a fan. :\
Perhaps YOU could open a donut shop in Bergen. :) Dooood! Yeeah! You have a leg in the food biz.
And LA? OO. ...That's nowhere near me, but cool! Lots of good eats out there. And here in NYC. Cough.
Tina: I think my favorite fried sweet dough thing is ...FUNNEL CAKE. OH DEAR GOD. However,I seem to eat that once every 2+ years. I want a funnel cake shop.
GR: Oh man, I don't like the smell either! Usually. Any breakfast meat scent tends to make me feel blech.
Jen: Wellll I currently post about once a week anyway (a real post, not just one where I'm asking a question) so I figured I would announce that instead of having people think I may post more. I started working and although I enjoy it, it gives me less time to blog. :\
conduit group: The mango in my Pinkbery cup was so not...good. Too unripe. Jebus. The blackberries were alright, at least.
I like Momofuku though. My noodles weren't rubbery. .__. Sure, it's not my favorite noodle place but I don't mind going there if my friends want to...
Catherine: I'd say I would eat donuts once a year. Which means I just ate enough donuts to last...many yeeears...
My friend loved Pinkberry too! I'm not totally sure why. Just different preferences, I guess.
Jo Jo: Oh my god, mashed macarons? MACARON PUDDING? (sniffle) That is sad. :( Gotta get your macarons delivered in cooler weather, I guess!
I gotta say, the tastest 24+ hour old thing was a type of plain cake in the shape of a bar. It was realllly good! Too bad I dunno what it was.
bassbiz: Thanks for the rec! That place has my name written all over it. OOHYEAAH. Check out Frittelli's and let me know how you like it!
Gloria: Ahh, I dunno if the category of donuts are overrated; I think it's more likely that a donut from a certain shop may be overrated. But I think a really good donut might do the mini-fireworks thing you speak of. :)
I WANT MAH FIREWORKS!
There are pizzas that taste like...burgers? [strokes chin] Well, I might be willing to try that. Once.
I think I'll be dead before we live in a world where everything tastes like chicken. Woo!
Beth: I heard of there being one, but I didn't know there were three! :O It'd be cool to have one in NYC, although I don't know if I'd go there unless it were conveniently located. It was fun to go to in London though!
I love the voodoo donuts photos. They look like sea creatures. Speaking of donuts, I wanted to point out your (unknowing) participation in a small mystery concerning donuts and wikipedia. It's over here:
http://saltandpaper.blogspot.com/
Jane
wow!! I've never seen so many gourmet donuts.. I will have to try the Fritelli's next time I am back in LA.. mmmmmmm. and I second Bassbiz's suggestion- Hurry Curry, although they are not as good as they used to be IMHO. You can even do a curry day on Sawtelle and go to Hurry Curry (get the chicken tonkatsu), Blue Marlin (get the black pork katsu curry!) and Curry House (get the steak curry bowl), all in that same block of Sawtelle.
hi robyn! your description of japanese curry as "looking like a bad case of the runs" made me wince a little, but my love for curry will survive. did you eat the curry with any kind of pickle? i find pickles make the curry less stodgy.
the doughnuts look pretty good for pastries that have travelled cross-country. i probably wouldn't eat them (too sweet) but they held up quite well. there's a bit of a doughnut craze in singapore right now. probably because there are only 2 shops (yes, TWO) that specialise in doughnuts. people have been known to queue an entire afternoon for a box.
Those donuts you drew are cute enough to be on the package of some Japanese food product. I'm saving the rest of your post for lunch.
Living in Seattle, I'm a big fan of Top Pot donuts ever since they started just a few years ago. I'm guessing they didn't age well, though you'd think the glaze covering would protect all of the cakey innards from dehydration...
Speaking as a Portlander who regularly seeks them out, Voodoo Donuts are delicious AND lovely - if you don't ship them, I gather. If you didn't eat the maple bacon donut - well, I just feel sorry for you. It's perfection in a donut.
Jane: If only real sea creatures tasted like...dooonuts...
That donut mystery is pretty funny. "I will celebrate this holiday by leaving a donut trail on the interwebs. STARTING WITH WIKIPEDIA!!!" Good thing you caught that, eh? ;)
Joan: THREE CURRY HOUSES IN ONE DAY? Oh dear god, I need to go to LA.
shukumei: Ah, ye know it's true. Curry looks like...unpretty. :[ The curry didn't come with pickles but I think they offer toppings now. Woo!
The donuts certainly could've looked worse considering the distance traveled. :) There are only two donut shops in Singapore and they're really popular? I'm surprised more people aren't baking in on the craze!
Dana: Thanks! IF ONLY I HAD BEEN BORN IN JAPAN. (sigh)
eternal: I will visit Seattle some day and have PROPER Top Pot donuts.
kyla: Yeah, fried things do not travel well. Aw. It's probably a good thing I didn't eat the maple bacon donut since it would've tasted a lot worse than if I had gotten it fresh. A day old donut looks funky enough...lay a piece of day old bacon on top, hehe! ;)
The Voodoo and Fritelli donuts (har har, I like spelling it "donuts" too) look awesome. I don't dig bacon either but that maple bacon one is so sly!
I like donuts, I don't LOVE them. Sadly, I work down the hill from a donut factory so I get tired of donutty scents. It disturbs me when I'm working in the lab and the donutty smell comes from a fume hood. Hmm.
Hey Robster!
I need a little help. Unless you place a link for your latest Gothamist post, I am unable to find you on that site. Would you please post a direct link to were you can be found at www.gothamist.com ?
Ok bye
rEd
Manda: YOU WORK NEAR A DONUT FACTORY?...damn, I can imagine getting sick of the smell if I had to smell it ever day. :P
Red: Unless it only shows up in firefox, I did link to the entry in that paragraph up there. And I know it works cos I clicked on it...euh...
I'm with you on the donuts. I eat them once a year, when we make them for Xmas - and I'm happy to keep it that way. It's not like I need another carb addiction...
I'm glad Japanese curry isn't veg, because I can't dissociate it from the image of "a bad case of the runs".
Oh, and if you ever go on that JC fooding trip, I found a new (to me) place you might like: it's a homemade ice cream place...
I thought about it, and there are THREE doughnut shops in Singapore. Woo.
Of course some bakeries sell one or two kinds of doughnuts. (There's a japanese bakery that sells an doughnuts - doughnuts stuffed with red beans and showered with icing sugar. Delicious but makes my teeth hurt. You know.)
I'm also surprised no other doughnut shops have opened, but I think the doughnut craze is just a short-lived fad. Singapore is prone to food fads. There was a bubble tea craze some years back and you could find bubble tea shops everywhere and everybody was drinking bubble tea. Now they are ridiculously hard to find. Other similar fads were portuguese egg tarts and coffee flavoured buns. Also queueing for Hello Kitty toys at McDonald's. People are weird.
hmmmm so much donuts scrumptiousness
everything looks sooooo yummy especially the fritelli's donut
and your pictures....
xxx
- fanny
I'm from Singie too! *waves*
Frankly, I think our local deep fried fritters do a whole lot better. I like donuts too, but will never crave them, and if I wanted a donut with red bean paste I'd just go straight for the local Hum Chim Bang.
Sadly I'm studying overseas now, so no Hum Chim Bangs. ): And Robyn if you ever came by Melbourne don't come during winter (which is, NOW!! )): )- them gelati shops are CLOSED. Baaaah.
piccola: Curry can be veg...right? I mean, if it has no meat. I don't think the plain sauce has meat goop in it...
BROWN GOOP LOOKS GROSS, THUS IS LIFE.
Homemade ice cream WUH? I must know! Even though I am sad to say I haven't been to JC yet for fooding. :(
shukumei: I've seen donuts in some Chinese bakeries in the NYC chinatown. Kind of...interesting. I bought one once and reheated it in the oven and it came out alright. For something that was 50 cents or less.
Oo, I like an donuts! The japanese bakery sells em. Mmmm.
Bubble tea seems like it will always be popular here since the bubble tea market isn't...saturated. I'm sick of it though, hehe.
fanny: Thanks! I'm sure you could make awesome donuts...if you haven't tried already!
kelshling: Hum Chim Bang? Where/wuzzat? I WANNIT! :D
Oh no, they're closed? For shaaame. Some places in Paris were closed during the fall, which made me sad. Come on, people eat gelato ALL YEAR LONG!!!
Curry CAN be veg. But not usually when it's brown. That said, I'll look up the ingredients in case I suddenly forget that horrible mental picture.
The ice cream place is called Torico's. It's on Erie and (I think) First, a few blocks from the Grove St. PATH station. They've got crrrrazy flavours.
oh you have to try hum chim bang at least once, else you can't be the girl who ate EVERYTHING!! These are deep fried dough fritters that come in various shapes and filling- the most common types are stuffed with red bean/mung bean paste, though you can have them plain too. They're most gorgeous fresh out of the oil vat!! =D
piccola: Oh that mental picture...it sticks with ya FOREVER.
Crazy flavors! I want.
kelshling: Where the hell do I get one? (sniff) SOUTHEAST ASIA? Oh. Damn, that's far. They sound so taaaasty! .__.
hi robyn!
how are you? my friend suggested to go to "go go curry" for dinner but before we do so she suggested to "google" the restaurant and your link was the second to choose from!!!! as always your photos are divine making the food looking scrumptious...now i'm even more excited!!!!