Ever since I saw a photo of cute Japanese doughnuts from The Dough Club, I have been wanting to go and try them. They are located in Chinatown, right next to the popular Taiyaki NYC, a Japanese ice cream shop, served in taiyaki, or fish-shaped waffle cone. That makes total sense, since they are both under the same founder/management from what I hear. Even though The Dough Club and Taiyaki NYC are offering “Japanese” desserts, the founders are not Japanese, but Chinese. And that is the reason why they wanted to be in Chinatown, sharing these sweet delights in the heart of Chinatown. It is great to see how much they love the Japanese sweets as much as I do!
I assume, following the success of Taiyaki NYC, they decided to expand their tasty empire with a different sweet shop, The Dough Club. It was recently opened, towards the end of 2019. This little spot is actually bigger than the interior of Taiyaki NYC. It had three round tables, bench seating along the wall, and comfortable chairs. I liked the contrast of bold velvety green against soft, pastel pink.
So, what do they offer? From their name, The Dough Club, you can guess it is some kind of doughnuts. But, as I mentioned, they offer Japanese desserts. What is the difference between the regular doughnuts, and the ones The Dough Club offers? They are Mochi Doughnuts! Also, they are in the shape knows as “Pon de Ring” style that you see often in Japan. If ever get to visit the most popular donuts chain store, Mr. Donuts in Japan, you will see this Pon de Ring styled doughnuts there.
The mochi doughnuts are made fresh daily in small batches. They have some mochi doughnuts ready, and then, upon order, they dip them into appropriate toppings right there. It is always good to have freshly made doughnuts! The staffs were very nice and polite, helpful and welcoming.
They had total of six different flavors, and we each decided to get two flavors each, so that we could try total of four flavors altogether. Even though we were eating right there in the store, they still put them into a cute box that says “Open Me!” on the side. I think they don’t have any kind of plates there, which we were ok with. Other people who were eating in also go their mochi doughnuts in the box.
So, here are the mochi doughnuts we chose. We got Cookies & Dreams, Berry Lovely, Bacon Miso Happy, and Cruncha Matcha ($3.21/each). Not only the mochi doughnuts cute and lovely, but the names of the doughnuts are cute too.
We started with Cruncha Matcha ($3.21), with matcha glaze and crushed Rice Krispies. It had just the perfect sweetness to it with a good matcha flavor. Doughnut itself was so soft, light, and fluffy. It had the nice chewy texture of mochi in a good way. Sooo good! Crunchy Rice Krispies on top added nice contrasting texture against the soft doughnut. The shape of the mochi doughnut makes it easy to share, as it is similar to tear apart bread.
We then moved on the savory kind, Bacon Miso Happy ($3.21) (love the name! LOL.) with miso caramel glaze and fresh bacon bits. It was actually not as “savory” as I thought it would be. Since it has the caramel glaze, it had a nice balance between sweet and savory. None of the ingredient was too overpowering than others, but playing nicely with everyone. I would say I wanted a bit more miso flavor.
We went back to the sweet flavor one, Berry Lovely ($3.21) with strawberry glaze and white chocolate. It was nice and sparkly, like a tasty jewel. The flavor was not overly berry, but had elegance to it. I do wish if it had more berry flavor, but I still enjoyed it.
The last but not least, Cookies & Dreams ($3.21) with vanilla glaze, crushed Oreos, and choco drizzle. I always liked any kind of cookies & cream dessert item, so I was excited about this one. Especially with its name, I figured it would be dreamy… It was the sweetest one of all. Very chocolatey and decadent. I would’ve liked it to be less sweet, like the other ones we’ve tried. But, since we shared it half and half, the sweetness was not too much. If I had this all to myself, it might’ve been too sweet.
Overall, we were happy with all the mochi doughnuts we tried here at The Dough Club. They all had the same doughnut base, with different topping. They were light and fluffy, soft and chewy. I feel that mochi doughnuts made with mochi flour could get a bit too heavy, as the one I tried at BentOn Cafe in the past. But I think they got the right skill and magic going on here at The Dough Club, their texture was really great! It still is more filling and satisfying than the regular doughnuts out there in my opinion. Also, I think the portion size and its quality was good for the price. If you get six doughnuts in one purchase, you get a discount too. I would like to try the other two flavors in a near future, especially after 4pm, when the adorable looking animal doughnuts start to come out!
The Dough Club – 119 Baxter St, New York, NY 10013