Daniel's Donuts, Springvale by Bureaucrat

I love a good doughnut.  Custard filled ones are the best, then followed by jam doughnuts and then the good ol' cinnamon doughnuts.  So when I spotted a constant queue of people lining up outside into Daniel's Donuts (plus all the flotsam of used up doughnut packing in the nearby bin) I knew I had to check it out.  Daniel's Donuts appears to be a New Zealand franchise and is located in the midst of the sprawling set of shops and fast food outlets in Springvale (that headache inducing intersection of Springvale Road - Centre Road - Dandenong Road - Police Road).  The place is open 24 hours which gives you an idea of just how popular Daniel's Donuts is.

I got all caught up in the surrounding excitement of everyone buying doughnuts - it's hard not to. I liken it to being at Costco - you go there with the intention of buying one thing and you end up with a trolley full of stuff.  And in this case, I ended up with half a dozen of doughnuts and a pie.  

There's lots of doughnuts and they're very well priced ($3 each - regardless of whether it's a jam, custard or plain one - or you can get six for $15).  The proof is in the pudding, so how did they taste? 

Overall, I'd rate these easily above a Krispy Kreme but they fall short of a Walker's doughnut and a Through Road Pantry doughnut.  

The best of the ones that I bought was the cream and jam doughnut.  A fresh, reasonably yeasty doughnut - it was airy and light.  There was a goodly amount of sweetened cream and jam.  The strawberry jam had a strong berry flavour.  I'd get this again.  The cream doughnut was the same except that it didn't have a splodge of jam on top.

From bottom clockwise: tiramisu cream doughnut, cinnamon doughnut, jam doughnut

This trio of doughnuts were reasonable but nothing exceptional.  The coffee flavour in the tiramisu doughnut was rather faint. The cinnamon doughnut was rather light and airy - I would have much preferred a yeastier (i.e., chewier/denser in texture) doughnut... this felt rather refined in texture.  The jam doughnut had a good amount of jam.

There's a range of novelty doughnuts (e.g., bubble gum flavour).  While most of these flavours didn't appeal to me, I did get a butterscotch filled doughnut.  This wasn't the best - the filling was a bit gloppy in texture.  It's best to stick with the classic flavours.

Having skipped breakfast, I also got a steak and cheese pie.  After a bite or two, I rather regretted doing so.  Whenever I eat more than a handful of heavily flavoured snacks (e.g., cheese and bacon balls, Dorito chips) I get a headache... and it was the same thing here.  The pastry was thin and a bit soggy on the bottom; the steak and cheese filling was quite salty.  I had to drinks lots of water to flush the salt and additives out of my system. Definitely give the pies a miss.

 The queue seen in this photo is rather short.  There's usually a line that extends for about two metres.

Verdict

We liked it.

Cheap eats.

Overall

You can't beat the price - $3 for a decent doughnut is pretty good.  If I'm in the area again, I'd go for the cream doughnuts and maybe a jam one, but I'd give everything else a miss.

Find it at

Daniel's Donuts
819 Princes Highway
Springvale VIC 3171
Phone: (03) 9547 5950