Seen 'em come. Seen 'em go. They don’t last. I don’t know why. Probably only foreigners eat them. Big fat foreigners.
well, i didn’t think starbucks would work here in TW but it did…
I didn’t think TGIF would work in TW, but it did…
how about Jamba Juice, will it work??
I think Asian are pretty open-minded and i think they do like donuts… they like muffins… so why wouldn’t they like donuts??
There used to be an An Kiss donut shop in Tianmu. There used to be a Mr. Donut. There used to be a shop in the dept. store on Nan Jing road. There used to be …
I like donuts. Lots of donuts. With sprinkles, icing, and cream filling.
I’d settle for a Twinkie or a Ding Dong.
Ding Dongs man. Ding Dongs.
I used to love donuts. The “Bavarian Cream” at Tim Hortons in Canada was my favourite. However, I don’t eat them any more because of a legal case in Canada. My auntie told me about a case her law firm was involved in where a Tim Hortons employee masturbated in the mix (the custard filling) every day he worked at the store (he worked there for like two years before he was caught). Imagine how many customers ate the “cream filling” without knowing the real contents of it. Yuck!
Chewy
I want dunkin donuts 
ax
I think a small Timmy’s would do ok. Their coffee is better than Starbucks IMHO and they have great doughnuts. I hate the American Style fried things in Taiwan.
No way are those American style.
I agree… no way are those American-style. The donuts here make me want to hurl, especially the ones deep-fried by the roadside. What kind of oil is that? It tastes like Chinese food to me. And Ankiss is no better–flat, heavy. Krispy Kreme and dunkin donuts it aint.
I’m a skinny guy who LOVES donuts. I can eat 5-6 in a sitting. I used to go to Mister Donut every day of every visit I made to Shanghai.
Aaaaah donuts. The one and ONLY thing I crave that I can’t buy in Taiwan.
Does anybody know where we can find good, american style donuts?? I guess Costco doesn’t have them, right?! But wait, they have EVERYTHING, so I am a bit surprise that they don’t have donuts…
God, Ding Dong, those are great, Richard, I can get you some?!
That’s the one, the only one, The One.
[quote=“scooter”]…and dunkin donuts it aint.
I’m a skinny guy who LOVES donuts. I can eat 5-6 in a sitting.[/quote]
We are kindred spirits, although for me it’s more like a dozen (we’re not kindred in form). And the only reason I quit then is that the perimeter of my vision starts to blacken from all the sugar.
I think the reason donuts don’t do well here is that the best ones are waaay too sweet for Taiwanese tastes. And it’s also necessary to dedicate the oil to frying donut dough only; no frying fish in it afterward. So if you dedicate your resources to good, sweet American-style donuts, you find yourself selling to Americans only. Then your business goes belly up as revenues don’t cover costs. You begin to think, what else can I fry in this expensive oil? So you buy some fish, you eventually sell only to Taiwanese and Americans like me bitch. Ipso facto, no good donuts in Taiwan.
I like donuts too, but can only eat two whole donuts at a time because they are way too sweet. This is probably one of the main reasons why Taiwanese don’t go to donut shops too often. We love desserts, but out definition of desserts is much less sugar in it than westerners’ definition, especially North Americans’. But the fact that donut shops failed to survive in Taiwan years ago doesn’t mean it can’t succeed years later, if in addition to those very sweet flavors, they can also introduce new and unique flavors adjusted to local tastes. Pure clone without making adjustment to locals is difficult to make it IMHO.
[quote=“MiakaW”]Does anybody know where we can find good, American style donuts?? I guess Costco doesn’t have them, right?! But wait, they have EVERYTHING, so I am a bit surprise that they don’t have donuts…
God, Ding Dong, those are great, Richard, I can get you some?![/quote]
Costco has glazed donuts that aren’t too bad. I think there’s a dozen in a box.
Don’t go though any trouble to bring Ding Dongs. I think they might set off the metal detectors. Thanks.
Taiwanese don’t like sweet things? C’mon … what about all the sweet bread, sweet corn, sweet popcorn … everything here has so much damn sugar in it.
There was a Dunkin’ Donuts in Beijing when I was there last, and it seemed like business was doing quite well. Actually, I like their coffee better than their donuts … that’s what I miss the most.
Best donuts in the world are the southern chain I grew up with, Krispy Kreme. krispykreme.com/
They’re expanding internationally now, maybe they’ll open up in Taipei. I saw something on CNN business about them opening in London and giving out loads and loads of free donuts the first week or so.
Maybe someone (Tigerman’s wife???) should buy the franchise and open one up! Soon!
krispykreme.com/asia.html
YUM!
Check this out: krispykreme.com/varieties.html
No,I said we don’t like VERY sweet food in general, but of course we eat sweet food too. And the amount of sugar in sweet bread, sweet corn or sweet popcorn definately can’t compare with that in donuts.
BB,
It’s just that those things shouldnt be sweet according to western palates. But I’d say those sickly sweet shake teas and boxed drinks are what I call too sweet, while foods like donuts are SUPPOSED to be sweet as they’re dessert/snack items.
I do think you don’t mean SWEET as much as RICH.
A lot of western foods that Taiwanese deem sweet really are just too rich instead.
Those are all very lightly sweetened. Try a taiwanese cake and it is barely sweeter than the local bread. Even ice cream is fairly bland here (except haagen daz).
For those considering opening a donut shop here, I looked into this a bit a while back. If you want to franchise, most franchises require a) US$1-5 million net worth and b) 2-5 years management experience in food retail. It’s probably better off to start out here non-franchised since most of the locals don’t recognize the brands, and all of us foreigners will just be happy to finally see a decent donut here.
Oh! 
[quote=“Alien”]But I’d say those sickly sweet shake teas and boxed drinks are what I call too sweet, while foods like donuts are SUPPOSED to be sweet as they’re dessert/snack items.
I do think you don’t mean SWEET as much as RICH.
A lot of western foods that Taiwanese deem sweet really are just too rich instead.
[/quote]
When saying rich, you mean fat rich, like cheese, butter, margarine, etc., right? Then, no, I mean many Taiwanese have bland taste instead of very sweet taste like Thai. And that’s why I think Taiwanese and North Americans (and some others) have different definition about desserts in terms of the amount of sugar in desserts like cake or cookies. But I agree that canned/boxed juice/tea in 7-11 or pearl milk tea are too sweet.
Actually I’m eating a piece of cheese cake right now. It’s rich but not sweet, that’s what I would call a good dessert. I like chocolate too, but many times I found them too sweet. If only they can put less sugar in chocolate bars!! Ok, maybe it’s just me, but I heard many times that Taiwanese say: "hmm, this is yummy, and not too sweet (
Not big on cheesecake myself. I agree it’s rich. I however LOVE Olala’s chocolate mousse! Damn! That’s a dessert. He uses 70% Cuban chocolate, and it’s sweet, but a little bitter as chocolate should be, IMO.
But chocolate is NOT really sweet at all, BB, because the real stuff isn’t so sweet as it is rich. So yes, creaminess is richness I guess. Milk Chocolate doesn’t do it for me as much as dark chocolate because it’s got so much character.
Jlick, I disagree. I think a franchise would do much better here than a mom and pop donut shop which would sell unstandard donuts. Theyve had much more experience the old chains. Krispy Kreme! Tigerman’s wife! Come on!! When the light is on, they’ve just pulled them out of the oven and glazed them. Now that’s a gimmick for you. Police all over the south are pulling into the parking lot when that light is on…
Why haven’t Taiwanese ever learned how to bake a decent loaf of bread? Don’t you know that real bread isn’t sickly sweet and shouldn’t be soggy-soft but crunchy-hard?
I’m glad they don’t have good donuts here. As if I’m not fat enough already. No wonder Americans are so fat since so many people eat donuts for breakfast everyday. It makes me cringe to think about the bad habits back home.