Seattle, WA – Top Pot Doughnuts

Restaurant: Top Pot Doughnuts (Capitol Hill)
Cuisine: Desserts/Donuts/Coffee
Last visited: March 13, 2010
Area: Few locations – Seattle, WA (Capitol Hill)
609 Summit Ave E
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4
Service: n/a
Ambiance: n/a
Overall: n/a
Additional comments:

• Capitol Hill – original location
• Started Feb 2002
• Seattle based chain – not franchise
• Local Seattle favourite
• Famous for doughnuts
• Hand forged doughnuts
• Huge doughnuts
• 40+ types of doughnuts
• 0 grams trans fat in all doughnuts
• Fried in no trans fat palm oil
• Popular for coffee – hand roasted/imported beans
• Not fair-trade or organic coffee
• Unhealthiest doughnut(s): Chocolate Bar, Bavarian Crème
• “Healthiest” doughnut(s): Plain Chocolate Cake, Plain Applesauce or Blueberry Cake
• Pop them in the microwave for 10 sec…even better!!

**Recommendation: Old fashioned doughnuts, Cake doughnuts, Chocolate Bar, Glazed rings (I want to try a feather boa, valley girl lemon, and apple fritter) – microwave them before eating…yum!

Thanks to Sherman – he was the means to these lovely boxes of doughnuts. Being in Seattle it is not a place that is easily accessible – however Sherman managed to bring some back for me to try. As much as I am grateful to try these ever so popular and famous doughnuts (only available in Seattle) I hold him responsible for my uncontrollable doughnut binge of  eating 10 doughnuts over 5 days. I feel sick writing it…but surprisingly didn’t feel that sick eating it…well now that I’m finished I don’t want a doughnut for a long time. I don’t even love doughnuts – I like them, but I’m not a “doughnut fan” – I’d rather have a cookie or cake.

These doughnuts are what doughnuts were meant to be. I feel like it’s the same doughnuts they eat on The Simpsons. Maybe it’s because they’re so big? I don’t know why…but I feel like if you looked up “good doughnut” you would find a Top Pot doughnut. It’s like the perfect recipe for a doughnut. For example Krispy Kremes are a bit different – not a traditional doughnut…but these are. They were very good, but was it THE BEST doughnut ever? No, I think it could get better, but they were very good.

On the table:

Dozen ‘you pick’ doughnuts – 4/6

• Standard:$.99 Premium: $1.49 Supreme: $1.69 Fritters: $1.79
• Box of 12 – mix or match $14.99 USD
• I find this a good deal. For the size of the doughnuts and the taste I think it’s worth it. They’re pretty freakin massive doughnuts – well some of them are at least.

**Old-fashioned Doughnuts – 5/6

• These are some of their most popular doughnuts. They’re very moist and they use sour cream in the recipe so it makes for a tender doughnut.

**Cake Doughnuts – 5.5/6

• It’s not a fluffy sponge cake, but a denser one. It’s not too sweet either except for the decoration/icing parts.
• They have a slight spice, but not obvious – maybe some nutmeg and cloves.

Chocolate Cake Doughnuts – 4/6

• The chocolate cake doughnuts are surprisingly not sweet. Same texture as regular cake doughnuts but with I think unsweetened cocoa powder.

Filled Doughnuts – 4.5/6

• Very fluffy, lots of filling (thick and sweet filling, kind of artificial though)…and they’re huge!

**Chocolate Bar – 5.5/6

• The chocolate bar was one of my favourites!
• Sure it’s the most unhealthiest on the menu – but it’s also because it’s like twice the size of all the others.
• It was so fluffy, soft and delicious.  It was actually very fluffy and just what all “Long John’s” should taste like.
• The Chocolate Ring behind it was huge and very good too.

Blueberry Specialty Cake – 2/3

• This was almost like a bagel (On left).  It wasn’t very sweet and it was very dense and a tad dry.
• Chocolate cake doughnut sprinkled with cinnamon-sugar. (On right)
• This is surprisingly not sweet. Besides the fact that it was a doughnut, the chocolate i think is just unsweetened cocoa powder. I liked it, it wasn’t very rich but it was dense and also a bit on the drier side.

Chocolate Cake – Sandcastle – 3.5/6

• Dusted with cinnamon – sugar.
• Again their chocolate batter doughnuts aren’t that sweet.

**Glazed Ring  – 6/6

• The biggest doughnut of all! The Rings! My favourite…it’s funny how I liked all the over-sized ones.
• It’s the biggest doughnut you see..I put it in the microwave a bit and it’s so delicious! Warm and fluffy and not as sweet as Krispy Kremes.

Cruller – 3/6

• (12:00 position in photo)
• For the Canadians – I think Tim Horton’s does a better job.
• The cake doughnut and glazed rings have a better batter than the cruller.
• The cruller is just fluffier, but the batter is not as flavourful.

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