What is a donut? Deep-fried cake with a hole in the middle and perhaps a dusting of sugar. Nothing more. Nothing less. Well, that was what I thought until I discovered City Donut. They take deep-fried cake to a whole other level!!! Their donuts are all inspired by classic Singaporean dishes. They even do a Singapore Chilli (No) Crab donut. Whoa!
Dance to the beat of my top 10 favourite City Donuts in the below clip. Otherwise, keep scrolling for where, what, and how to get your hands on these babies!
City Donut is a local dessert chain with branches in Tanjong Pagar and Novena. They make all the donuts fresh daily and on-premise. City Donut serve 14 different donut flavours. I am greedy, but I am not that greedy. I bought a box of 10 donuts only to try out a few of the more interesting flavours. It was a delicious experience! However, I can safely say that I’ve now consumed enough donuts to last me the year. Here is my official ranking.
10. Chocolate Rice
This is pretty much your classic donut. It’s round. It’s got a hole in the middle. And, there are chocolate sprinkles. But it’s not as sweet as the donuts at Krispy Kreme.
9. Nanyang Kopi
Kopi is what Singaporeans call coffee. The local brew is made by frying the coffee beans in butter or margarine to produce a rich and caramel-like flavour. Nanyang kopi is served with evaporated milk and sugar. I’ve grown fond of this stuff over the years although it can be an acquired taste. The Nanyang Kopi donut has a deliciously creamy coffee filling.
8. Black Sesame
This one is a dark horse! The black sesame donut is pitch-black in colour with creamy, grey-coloured filling. The flavour is so intense. I recommend eating a mouthful of this with a cup of hot green tea to cleanse the palette.
7. Ondeh Ondeh
Ondeh Ondeh is a popular dessert throughout Southeast Asia. It consists of pandan-flavoured balls filled with palm sugar and rolled in coconut. This donut is exactly that. EXACTLY. As they say, a spoonful of palm sugar makes the medicine go down. In the most delightful way!
6. Classic Peanut
The one is truly moorish. I love the texture! Super crunchy. But there is also something very unusual about the flavour. It kind of tastes like sesame too. The Classic Peanut donut is a nod to those peanut pancakes they serve at some Singapore hawker centre for breakfast.
5. Chill (No) Crab
Come on. You knew they just HAD to reference the famous Singapore Chilli Crab here. This is a savoury donut stuffed with spicy red curry-like sauce. It is somewhat similar to the sauce you have with a Singapore Chilli Crab but less eggy and no crab!
4. Pandan Kaya
I love the smell of pandan. The sweet fragrance reminds me of a holiday I one took to Penang in Malaysia. But the best thing about this donut is the creamy coconut stuffing! Kaya means rich in the Malay language. But this one is anything but. This is a light and oh-so-creamy deep-fried dessert.
3. Citrus Yuzu
Oh yes, yes, yes! I’m all in for exotic citrus flavours. Yuzu is a type of Japanese lemon with a wonderful zing to it. This donut is the equivalent of a Japanese martini. Strong yet smooth. Naughty but nice.
2. Milo Dinosaur
I know it. You know it. Milo is an Australian drink. But the Singaporeans have adopted it as one of their own. A Milo Dinosaur is a popular one with the kiddies here and is basically cold milo. God I love this donut. They do not go easy on the milo so it’s super chocolately.
1. Yam Orh Ni
There is only one word for this yam donut. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Purple in colour and oozing with a pale-paste, this one is a surprise winner. I like the fact that it is all soft and mushy with a dull yet mildly sweet flavour. Mmmmm. We all need more yam in our lives!
My donut-eating experience at City Donut was a hole-in-one. You can order donuts online via the City Donut Oddle site. Otherwise, go and pick up a fresh box from one of their stores. If you like donuts, you may also like to read about Korio’s New York-style donuts as well as the light-tasting Japanese donuts by Haritts.
City Donut
No. 2 McCallum Street
Singapore 069043
City Donut
238 Thomson Road
#01-72/73 Velocity @ Novena Square
Singapore 307683