Going donuts

Dunkin' Donuts opened in the city with a mind-boggling variety.

May 24, 2015 08:06 pm | Updated 08:06 pm IST

Dunkin' Donuts. Photo: Nimalan Arooran

Dunkin' Donuts. Photo: Nimalan Arooran

“Idhu sweet vada thana?” the ad for Dunkin' Donuts in a daily shows an old man quizzically holding up a donut and asking this question. But, going by the queue outside the just-opened outlet at Phoenix Market City, it’s clear that Chennai is familiar with donuts! It's 7.30 a.m. and the first few donut fans are converging for a taste of the international brand’s goodies. By 10 a.m., the outlet is open for business. I stare at a booklet that entitles me to a free donut for the next one year. How did I manage that? Well, I jostled through and made sure I was among the first 500 customers. The catch is you buy something and only then do you get a donut free.

At first it’s Death By Chocolate. Then I am brought Alive By Chocolate. After that It’s A Mistake — the best possible kind of mistake, with white chocolate icing and a pinkish jelly-like guava filling with chilli flakes. After these three delicious donuts, excuse me if I sound incoherent. Blame it on the sugar high. There are 18 varieties — Classic Glazed, Cinnamon, Chocolate Frosted, Goba Gonu, No More Blues (and yet this one is bright cerulean), Ugly Strawberry (I think they were just trying to be modest.), Hug Me, Stuck on You…

“But it’s not just a donut place,” says Dev Amritesh - COO, gently shaking his head. And to prove that he ensures I sit through a 15-course meal consisting of burgers, wraps, ice teas, cold coffees, more burgers and coffee. Every time I look like I am about to throw in the towel, he encouragingly says, “Not yet. There’s more to come.” 

Dunkin' Donuts first started in Boston in 1950. The cosy outlet here has photographs of the first store, the menu, a blackboard with interesting notes such as “Heart broken? At least your stomach still works.” After branching out to 31 countries, the brand forayed into India in 2012 with Delhi being its first stop, followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and now Chennai. “The plan is to have four more outlets in the next few months. Finding the right location is important," he says.

In the meantime, the smartly dressed team at DD take away my Naughty Lucy. It’s a burger by the way. The patty looks rather plain but when you bite into it a pool of molten cheese oozes out. There’s also the flavour of tangy mango relish. “You have to save space for the Tough Guy,” the team advises. Stuffed with a chorizo patty, chicken salami, salad and potent kasundi, the tough guy has me wound around his little finger.

More food follows…a wicked wrap, so spicy that it requires a glass of spiked (a blend of cinnamon, cloves, pepper and star anise) ice tea to quell the fiery taste; crunchy Joe burger with an interestingly crispy bun that's priced at Rs. 49 and was introduced at the behest of students who wanted something substantial but priced reasonably. To wash everything down there's cappuccino. Not particularly the best, so you're better off trying their classic Dunkaccino — a cold coffee blended with Jamaican rum and almonds, a concoction so heavenly that the girl at the next table pushes back two of those. But what she doesn't have is my free donut booklet.

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