doughnuts

My top 5 doughnut places in the GTA

I’m no doughnut expert but I’ve had my fair share of doughnuts!  Having worked at a doughnut eatery means I’ve had days where I had doughnuts for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. I like to think that I’ve become quite the doughnut connoisseur.

My doughnut criteria: 

1. Dough - I prefer yeast doughnuts over cake doughnuts and I like them light and fluffy.  

2. Glaze/filling - There’s nothing more disappointing than a “filled” doughnut with only a small dollop of filling or an overly sweet glaze to overpower the doughnut. 

3. “Wow” factor - I know “taste is king” but I love a good looking doughnut!  

Toronto has no shortage of doughnut eateries but the list below are my top 5 favourite places. Trust me, they donut disappoint! 


1. Isabella’s Mochi Donuts  

📍2066 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M4E 1C9

📍4 St Patrick St, Toronto, ON M5V 1Z1

I am absolutely obsessed with mochi doughnuts. The mochi makes the doughnuts extra chewy, but in a good way. Isabella’s has such unique rotational flavours including, but not limited to: hojicha crunch, cinnamon roll, pandan, black sesame and many many more!

I don’t know what kind of magic goes into making these mochi doughnuts but they are done so perfectly that it doesn’t feel oily or greasy. Even after eating 2 in a row I still got room for more.

There’s also a fun factor involved with these. The OCD part of me loves that it’s shaped in little tiny bubbles so I can eat them in a organized way. Everything about these mochi doughnuts are just pure perfection.

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2. Glory Hole Doughnuts

 📍1596 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6R 1A8

📍1505 Gerrard St E, Toronto, ON M4L 2A4

I cannot gush about these doughnuts enough. I commute a good hour to get myself here when I’m craving a nice pillowy doughnut. They never disappoint. They are perfectly glazed and not overly sweet that I feel the need to chug a bottle of water after eating them. 

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3. Dipped Donut 

 📍161 Baldwin St #1, Toronto, ON M5T 1L9

These doughnuts are humongo and the perfect sharing size (if you’re not a greedy porky like me that just ate everything by myself). In my defence, the dough here is so light and fluffy you can easily polish one off without feeling the weight and silent judgement of food baby. 

Dipped donuts are always coming out with new flavours! They offer some unique flavours such as, black sesame matcha, lemon lavender, pistachio rose water, etc. My personal favourite here is the London Fog. I love a good Earl Grey flavored treat!

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Here we have the cookies & cream and my personal favourite, london fog. I do love how the cookies and cream one is actually a cream cheese glaze though. Yum!


4. Cops  

📍445 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON M5V 1T1

Good things come in small packages is definitely an accurate depiction here. These little guys are amazing! The doughnuts here are made fresh to order and there’s nothing like a fresh out of the fryer doughnut. The signature flavour is the cinnamon sugar and they offer rotational glazed flavours. I love the matcha coconut one! 

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For such mini doughnuts they sure leave a big impression!  


5. Von Doughnuts

📍713 Danforth Ave, Toronto, ON M4J 1L2

Von Doughnut offers “grown up” doughnuts with a nice little kick to it. The “One Night Stand” has a tequila glaze, and the “Sangria” uses a red/white wine sangria glaze.

My personal favourite(s) are their filled doughnuts. The creme brûlée doughnut is filled with an amazing vanilla bean pastry cream. The “Pucker Up Sucker” is basically a lemon meringue doughnut with a yummy lemon custard. The doughnut to filling ratio is perfect and even with the filling, it’s still not overly sweet.

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Check out their doughnut chart online to make sure your flavour is available that day because they rotate their doughnut flavours daily.

Sugar Rush in Ottawa

Ottawa, the city where I discovered the magic of toe warmers. Winter in Ottawa really is no joke!

Ottawa has a reputation for its brutal winters but one of my favourite moments from this trip was actually lining up with my friends in the freezing cold for beaver tails and hot chocolate at the Byward Maket. In that moment I realized the true meaning of friendship. I mean, not many people would freeze their faces off just to help me satisfy my beaver tail craving! Even Ottawa winters can’t keep me from food adventuring!

This was my 2nd time visiting Ottawa and food baby enjoyed both visits thoroughly. I was hesitant about the food scene in Ottawa at first but there are actually lots of yummy places and hidden gems!

I love discovering a city through its food scene so I ate and I ate, and then I ate some more. I wanted to share my top 3 favourite dessert places because if there’s anything I love more than actually eating, it’s to force feed people the food that I love. These places are definitely worth checking out!

3. Art-Is-In Bakery 

📍250 City Centre Ave #112, Ottawa, ON K1R 1C7

This spacious, almost warehouse like, bakery offers a wide variety of baked goods and beverages. The cronuts are a must try! I just about licked the plate when I was done. I paired it with the earl grey tea latte and it was the perfect breakfast combination in my opinion!

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2. Suzy Q 

📍969 Wellington St W, Ottawa, ON K1Y 2X7

These doughnuts are as yummy as they are pretty! So light and fluffy. They look humongo but I can easily polish it off by myself because it’s so airy!

I love the large selection of flavours, including their “healthy” version of doughnuts like the carrot one in the picture. I love it when bakeries help me consume my daily recommended dose of vegetables. Suzy Q cares!

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1. The Cupcake Lounge  

📍6 Byward Market Square, Ottawa, ON K1N 9B8

This is actually a place that I stumbled across from exploring the Byward Market. I’m so happy I did! The cupcake is moist and baked to perfection. The frosting itself is not overly sweet and the cupcake to frosting ratio is just right. I came in this cute little bakery with the intention of just having a cupcake for breakfast (yes, I eat cupcakes for breakfast). Let’s just say I ended up eating a lot more than just one!

The earl grey cupcake is my favourite! I actually got an extra one to eat on my way back to Toronto.

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Over all I really enjoyed my time in Ottawa. How can I not when there are so many food places for me to eat at when I need to escape the freezing cold. The winter may be harsh but ice skating on the Rideau Canal is a pretty fun experience! But maybe next time I’ll visit in the summer time so I don’t freeze my face off.

Until next time Ottawa! I’ll be back for more food adventures!