The queues that started last December for in front of Donut Factory can finally shorten, with the opening of its second outlet at Suntec City just under 2 months ago.

This must be welcome respite for those fans and curious shoppers who queued for up to 3 hours to purchase a dozen of its visually-appealing donuts at its first outlet at the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre.

The expansion is more than physical, though, it is in spirit as well. Donut Factory’s latest venture combines a dine-in café with its usual take-away counter, its founder Mr Gunter Rahim, 44, told UrbanWire.

“Well, I figured that if you look at donuts, they are a great match with coffee. Also, we wanted to add a lot of interesting new things that nobody has ever done before and introduce new things to our customers,” he said.

And by new things, Gunter is referring to more than just the addition of the 3 new donut flavours- Coffee Roasted Almond, Raspberry Dark Chocolate and Mint Dark Chocolate – that are exclusive to the Suntec City’s outlet. Also available only at Donut Factory’s café are flagship flavours like Donut Sundae, Espresso Float, the Savoury Donut Sandwich Set and even a range of Freezers that are the equivalent of smoothies and frappes.

The Donuts

The must-try donut at the Suntec City’s outlet would have to be the Coffee Roasted Almond-flavoured one – even if you’re not a huge fan of either coffee or almonds.

The friendly people at Donut Factory are generous with their roasted almond toppings that cover every possible bit of surface of its ring donut, as if on a mission to do a perfect cover-up. Roasted to perfection, the almonds give a nice crunch and linger sweetly on your tongue, unlike the usual bitter aftertaste that roasted almonds leave on your palate. The smooth aromatic coffee cream that the almonds are laid on is probably responsible for the sweetness, though.

But if you’re expecting the Mint Dark Chocolate-flavoured ring donut to satisfy your love for mint with chocolate, you may find yourself disappointed with Donut Factory’s latest offering. The swirls of mint cream atop the nicely-spread chocolate surface of its donut do almost nothing to bring out the mint taste. Unless you need a quick fix of mint or like the taste of mint to be really subtle, you’ll probably want to give that pretty donut a miss.

The Raspberry Dark Chocolate donut is also quite a letdown. Although the thick layer of dark chocolate on the raspberry jam-filled treat will satisfy most chocolate lovers, the raspberry jam filling is fairly ordinary, tasting like any typical raspberry jam you can find off the rack of your neighbourhood supermarket.

The quality of the filling is indeed a far cry from the high standard of their usual fillings, which is what set Donut Factory apart from its competitors, such as Vinco – The Doughnut Parlour at Vivo City.Thankfully, despite the new concept, the prices of the donuts have remained the same as the flagship store. Each flavoured donut costs $1.20, while half a dozen of assorted-flavoured donuts cost $6 and a dozen will set you back by $11.

Something different

Gunter is excited to see how customers will respond to the new add-ons of the establishment.

“I realise there are a number of offices around this area and that people are busy; they want to have a quick meal. At this outlet, they can either have it at the café or take their purchases away,” he said.

And that was how the Savoury Donut Sandwich Set – a savoury donut sliced in half with different fillings – came about.

Bread, which is the usual ingredient used to make sandwiches is replaced by a savoury donut and customers can choose from fillings like Shrimp Cocktail, Salmon Pate, Turkey & Cheese or Chicken Teriyaki. Each set comes with a salad at the side and costs $6.50.

And if you feel like having dessert or just want to have a drink to beat the heat, a Donut Sundae or an Espresso Float may just be what you need.

As its name suggests, the Donut Sundae is simply having a donut with a scoop of ice-cream on top of it and an Espresso Float is ice-cream with whipped cream, with a cup of espresso on the side for you to make your very own Espresso Float. The Donut Sundae and Espresso Float cost $5.80 each.

The Outlet

Replacing the back wall of its café with a ceiling-high mirror works wonders in creating an optical illusion that helps the café look bigger than it really is. In fact, even with a seating capacity of 30, Donut Factory’s café is surprisingly empty, compared to the long queue that snakes from its take-away counter.

donut002editIt is also probably a safer bet to purchase their highly sought-after donuts from the Suntec City’s outlet as the queue is much shorter, due to the availability of “much bigger machines, a lot more manpower and an obviously larger space [that helps] to reduce the wait time”, according to Gunter.

To move things along, there is an express lane for customers who intend to dine in, take away for drinks or purchase 2 donuts or less, which makes more sense for customers who want to consume donuts for convenience’s sake.

However, before you rush down to the Suntec City’s outlet anytime soon, Cheese Tartar-flavoured and Wasabi Cheese-flavoured donut enthusiasts may need to take note that these flavours aren’t available there.

Donut Factory opens from 11 am – 9:30pm and is located at #01-193, Suntec City Tower 3.

UrbanWire gives Donut Factory 3 out of 5 stars.

Assorted flavoured donuts cost $1.20 each, $6 for half a dozen and $11 for one dozen.