Missy Donut came to our Singaporean shores from Japan, after they spotted a good opportunity for the revival of donut consumption and sales in the island country. They were not wrong in their decision and pretty soon you now have four Missy Donut outlets in Singapore, all of which opened to long queues and fanfare. The donuts are made in front of all to see, and come in over 20 different tastes and designs, including special ones made to suit local tastes such as the Kaya donut. When I tried it on the first day the Bukit Panjang Plaza outlet opened, the Missy Donut donuts were really fresh, soft and as with all donuts, when eaten warm, were simply lip smacking. What I really liked about these donuts was that they were not too sweet, yet did not lack any of that sugar boost that donuts traditionally provided.

For a couple of times after that first taste, I had to participate in long queues before getting my fill of Missy Donut. Now, months after the height of the donut craze in Singapore, the queues have disappeared mostly and apart from the Plaza Singapura outlet, the traffic at the other Missy Donut branches have basically died. This is not wholly unexpected given that it was not called the donut fad for nothing. It would be interesting to see how long the chain can survive here in Singapore, given that despite having a huge array of designs, the Missy Donut selections are not the best in uniqueness and often end up looking quite bland, compared to the more interesting donuts that the Donut Factory has produced.

On top of that, the service provided by Missy Donut in the Bukit Panjang outlet is pretty standard of customer service in Singapore – unsmiling, cold and sometimes rude. The person serving you anytime looks disinterested, as if they cannot wait for you to disappear so that they could resume their chats with co-workers. The donuts made by Missy Donut also do not hold up to taste quality an hour or two after they are made, as they turn cold and hard. Now, donuts always come with a disclaimer that you should heat them up in a microwave to enjoy them soft and delicious, but if the ones from Donut Factory and Krispy Kreme can remain soft and delicious after a day without a need to reheat, then surely Missy Donut can come up with a way to do the same. They have been around since 2000 in Japan and that is quite a long time in terms of surviving in the donut business.

So, is Missy Donut worth your time? They certainly are, if you intend to consume them fresh and piping hot after they have been made and immediately after you have purchased them. Perhaps just before that movie at Golden Village in Plaza Singapura, or during a family day out in Compass Point. But they do not last well, and while they are not bad, the standards have dropped somewhat since they opened, and I am still undecided as to them being considered the second best tasting donuts available in Singapore after the Donut Factory.

I bought a six pack the other evening from Donut Factory, partly again because no one was in the queue, and picked out the following six types of donuts – Dark Chocolate Raspberry, two Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, Kaya White Chocolate, Hazelnut Chocolate and another which had white chocolate topping with chocolate mousse filling. I might have gotten the exact names wrong because honestly who really remembers the names of donuts, they just want to eat them. Apologies to the Donut Factory but it is not difficult to differentiate them when placed in front of you anyway.

Actually I had been craving to try out the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate donut for a while since I walked by the Donut Factory branch in Suntec City. Naturally I thought the combination of peanut butter with chocolate would be fabulous. After trying it out, the donut itself was not too bad in fact it was similar to Krispy Kreme in texture and sweetness levels, but I was disappointed that you could hardly taste the peanut butter. There were just strips over the chocolate layer of course, which would explain it.

I then moved on to the donut with the Raspberry filling and it was my favourite hands down. Donut Factory got this one right and it was a simple formula really. I never forgot a similar donut I had when I was in England many years back, and have loved jam filled donuts ever since. This was not the most unique design from Donut Factory, but a clear winner in my books, and the best of the lot I bought.

The rest were really nothing to shout about and common donuts found from the various donut shops in Singapore. Most of them I just chose them for lack of something more interesting. I am not sure how many kaya based donuts or buns or confectionary that Singaporean restaurants, bakeries and cafes need to come up with before they realise that everyone’s sick of it. But I still enjoyed the Kaya White Chocolate donut from Donut Factory, mainly because it was not so sweet that you could not taste the kaya.

Overall, I would say that return servings for the Raspberry Dark Chocolate donut from Donut Factory would be on the cards for me and I should taste it when it’s fresh out of the ovens. The cafe concept at Donut Factory would be ideal for this instead of getting a pack and having them on the go as you really need to eat your donuts fresh and warm. I am not too sure about the other flavours they have – they seem too ordinary, and certainly I could do away with the queue, but Raspberry Dark Chocolate donuts from the Donut Factory is the best donut I have had in Singapore so far.