I was mighty excited when I heard that Krispy Kreme was coming to Chennai. Having an outlet near my Bangalore office helps me get a dose of donuts when I am there, so wishing it came to Chennai was a monthly affair for me. I have never sat down to eat donuts, though. Always picked them up on the go and munched them through. I introduced my friend to KK when we went for a movie and he was hooked for life, or so he said. When KK was giving away free donuts before the launch, I wanted to get my hands on them. Not because they were free, but because I love them so much and didn't want to wait for a trip to Bangalore to get my hands on them.

When they finally opened up, I was ready. Ready to stuff my face with donuts. Ready to write a glowing post on this blog. My head already knew what I wanted to write. Words were flowing. Decided to take the family, but only two of us ended up going. I left my friends behind. Foody friends were ditching each other to get their hands on the donuts before the others. We ordered a dozen. We sat down. We opened it. We smiled. We rubbed our hands. We took the first bite.

We were praising it. But within me, I knew something was wrong. Her face showed the same. Neither of us admitted it. But action speaks louder than words, doesn't it? By the end of half hour, very single donut was left half bitten. One bite by each of us, so half of it was left. Except the original glaze that was eaten in full. We realised that we had to admit it. Something was wrong. Opening glitches, I told myself. After all, I've had KK abroad and in Bangalore, so it was not some fantasy, but one that I loved.

Next week. A box of Donut House donuts that normally disappear when I take home seemed like a memory. A box of KK donuts were still lying there after two days. Yesterday, I took more of the original glaze and the result was slightly better than the assorted donuts. But the boxes were not emptied.

This has been tougher for me to write than admitting that the Legendary burger at Hard Rock, Chennai was dry! More disappointing that having McDonalds serve a toned down and no beef version of their burgers in India. Much more difficult to digest than the fact that most international chocolates taste much better abroad than in India.

I know that at the price point, there are better burgers in Chennai than McD. I know that Haagen Daz is not great for single scoop ice creams, but for their sundaes. But I don't know why Krispy Kreme didn't go well with me in Chennai. Is it the weather that makes the burger dry and makes the KK donuts sweeter? The more I look for an explanation, the more I am confused. I think I've been able to deduce that its much sweeter here, but that's all I can point to. Don't know much more.

Why did I decide to write this today? Another crazy KK fan, told me yesterday that he felt something was wrong, but didn't know why. My friend who I introduced to KK, told me yesterday that he enjoyed KK more in Bangalore. Family felt this way. Maybe we are the only group who feels this way or maybe there are more who feel this way.

For now, the coffee in KK is very very nice. So a coffee and a original glaze if I need to spend some time reading a book or working out of office (though the KK in EA is not really suited for that, the one in Bangalore is). If I need to take a box, then its Donut House! A home grown brand built on the concept of an international brand, trumps it in its home city. A case where the student becomes better than the teacher, at least in the home turf!!!! I guess this augers well for the Chennai food scene.

Update:

My post gathered a lot of response and most of them have felt that KK is too sweet for them, not just in Chennai but elsewhere too. Is it the fact that I normally pick up a KK donut on the run in other places, but I sat down to eat them in Chennai, making Chennai KK donuts taste worse? Does eating them on the run reduce the effect of the sweetness? No idea!

Photo Credit: Krispykreme.in

I guess this is the week of desserts! When the owner of Donut House invited me over for a cup of tea and 'eggless desserts,' I was stumped. Why are we having more dessert at Donut house? As the dishes were doled out, I thought he had a pretty good reason! While I am not sure if that is a great strategy for a donut chain that serves some very good donuts,  the eggless desserts were drool worthy. While we did 'sample' quite a few, ten to be exact, I am writing about only what caught my fancy!

The apple crumble was by far the best that day! It had the perfect flavours and consistency with a slight crunch and the flavoured ice cream went great with it! The cheese cake, though having a soggy base, had great flavours and except for the base, I liked the cake as is! The strawberry mousse was another good one and by this time, I was having the dessert overload! The chocolate tart had this wonderful base and a good chocolate filling and went well with the ice cream. The triple layered cake wasn't exactly my favourite, but the reason I am writing about it is because the the brownie on the base was heavenly. The other two layers weren't great, but that brownie was something else. I finished off with a potato patty to get rid of the sweet overload! I also had the Italian donut, a savoury one with cheese, almost like a vada with cheese topping, which is one of my favourites at Donut House to make the sweet overload go away faster.

Donut House wants to present itself as the dessert hub and for them apparently donuts were just the start. The promoter is young, full of life and is always looking to reinvent and his enthusiasm for donuts is something very nice. He has taken after Krispy Kreme, but adds that he is constantly reinventing flavours and is enjoying that. Is he a pure vegetarian who doesn't take eggs? Quite far from it as he says that he wants to be in the dessert market and not alienate even a single person and that is why all of his menu is pure vegetarian and he intends to keep it this way!

There are many outlets in Chennai and this was at their Egmore outlet, bang opposite Ethiraj College! 

Afternoon tea. A concept that I think originated in England and quite a few countries have taken into it, even if it means that it is marketed to tourists. Coming to think of it, the afternoon tea did have its place in India, at least in South India. As a kid, there was always tea time in the family, a concept that slowly waned away as we grew up. But the tea time did come back, albeit, in another form. Book reading. At times when I am done early, I sit and get some reading done at Amethyst or (very frequently) at Cha Bar, a place that I will miss forever. When I was invited by Marriott, I realised they are attempting to fill that gap and though I don't how well it will work, it was worth exploring.

A typical bill for me at Amethyst will cross Rs. 400 if you get a sandwich and a drink. Marriott is targeting that price point. At Rs 399 plus tax which comes to about Rs. 450 odd, you get an assortment of 5 eclairs and a coffee of choice. Though available between 11 am and 11 pm, this is perfect for evening tea or late evening tea if you are the book reading type or the kitty party type.

The five eclairs were classic, coffee, mixed berry, a fantastic dark chocolate orange and a white chocolate. The choice of coffee is reasonably exquisite with Indian Coorg, Ethiopian, Columbian and a couple more. Five eclairs are quite filling and you can while away a couple of hours over a book or chat away to glory or have a business discussion without burning a hole in your pocket.

Interesting concept and next month there might be a cheesecake replacing the eclair, but let's see how the Afternoon Tea concept works in Chennai. It will need time to catch up and I hope they don't give up before we find out if it will work. 

After Atomic Donuts, a little kiosk in City Center, Chennai can now boast of its own donut center in the name of Donut House! Being invited for its opening, (as per Indian Stretchable Time), I was rather excited to sample some of their stuff and I was surprised to see a 'Live Kitchen' for a donut stall - impressive.

After the formalities and ribbon cutting, we actually got to taste a few of their donuts and the first impression was good. Between the two of us, we had about five donuts, the first of which still lingers in my mouth - The Oreo Donut, a superb mix. The strawberry donut was tasty, but apart from being pink, it had nothing else to do with strawberry, it tasted of white chocolate. But the strawberry excess, which had stuffing inside the donut was super and was really a strawberry donut! The rainbow was a nice white chocolate donut, while the chocolate donut was well.........chocolate donut!

The donuts themselves were nice for the most part. Four of them were well made and were of the perfect consistency, while one was a little doughy, but otherwise the donuts were nice n soft. If they can maintain the standards, they should probably do well. Ambiance was very very nice and obviously I cannot comment on the service. They also have coffee and tea to complete an evening out, so ........

Let's see how the donut market responds!!!!

Donut House is located in Wellington Plaza, right opposite Ethiraj College, next to Raja Muthiah Hall.

As we were walking at the lobby of Chennai Citi Center (yeah, I go there even after the EA onslaught), the wife pointed out to a quirky little machine which was spitting out mini donuts, looked like a vada machine which was put to an innovative use.

We walked close to the stall and he did the ultimate marketing trick - gave us a free sample and what I ate blew my mind - maybe it was super fresh and straight out of the oven, but the donut was tiny but yyyyyuuuummmmyyy. You get to choose from regular which is priced at Rs 50 for 4, premium which is Rs 30 per piece and Rs 100 for five. Certainly expensive when you can get a good chocolate donut ( a big one that too) for about Rs 20 at French Loaf, but the premium flavors here were too good with rich chocolate, one with white chocolate, one studded with nuts, one with crunchy chocolate and the likes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the donuts and yeah, I am heading there right now to get a couple of them! Hope they maintain the quality and also bring down the price slightly - but yeah, it is positioned as a premium donut! Oh well..........

Atomic donuts is on the ground floor lobby of the CCC.