Mello

Surprisingly, the donut game in Vancouver is pretty underdeveloped.  Compared to Portland and even Seattle, we don't really have a good variety.  However, there is a new player in town that serves up brioche donuts that have some similarities to General Porpoise in Seattle (and also Blue Star in Portland).  I had visited Mello in the first few weeks of opening and came away somewhat disappointed.  However, I returned with Mijune a month later and their product definitely improved.  This post will be a combination of both visits.

Initially, I got a selection that included Lemon Curd, Vanilla, Chocolate, PB&J, Strawberries and Cream as well as a Cake Donut.  In terms of texture, the donuts were indeed soft and fluffy, but curiously dry.  Hence, it didn't fulfill the promise of a brioche donut.  I thought the lemon curd to be creamy and balanced in flavour.  Not too sweet and just tangy enough.  Nothing special about the vanilla and chocolate.  Texturally, it was like eating pudding and the flavours were pretty much on par for pudding.  Despite being the simple combination of peanut butter and jam, that was one of my favourite donuts as it was familiar-tasting and classic.  Surprisingly, the best donut of the bunch was the glazed cake donut.  Nice density balanced with a moist fluffiness.  Slightly crispy on the outside with just enough glaze.

With Mijune, we ended up with a similar selection except for the Tiramisu and Corn Flakes Cookie.  This time around, the brioche donut was not dry and it was even fluffier.  So much so, it started to deform on the bottom as it sat on the table.  No matter, we enjoyed it and I am glad they were able to tweak the recipe.  Tiramisu donut was pretty good but the cocoa powder blew everywhere after the first bite.  Was pretty funny as it ended up all over Mijune.  Although dry, the cookie was reminiscent of an almond cookie except with the extra crunch of corn flakes on top.  So I'm glad I got to try Mello again where it yielded better results.  Also, they are open during this Covid-19 pandemic, so you can still pick up a box.  I might just do that as well.

The Good:
- Fluffy and light
- Not too sweet
- Cake donut is good too

The Bad:
- Expensive
- Limited flavours randomly available