By Emily Connor
The Japanese need to calm down when it comes to donuts.
It seems like a lot of Japanese people just can't get enough donuts. In the years I've been living in Japan, there have been so many donut cafes that have taken off overnight. Places that serve donuts covered in hot espresso, cafes that serve donuts covered up with gelato... Hamburgers shaped like donuts, donuts made of tofu, savory donuts... A lot of donut places that are no longer hitting it off in North America also seem to randomly pop up in Tokyo. (I'm really praying for a Tim Hortons to eventually land down in Japan, but that will never happen in a million years.) Tokyo is a paradise for people who love donuts, although a lot of these gourmet treats don't come cheap.
And let me tell you-- so many of these donut shops are continually brimming with customers! People line up to try the latest and greatest donut shops... The one that is currently the most popular is Krispy Kreme. It's incredible, though. I've witnessed people lining up for over an hour just go buy a dozen donuts-- can you imagine? I mean, I can understand the concept of waiting in line to get your hands on the latest-and-greatest gadget... But donuts? I've never had a donut in my entire life that I would wait more than five minutes in line to get, and I'm from New York!
One of my friends informed me today about a new donut shop that's apparently opening up in Hiroshima-- a store that is a collaboration between a hamburger shop and a donut shop. Apparently this new shop offers set menus featuring hamburgers and some monstrosity called a 'donut parfait' that puts the definition of a donut to shame. I know that we Americans have an image of being the most obese and eating the most disturbing fast-food items (the new KFC bun-less chicken sandwich, for example...) but not even we Americans have burger shops that serve burgers with a 'donut parfait' on the side! The idea sounds so ridiculous that I doubt even Paula Deen would have the guts to compile such a menu.
Tokyo is a huge place, and you could easily argue and say that there are just as many popular creperies and ice cream parlors as there are donut shops... And perhaps it's true. However, it just seems like people get the most excited when it comes to donuts. I've seen people line up maybe twenty minutes or so for ice cream, but never to the extent where the store was forced to put up an 'estimated wait time' sign. Although it seemed like the donut boom was dying down for a while, the new tofu-donut and donut-hamburger wave has just crashed down upon us, meaning that donuts will maintain their popularity for quite a while more.
Viva la donut, I suppose.
The Japanese need to calm down when it comes to donuts.
It seems like a lot of Japanese people just can't get enough donuts. In the years I've been living in Japan, there have been so many donut cafes that have taken off overnight. Places that serve donuts covered in hot espresso, cafes that serve donuts covered up with gelato... Hamburgers shaped like donuts, donuts made of tofu, savory donuts... A lot of donut places that are no longer hitting it off in North America also seem to randomly pop up in Tokyo. (I'm really praying for a Tim Hortons to eventually land down in Japan, but that will never happen in a million years.) Tokyo is a paradise for people who love donuts, although a lot of these gourmet treats don't come cheap.
And let me tell you-- so many of these donut shops are continually brimming with customers! People line up to try the latest and greatest donut shops... The one that is currently the most popular is Krispy Kreme. It's incredible, though. I've witnessed people lining up for over an hour just go buy a dozen donuts-- can you imagine? I mean, I can understand the concept of waiting in line to get your hands on the latest-and-greatest gadget... But donuts? I've never had a donut in my entire life that I would wait more than five minutes in line to get, and I'm from New York!
One of my friends informed me today about a new donut shop that's apparently opening up in Hiroshima-- a store that is a collaboration between a hamburger shop and a donut shop. Apparently this new shop offers set menus featuring hamburgers and some monstrosity called a 'donut parfait' that puts the definition of a donut to shame. I know that we Americans have an image of being the most obese and eating the most disturbing fast-food items (the new KFC bun-less chicken sandwich, for example...) but not even we Americans have burger shops that serve burgers with a 'donut parfait' on the side! The idea sounds so ridiculous that I doubt even Paula Deen would have the guts to compile such a menu.
Tokyo is a huge place, and you could easily argue and say that there are just as many popular creperies and ice cream parlors as there are donut shops... And perhaps it's true. However, it just seems like people get the most excited when it comes to donuts. I've seen people line up maybe twenty minutes or so for ice cream, but never to the extent where the store was forced to put up an 'estimated wait time' sign. Although it seemed like the donut boom was dying down for a while, the new tofu-donut and donut-hamburger wave has just crashed down upon us, meaning that donuts will maintain their popularity for quite a while more.
Viva la donut, I suppose.
Yep, that's some donut's crazyness ^^
Something that should be mentioned is that all the people waiting in line for Krispy Kreme can get a donut for free... I guess some of them don't queue anymore as soon as they get their Holy Grail ^^