Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Donut Bar - Downtown San Diego

Donut Bar - Downtown SD Oh, Donut Bar...  I had such high hopes for you.  I hoped you would deliver something on the same level as Dynamo Donuts in San Francisco, or Doughnut Plant in New York City...  but  alas...
March 2013On my first trip, I will admit I might not have picked a very good day to visit.  Every single doughnut offered  was brown.  There were creme brulee ones filled with pastry cream, chocolate and maple with bacon, chocolate cake doughnuts and apple fritters.  You can see the full selection above.  The creme brulee was interesting because of the hard crunchy caramelized sugar top but the pastry cream inside didn't taste like creme brulee.
March 2013Maple bacon is a stellar flavor combination but the flaccid pieces of bacon draped over the top of these doughnuts were anything but appetizing - not to mention hard to eat.  (Great Maple is killing these, by the way.)
March 2013
The rest of the doughnuts I tried that day were no better or worse than anything you'd find in an ordinary doughnut shop.  The pricing on their basic varieties are reasonable, but they would be better off doing something more interesting and charging more, IMHO.
March 2013
On a second visit, I tried the blood orange, the "birthday cake" and a peanut butter and jelly bar. The blood orange was by far the best, with good strong citrus flavor in the glaze and a fluffy tender texture.  I'm not crazy about the thick glaze they put on their old fashioned doughnuts, but the doughnut itself was fine.
Donut Bar The "birthday cake" flavor was plain a vanilla cake doughnut with colored sprinkles.  The peanut butter frosting was pleasingly salty, but I was chagrined to find the doughnut filled with artifically flavored and colored bulk quality "jelly."
Donut Bar
 Donut Bar Honestly, if you're going to charge $3. for a doughnut I just think you should do better than that.

Donut Bar
631 B St
Downtown San Diego
check their Facebook page for their daily menu and updates.