When I tell people I write a blog where I review doughnuts, they often say to me, “Have you tried the doughnuts from the Berry Donut Van?”
My verbal response is always, “No, I haven’t been to Berry for about 20 years,” but in my head my response is, “No, and I’m sick of being asked that question.”
So I made it my mission to get to Berry for the sole purpose of trying the damn doughnuts from the Donut Van. For those who don’t know, Berry is a small town that’s about 2 hours drive from Sydney. It’s a bit tendy to go to Berry as opposed to other towns. Not sure why, but probably because it’s not far from Sydney and it’s somewhat unspoilt. As far as I can see, it doesn’t have any big retailers trying to destroy the livelihoods of small shopkeepers.
Berry is Berry. And let’s face it, there’s not really much to see or do in Berry. It’s a quaint place with cute shops, but I feel like I’ve seen a million country towns with much the same offerings.
The day I went to Berry it was pretty miserable. The rain was drizzling the whole time and there were puddles everywhere.
I’ve heard the queues for doughnuts at the van can be quite long, but although Berry was busy, the rain probably kept a lot of people away. So I didn’t need to queue for too long. As the sign says, they cook them to order so it’s important to be patient. That’s okay – sometimes I can be patient.
It’s sort of weird that they cook them to order, yet they have a permanenet queue and sell pretty much only cinnamon doughnuts. Guys, just keep making doughnuts instead of waiting for orders. The American Donut Van in Melbourne churns their doughnuts out like crazy and you still get them hot and fresh.
I ordered 6 cinnamon doughnuts. No suprise there.
After a brief wait, I got my Berry Van doughnuts. I was finally going to try the doughnuts people rave about. The verdict…
Good, but somewhat over-rated. Let me tell you why.
First and foremost, the taste of the oil was quite strong and left a sour taste in the mouth.
Also, they were slightly undercooked.
I enjoyed the slightly crunchy outer coating.
The cinnamon sugar was good and was probably mixed by them rather than being a pre-mix. I think that’s an important part of their appeal and having a unique flavour.
It’s funny, but their website says they have been in operation since 1964. I last went to Berry in the 1990s, and I don’t remember seeing it.
Anyway, sorry to those millions of people who have told me I have to try the Berry Donut Van doughnuts. It’s done. They’re good but not the best.
DomNuts 