Golden Donuts: Go For The Toasted Coconut

Last February, Michelle's anniversay gift to me came in a pink pastry box -- the kind that scream "sugary and delicious" even before you know what's inside. There were some Little Debbie's Donut Sticks inside, a few Hostess Donut Gems, and then a series of 6 envelopes and a small notebook with a picture of a Donut on the front.

Inside each of the envelopes was a $5 bill and directions to a local donut shop. As she excitedly told me, she'd researched and tried to find the six top rated donut/pastry shops in San Diego County. Few gifts could've been more thoughtful.

As I've visited these places, I've posted my reviews here.

Two Saturdays ago, I visited the last shop on my list.

Golden Donuts (North Park):

Golden Donuts is nestled in a tiny strip mall in North Park. It's not the nicest part of the town. A small sign with a dragon greets you as you enter, letting you know that they only take cash. I left in the early hours of the morning and didn't tell Michelle were I was going (or even that I was going), so I felt a bit rushed to get home. I quickly surveyed their fare and was initially a bit disappointed with what seemed to be yet another spread of mediocre donuts.*

(Smiling is So Much Easier With Donuts)

Whatever the donuts look like, I'm always bound to choose three specific donuts: a chocolate sprinkled donut (for Jared), a "pink" donut (for Emily), and a maple bar. I'm free to choose the rest. I was trying to be strong, and the donuts didn't do much to overcome it on this morning, since I only bought a 1/2 dozen [a cinnamon crumb, an old fashioned, and a toasted coconut yeast raised donut.]

The chocolate sprinkled donut was just what it purported to be: nothing more, nothing less. The pink donut was supposed to be cherry. There wasn't much cherry about it, though the frosting was red. The cinammon crumb was ok, and the maple bar frosting was crumbly and too thin.

The more donut tasting I do, the more I'm drawn to the old fashioned glazed donuts. Theirs was a quality old fashioned donut, with a healthy amount of glaze (some of which had seeped into the cake itself) and crispiness. I'd buy it again.

Their toasted coconut donut was the value of them all, perhaps mostly because I'm a sucker for toasted coconut and because, for all of the shops I've visited here, I haven't seen many yeast raised toasted coconut donuts. It was delicious, and it alone is the reason I will visit Golden Donuts again.

* I say this simply because I've found very few places here that seem to input any passion or creativity into their donut offerings, both of which is evident immediately both from the donut selection and aesthetics. Save for a very few, they all seem content to offer the same 10-12 types of donuts everyone else is offering.