The Salty Donut

I did not know what I wanted to review for my first blog post but coming to Charlotte I felt inspired to create this blog. I love traveling and tasting and creating food! This was a no brainer. I wanted to create a site where I can try and review food and give non biased thoughts and opinions. I will rate every place I try out of 5 stars and let you know if it's approved and if I would go again.

I was hearing about this place in Tryon St. here in Charlotte. And I will say coming into the store I was really impressed with the ambient feeling and welcoming aroma. The display was very minimalistic but very intriguing. I was welcomed by this lovely lady who took my order. The area was very cozy feeling and had some nice seating areas. I did like that it was a smaller area because that allowed for an "easy in, easy out" feeling. They had seating areas outside, that is where I sat down to indulge in these pastries. They had a limited but exiting amount of flavors that are not commonly known here in the south of North Carolina. They had flavors like Strawberry shortcake, Milk and cookies, Traditional glaze, Dark Chocolate passion fruit (vegan), which was my personal favorite. The overall feel of this shop and the surrounding area outside of the shop was really nice and felt very small town-ish.

I consider these donuts couture donuts just by their different than usual design. In person their sizes are also much bigger than regular donuts. The biggest concern I had was the individual price given for these donuts. The prices ranged from $3.80-$5 for one donut. This did not leave me disenchanted because of the size and couture status of these donuts. For my first visit I bought the White Chocolate and Chai, the Strawberry Shortcake, and vegan Dark chocolate and passionfruit donut. Accompanied by an Iced Matcha Latte.

One by One I will rate the ones that I tried and give an idea of what you can expect. And again I will rate them out of 5, and if I would get again.

The first one I tried was the White chocolate and Chai. I thought that the dough was really moist because of the merengue that was on top. First of all the aesthetic of this donut is top notch. It was a tad sweet for me but nonetheless a really good first impression. I would get this donut again. But not the first pick.

Rate: 4.1 of 5

The second donut I tried was the Dark chocolate and Passionfruit. When I got this donut for the first time, I did not know that it was vegan donut. The donut was a thicker feeling than the previous one due to the lack of eggs most likely. This personally did not bother me because I liked having a "bite" feeling. The aesthetic of this donut gets a 10/10 in my book. The bottom of the donut contained a chocolate cookie crumble that added to the bite texture I was talking about. The bright yellow passionfruit frosting makes this donut eye catching and definitely one that people would seek for first. This donut was very sweet and a tad acidic but the combined textures and flavors of the dough, the cookie crumble, and the glaze, and that added drizzle of chocolate on top combined to make this really amazing experience. I would most likely go back for a box of 4 Dark Chocolate Passion fruit (vegan) donuts.

Rate: 4.6 of 5

The last donut I tried was the Strawberry Shortcake donut. This donut was the opposite of what I expected! This donut was the softest and a really moist texture. The strawberries acidic notes really complimented the cream that was on the donut and allowed the donut to be the less sweet of the three donuts. This donut had real strawberries on top with a pink glaze that gives away the flavor of the donut, which is what you want. You don't want people guessing what the flavor of these donuts are. Unlike the second donut (Dark Passion Fruit) if you didn't know the name, you could have said any fruit that was yellow except passion fruit. This is what I like about the Strawberry Shortcake donut, very straightforward and to the point with name, design, and flavor. I do think that it was missing that shortcake flavor that being marketed. Again, this donut was the less sweet one but it all felt like one thing and not an adventure of flavors to elevate the donut. If could change or add something, it would be to add a crumble texture of sorts. Maybe adding some dimension to elevate the flavor, or making the cream more textured like the meringue in the White chocolate and chai donut. I would have this donut again but it would for its refreshing and moist counterparts.

Rate: 3 out of 5

Overall this was an amazing experience to try some couture donuts. I feel that there is a lot that is working for the Salty Donut, but it lacks in some things. The donuts are very well thought out and tasted amazing. There were some things that could be improved. Something that I did not mention is that this company does not use any preservatives and that is why they recommend to eat within 4 hours if I remember completely. I do think that they are a very successful and well oiled machine when it comes to production so that everyone has an opportunity to try these donuts because they do sell really quickly. My overall experience with customer service was a solid 10 out of 10. The food was a solid 8 out of 10. And that matcha latte, don't think I forgot about it. It was really good but that price for that amount of product is a no for me. The cost of that latte was around $for a small. Is it worth the money? NO. But definitely worth the experience.