Best Doughnuts in London?

Doughnut Time, Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Doughnut Time, the Australian doughnut brand has opened in the UK. We sent Colonel Mustard along to see if it lived up to the hype…

Doughnut Time are apparently well known in Australia, and they’ve got plans to expand in the UK, with more stores planned for 2018 apparently. For the moment though, if you want to give them a try you’ll have to visit them in London.

I popped along in the early evening to give it a try. It’s a very small store, effectively a kiosk – there’s no inside seating and it’s takeaway only, so don’t be expecting to sit and have a coffee while you sit and chat with friends, unless you fancy a seat in the nearby bus stop.

They say that their range is available every day until they sell out, but even at this time of the evening they were well stocked. There was a good selection to take my fancy, and while I was tempted to try a few different varieties, my ever-expanding waistline, not to mention my wallet, had other ideas. I restricted myself to just one.

I went for the “Sia Later” – a “Vegan red velvet doughnut with a buttercream frosting and freeze-dried raspberries.”
So what did I think? Well, they’re quite a size – these are a decent size larger than what you would expect from Greggs or Krispy Kreme. The doughnut itself was that proper stodgy feeling I like from a doughnut, but not too heavy. The buttercream was very sweet, maybe too sweet for some palates. All in all, I was quietly impressed. Click here for the Doughnut Time menu

So, can they compete with the established big guns like Krispy Kreme? Possibly – they certainly match them for taste and selection, but the price might be off-putting for some. For around £4 for each individual doughnut, this is an occasional treat – luckily so since they’re only in London, for now anyway.