Review: Voodoo Doughnut V Austin

It's truly a shame that Voodoo Doughnut has been in Austin for nearly a year and I didn't make it over until yesterday. When we lived downtown, it would have been an easy (and dangerous!) jaunt that we probably would have made every month or so. Anyway, it was well overdue, and so we headed that way as soon as we were up and around.

6th Street Austin is very different at 8:30 AM on Saturday than it is during the weekdays or on weekend nights. Basically, it's dead. We could have parked right in front of the door but didn't because I didn't know this at the time and didn't feel like fighting for parking when the situation is what it is any other time, so I parked a couple of blocks away. Now I know, and now you know. Metered parking charges don't start until 11 AM, so as long as you're and and out by then, even if the storefront is full (as it was when we left a bit after 9), you can still park a few shops away and not pay.

The moon was out, even though the people weren't.

Actually, there *are* a few people out on the streets in downtown Austin at 8:30 on Saturday morning. They are: Fitness enthusiasts, homeless people (we've missed them since moving away), and other people going to Voodoo Donut.

Voodoo Donut started in Portland, Oregon, where there are now two outlets of the shop. There is another in Eugene, OR, and a fourth in Denver, Colorado. Austin is the fifth shop, and just so you know: all of them take cash only. There is a convenient (if spendy) ATM in the store, in case you forgot.

My first impression upon entering: This place is too cool and quirky for me to be allowed in. It's the kind of doughnut shop I'd like to be if I were a doughnut shop, but I'd probably only be like a Ken's Donuts or maybe a Donut Hole. Anyway, I was quickly put at ease by the number of families who were there getting their iced yeast bread fix. Again, I'm sure the clientele was totally different five hours before we got there, just after the bars closed. I'll bet those are some good times.

There are display carousels and menus around, in case you didn't memorize what you wanted before you got there. Each carousel has a shelf that is labeled vegan, so you know what to order if that's how you roll.

 

The vegan 'nuts

We ordered several we'd decided in advance we *had* to have. James: Voodoo (voodoo doll with a pretzel stake and chocolate icing, filled with raspberry jelly/blood), pothole (cream-filled bar, chocolate icing, crushed Oreos, and white icing "stripes" down the road), and bacon maple bar (just what it sounds like). Moi: mango tango (mango-filled, vanilla frosting, with Tang powder dusting the top) and Memphis Mafia (fried dough with bananas and cinnamon, topped with glaze, chocolate frosting, peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate chips... because I like to keep it subtle). Then we got a Voodoo for D and a plain chocolate doughnut for Mal.

I was not prepared for how big the Memphis Mafia was going to be. I took this as a comparison, but it was really about four times the size of the chocolate doughnut, if you add in the height and total spread. And the chocolate-iced doughnut isn't a mini, either.

After we sat down, I really looked around to appreciate the fun decor of the place. I especially liked their simulated trees with signature doughnuts adorning the limbs.

Another fun thing is the chalkboard paint in the stalls of the restroom. Kept my little 'un busy whilst I conducted some business. (This isn't what he drew, but I'm sure he was feelin' it.)

The doughnuts were excellent. I mean, doughnut dough should be doughnut dough, but it's tastier some places than others (like Round Rock Donuts has it down with their egg yolk base, whereas Krispy Kreme, though fine, is just like puffy air coated with different toppings or pumped with fillings, and it doesn't really taste like you've eaten anything other than sugary air). And some places must not fry their doughnuts in hot enough oil because they're greasy (not mentioning any names) or the opposite of Krispy Kreme, where they're so dense (not in a good cake donut way, but like a day-old smooshed donut that used to be maybe good), they're easy to dismiss as "not real food."

The doughnuts here are a good bread product by themselves. I'd eat one that wasn't iced or glazed. It is a yeasty, light (but not too airy) yellowish fried bread. They don't feel greasy (though our take-home box attests to some oil now that it's Day Two), and they don't taste heavy. And the icings and toppings don't seem to have been mass-produced three years ago, nor do they dry to a crunch on the top of the doughnuts.

I'd have taken one of each from this shelf, if I only had a week to live, anyway.

We have to go back! There are several more that I really want to try. One they have advertised in the store, but not their website: the viscous hibiscus, which has hibiscus frosting and is half-dipped in chocolate sprinkles. But I also want to sample the glazed buttermilk bar and the grape ape (vanilla frosting, grape "dust," and lavender sprinkles.)

That's one more thing: Thinking to use instant beverage powder (Tang, tea, lemonade, and grape, from what I can tell) is a stroke of genius that is so simple, I can't believe it wasn't utilized earlier. 

So, go ahead, even if you can't drive to downtown Austin at the moment (or Portland, Eugene, or Denver), look over here at their menu and see if you can't whip up the inspiration to do it soon! You'll be glad that you did.

The Austin Voodoo Donut is open 24 hours, and you can even get married there, if you really want do. Details on the website.