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Saturday, March 31, 2012

The New (Doughnut) Kid In Town

Hearing friends talk excitedly about J. Co Donuts, the newest doughnut franchise to sweep into Manila, I thought about how animated they were. These were mostly people who have been to Indonesia (where their first store opened) and had sampled these goodies there. (See http://www.jcodonuts.com/ for more information.)


Having lived in Makati for the last 7 years, I thought what a pain it was for me to have to travel all the way to Megamall just to sample these much talked-about desserts. (Which is where the first J. Co franchise in the Philippines opened.)

Fortunately, I had to meet my parents there and had a leisurely Sunday brunch so I thought I'd kill two birds in one go and pass by the store as well after brunch. I bought my parents and me and Art 1 set each of assorted goodies to try out.

Side note: I normally judge a doughnut store mostly on the strength of its' coffee. I'm not really a doughnut person, and once I've tried a particular flavor, I don't need to repeat it anymore.  And it seems like the doughnut stores know this - through the years, some of the best coffees I've had were from these kinds of establishments, and not necessarily from actual coffee shops.

The names of the doughnuts were what popped out for me, aside from the colors. Avocado Di Caprio really sticks to one's brain, given the actor's popularity. (And I thought what a strange flavor to have on one of these things.) After I made a selection and I brought it home for Art, we both thought they looked too pretty to eat.

I'd have to say it's a 50/50 proposition: Over the course of a week and a half, Art and I tried out all the flavors, and for every one flavor that was a thumbs up, there would be one that wouldn't be too well received. (The avocado flavored one didn't really register a wow on the tastebuds.) I liked the Tiramisu flavored one (we both did) and the Pistachio flavored treat was also one that stood out. Green Tease (green tea flavored) was my favorite, as it is a flavor I actually like (and a tea I usually have).

One big plus though was that these weren't the cloyingly sweet variety, unlike that other well known franchise. Which is always a good thing. And the variety was also another plus - I actually got a cheese flavored one, and I believe they used bleu cheese (?) as it had that distinct, sharp, pungent flavor punching through. (Last row, 2nd one from the left in the picture.)

As my Megamall jaunt was really more to see my parents, I just took the doughnuts for take out/take away and I didn't really stay, but from what I saw, the store was really spacious (it's located in Building B but in the strip that's in between both buildings). I'm assuming it has wi-fi because people had their tablets and netbooks turned on - probably blogging about their J. Co experience as it was happening.

Thankfully, as my client and I were jogging past Greenbelt, we discovered that J. Co was about to open a branch for the Makati crowd. 

I will be back for the coffee.



In Makati, of course.




J. Co Donuts (Philippines)
Building B, Megamall
Ortigas, Pasig
https://www.facebook.com/JCoDonuts.Pilipinas

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