Doughnuts

Polish Rye Crust Bakery

Breakfast Bagel

(hard boiled eggs, cheese, mayonnaise, tomato, beetroot, spinach, capsicum)

The freshly baked bagel was simply outstanding.

★★★★☆

Salt stick with cream cheese and cucumber

This may not look or sound very special but out of everything we sampled, this was actually my favourite. The lightly salted bread was perfect and worked fabulously with the cream cheese and cucumber.

★★★★★

Vegetarian Pierogi

(Polish dumplings that contained potato, cheese, spinach)

These smelt delicious and were pleasantly crispy on the outside, however the filling was somewhat lacking. If only these dumplings were served with some kind of sauce.

★★★☆☆

Cherry Cheesecake

The light cheesecake and the decadent chocolate cherry layer were nice separately but sensational together.

★★★★☆

Orange Zest Babka

I’m not an expert in babka, so I wasn’t sure if the dry crumbly texture was intentional or not.

★★★☆☆

European doughnut with plum jam

Wonderfully soft and fluffy with a slight yeasty taste.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

The bread here is AMAZING! And with more than 50 types of Polish and European breads available, there is something suitable for everyone! With so many menu items on offer and such friendly service, I can see myself returning over and over again.

Polish Rye Crust Bakery

101-103 Foster St, Dandenong, VIC

(03) 9706 9194

http://www.polishryecrustbakery.com.au/

Levi’s Doughnuts

Blackberry Jam Filled Doughnut

Sweet crispy doughnut with a generous amount of warm oozing jam.

★★★★☆

Overall:

At Levi’s Doughnuts you’ll find European style doughnuts that are made fresh on site every day from organic dry ingredients and fried in rice bran oil (a healthier choice as it is 100% cholesterol free, naturally high in antioxidants, low in saturated fats and doesn’t contain any trans-fats). There are 3 types of doughnuts available here: traditional, dark chocolate filled and blackberry jam filled. If only I had the stomach space to try them all!

Levi’s Doughnuts

Fremantle Markets, Shop Y7, Corner Henderson Street and South Terrace, Fremantle, WA

0427 444 150

Smith and Daughters

Non Alcoholic Cocktails

(No Way Rosé, Coco No Vod-co with Watermelon, Coco No Vod-co with Pineapple, Chill Niño)

Each were deliciously refreshing!

★★★★☆

Nachos Cargados

(slow cooked jackfruit carnitas, chipotle salsa, molten spicy cheddar sauce, pickled jalapeños, guacamole, coriander cream, blue and white corn chips)

Nearly every table around us had a plate of these nachos so we knew straight away that we had to order some. The blue corn chips turned out to be a lot crispier than the regular ones, while the jackfruit carnitas provided a nice meaty texture. This was good for vegan nachos but I couldn’t help but think how much better this could have been with cheese!

★★★☆☆

Quesadilla

(spiced black bean and cheese quesadilla served with chipotle salsa and avocado cream)

Delicious quesadilla served with AMAZING avocado cream!

★★★★☆

Champiñones Al Ajillo

(button mushrooms simmered in a creamy Spanish sauce of Pedro Ximenéz, garlic and smoked paprika, served with toasted bread)

This flavoursome dish was wonderfully rich yet light, making these mushrooms very addictive.

★★★★☆

Dulce De Leche Doughnuts

(Spanish doughnuts filled with dulce de leche cream)

The dulce de leche cream didn’t exactly fill these sugar dusted doughnuts but rather sat on top of them.

★★★☆☆

Overall:

What a fantastic vibe this place has! The dark stone walls, vintage prints and tattooed staff gave this place a definite punk rock feel. Service was friendly and the food pretty tasty considering that everything here is vegan.

Smith and Daughters

175 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC

(03) 9939 3293

http://www.smithanddaughters.com/

45 Degrees

Vietnamese Pork Pizza

(five-spice pork, spanish onion, roasted red capsicum, fresh herbs, pickled carrots, cucumber, sliced chilli, aioli)

Vietnamese-Italian fusion that actually worked!

★★★★☆

Prawn Pizza

(garlic prawns, mixed olives, capers, green capsicum, feta, rocket, chipotle ketchup)

Great toppings. If only they weren’t spread out so far apart. I’d have one bite and it would be purely feta, then the next bite would be purely prawn, etc, etc.

★★★☆☆

Peruvian Chicken Pizza

(Peruvian chicken, sliced green capsicum, roasted red capsicum, corn, jalapeños, black beans, coriander, guacamole, Bloody Mary aioli)

It was like eating a delicious taco, except in the form of a pizza.

★★★★☆

Beef Cheek Pizza

(12 hour slow cook smoked beef cheek. mushroom, caramelized onion, candied pecans, fresh herbs, chimichurri aioli)

The centre was slightly soggy however the ample beef cheek was incredibly tender and its combination with the other toppings made this a very enjoyable pizza.

★★★★☆

Multigrain Garlic Bread

The bread was a bit tough, and a bit more butter would have been nice.

★★☆☆☆

Popcorn Chicken

Although over fried, the chicken was still tender and well seasoned.

★★★☆☆

Brioche Doughnuts

These doughnuts were AMAZING! They came out freshly fried so were crispy on the outside, and light and fluffy on the inside. There are two varieties available: Nutella doughnuts and Hot Jam doughnuts. Both were delicious but it was the Nutella doughnuts that made me go wow! Best Nutella brioche doughnut I’ve ever had.

★★★★★

Overall:

Fantastic innovative pizzas, funky urban atmosphere, quick and friendly service, and of course amazing brioche doughnuts! There are still so many items I want to try from their menu (eg. the Korean fried chicken pizza) so I must visit again soon.

45 Degrees

33 Bridge Rd, Richmond, VIC

(03) 9429 5577

http://www.45pizza.com.au/

Olympic Doughnuts

51 Irving St, Footscray 9689 4819

The hot jam doughnuts at Olympic Doughnuts are seriously INCREDIBLE! Each freshly fried doughnut is filled with marvellously sweet jam (from the iconic dolphin jam dispenser) and is coated with sugar right before your eyes as soon as you order them. Biting into one of these doughnuts was simply amazing! The outside was perfectly crispy and sugary while the inside was deliciously soft and light, with a hidden explosion of delicious jam. These were so addictive and are a bargain at only 80 cents each!

I’m having a Homer Simpson drooling moment thinking about these right now. Mmm…doughnuts.