Walking food tours are a great way to get acquainted with the local culinary scene of a city, whether you're a tourist or a local. Of the food tours that operate in Edmonton (usually during the summer months), most are concentrated around downtown and Old Strathcona. Rightfully so. But perhaps they're missing the obvious?
I'm talking about the high concentration of carbs on 124th street.
I mean, you've got soft pretzels at Zwicks, croissants at Chocorrant, and the granddaddy of them all, pastries, cakes, and macarons from Duchess Bakeshop. The only carb missing is doughnuts! But not to worry, Destination Doughnuts now have that covered too.
Opened in November of 2017, Destination Doughnuts is one of the handful of gourmet doughnut shops that popped up in our city in the past year. Between them, Doughnut Party and Ohana Donuterie, Timmie's has some serious competition.
Walking into Destination Doughnuts, you're greeted by a long line of twelve doughnut flavours (as well as mini doughnuts!). Selection will vary daily, but with twelve varieties, you're bound to find a new favourite every time. A single doughnut will run you $3.50, while a half dozen is $18.45 and a full dozen is $34.75 (cash and debit only). Compared to a single at Doughnut Party, it's slightly pricier by 50 cents, but hey, if you're out buying a gourmet artisanal doughnut, I don't think you're too strapped for cash.
We ended up getting a half dozen to try out, starting with the snickerdoodle. A riff on the cinnamon sugar cookie, the snickerdoodle features a glazed fritter-like dough with meringue cloud topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. I'm a fan of the classics (cinnamon sugar doughnuts being one of them) so this was naturally one of my favourites.
My dad picked the cheesecake, which had a ring of cheesecake frosting, fresh strawberry filling, and actual cheesecake pieces. A solid pick for any cheesecake enthusiast.
The triple play (chocolate glaze, Skor bits, ripple chips, Hickory sticks, and caramel drizzle) was another surprising favourite of mine, since I usually don't gravitate towards chocolate doughnuts. It was a nice blend of sweet, salty, and smokey. I will say that the glaze fell off the doughnut pretty easily though, so it's a messy one to consume.
The s'mores is a glazed doughnut ring with graham cracker crumbs, toasted meringue, and chocolate drizzle. There's also a toasted marshmallow in the centre! Can't go wrong with this flavour combination really.
Maybe it's because I'm praying for winter to finally be over, but I also really liked the ode to sunshine. A filled doughnut with lemon curd, torched meringue, and lemon poppyseed drizzle. If you like tart things like I do, you'll enjoy this one!
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Last but not least, I had high hopes for the crème brûlée but I thought the execution could have been better. There's a possibility the torched sugar top could have melted in transit, but I don't think the sugar layer was thick enough in the first place to have that distinct crackle of a crème brûlée top. The vanilla bean filling also tasted like an ordinary vanilla pudding to me.
But in all, the texture of the doughnuts are very good. Soft, fluffy, and fresh. Although the doughnuts are stuffed with fillings and fully loaded with toppings, they weren't overwhelmingly sweet either. As much as I don't like to compare two local businesses, most people will be curious and ask this question anyways. How is it compared to Doughnut Party? The doughnuts at Destination are smaller, but in that way, more manageable. I find Doughnut Party doughnuts to be unnecessarily big (although others will disagree), and thus a bit more bread-y and sometimes dry. There's no clear-cut winner, but I would lean towards Destination Doughnuts in this round.
And if anyone wants to capitalize on that walking food tour ... you'll probably have to roll me down 124th street by the end.
Destination Doughnuts
10548 124 Street NW
Edmonton, AB
Edmonton, AB
(780) 473-7875
- CT
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