Lucky's Doughnuts

Phone: (604) 872-4901
Address :    Lucky’s Doughnuts at 49th Parallel Café, 2902 Main Street, Vancouver, BC, V5T 3G3
Hours: Monday to Saturday 7:00am – 10:00pm, Sunday 8:00am – 9:00pm
Website:  http://www.luckysdoughnuts.com/
Date of Visit:  Jan. 4, 2013

 

Lucky’s Doughnuts is an artisan doughnut shop run by the proprietors of 49th Parrallel Coffee Roasters. I believe the doughnuts are all made on site. In addition to doughnuts, one would be able to grab a coffee made with their own unique blends or tea. A recommendation had me grabbing half a dozen of doughnuts here.

All the doughnut's were microwaved on high for ten seconds to warm and soften them up.

Honey Glazed

5.5/10

• Soft centre
• Chewy edges
• Bread-like texture

Lucky’s take on the classic Glazed Doughnut is good but not great. The sweetness of honey glaze is just about right and not too sweet. However, the honey doesn’t appear to add much to the taste of the glaze as it tastes the same a normal sugar glaze. The edges of the doughnut is chewy, a nice contrast to the soft, fluffy, and moist centre. The overall texture of the doughnut is more similar to a piece of fried bread rather than a doughnut.

Lemon Bismark

9/10

• Tart lemon custard filling
• Topped with a coat of sugar
• A bismark is a jelly, jam, or custard filled doughnut. 

Lucky’s Lemon Bismark was easily the best doughnut in the batch I ordered. While lemon custard filled doughnuts are relatively common, Lucky’s has executed theirs better than their competitors. The doughnut was evenly filled with a reasonable amount of lemon custard. The coat of sugar balanced the tartness of the custard very nicely, and added a bit crunch to the doughnut. The texture of the dough was similar to that of the Honey Glazed doughnut, soft and fluffy. However, it did not remind me of the taste of fried bread. The only issue I had was the pricing of the doughnut. I will be ordering the Lemon Bismark again the next time I return to Lucky’s.

Apple Maple Bacon Fritter

8/10

• Topped with bits of real bacon
• Maple glazed
• Apple chunks within the fritter

The Apple Maple Bacon Fritter is one of Lucky's more original creations and was one of the better pastries in the box. While bacon, apple, and fried batter is an unusual combination, the different ingredients combined very well. The saltiness of the bacon enhanced the sweetness of the glaze while the apple chunks added texture. The fritter could have benefited with more apple chunks. Moreover the bits of bacon could have been more evenly distributed on top of the fritter instead of being concentrated at the middle.

Chocolate Old Fashioned

6/10

• Topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate flakes
• Tastes similar to a brownie

Lucky’s Chocolate Old Fashion doughnut tastes very similar to a chocolate brownie and leaves a bittersweet chocolaty aftertaste. The first bite reminded me of the taste of the brownie desert found in some frozen dinners.

The texture of this doughnut is very cakey and the edges are a bit crispy. While the doughnut wasn’t very dry on the initial bite, it tasted dry on the subsequent bites. Fortunately, the chocolate ganache was able to mitigate the dryness making it relatively moister than other chocolate doughnuts out there; however, Lucky’s Chocolate doughnut doesn’t offer much else.

Salted Caramel Old Fashioned

7.5/10

• Topped with caramel and Maldon sea salt
• Maldon sea salt is known for their large flakes and milder saltiness, so as to not overwhelm the taste buds and leaving a bitter aftertaste.
• Sour-cream based doughnut

The Salted Caramel Old Fashioned doughnut was one of the better doughnuts. It was not too dry unlike the Chocolate Old Fashioned doughnut. The caramel was gooey and chewy, complementing the softness of the dough very nicely. Moreover it did not stick to my teeth. The sea salt enhanced the sweetness of the caramel quite nicely. I did think the doughnut could have benefitted with a bit more sea salt on top.

Old Fashioned

7/10

• Sour cream based doughnut
• Vanilla Glaze

Unlike the Honey Glazed doughnut, this "basic" was executed much better.  The batter was light and not very dry. Other than that, I cannot find any other features differentiating it from other sour cream doughnuts. I would highly recommend Salted Caramel variation over this.

Verdict

 While Lucky’s Doughnuts' doughnuts are overall good, but they're not great; some varieties were only marginally better than their grocery store counterparts. Being three to five times more expensive than their competitors, Lucky's leaves a lot to be desired. I would recommend sticking with the more unique flavors, as the more basic doughnuts are decent at best. I would return to Lucky’s in the future, but I wouldn't be ordering a large batch, just a doughnut to go along side a coffee.