Portland, Part 1: Donut Tour and Review

 

6/24/24 Old Dirty Bastard Voodoo doughnut sketched on my hotel's sunny and pleasant third-floor patio. While I was out there, I sketched a few other things.

Over-rated but definitely the best logo!

I was in Portland, Oregon, for a few days to visit family and, of course, to sketch! Other than terrible Interstate 5 traffic both going and returning, I had a fantastic time. Beautiful weather (warmer than Seattle, which is only 175 miles north), familiar and new sketcher friends, familiar and new locations to sketch – it was all fun!

With several posts planned, I’m going to start with the over-arching theme of my visit: a Portland donut tour! Portland is well known for its multitude of donut shops, both fancy and basic. Voodoo Doughnut probably started it all, and people line up every day at the Old Town location for the shop’s colorful, over-the-top, elaborately decorated creations. I think going to that flagship store is the functional equivalent of standing in line at the Pike Place Market’s “original” Starbucks (which isn’t even actually the first location, but the myth continues), so I followed a tip from a local and went to the Davis location, where there was no line at all and free onsite parking, to boot.

Voodoo's Old Dirty Bastard

It gets all the press, but frankly, I think Voodoo is over-rated. I chose an Old Dirty Bastard, a “raised ring with chocolate frosting, chocolate cream-filled cookies, and peanut butter drizzle.” So much sugary frou-frou on top, but the basic donut dough is . . . basic. Voodoo gets points, however, for a great logo that was more fun to draw than the donut.

I first became hooked on mochi donuts during the pandemic, when Seattle Fish Guys included Milkvue Donuts in one of its meal kits. The mochi donut base is made of rice, which gives it a unique, chewy texture. The beautiful, floral-shaped donuts were both delicious and gorgeous to sketch. Portland’s Mikiko Mochi Donuts are not quite as light as Milkvue’s, but they have the added benefit of being totally gluten-free (Milkvue and some other mochi donuts include some wheat flour). Mikiko’s penchant for natural ingredients and no artificial colors meant that many were not very pretty to sketch. For example, my grayish-looking BSJ (black sesame glazed with a drizzle of marionberry jam) was amazing but unappealing to look at (or draw). However, because I had arrived less than an hour before closing time, and the shop still had lots of donuts left on a slow day, they gave me three for the price of one! I never look a gift donut in the mouth (and they were all excellent, especially if I ate them with my eyes closed).

6/23/24 Mikiko Mochi donuts, a street scene sketched while I enjoyed a donut and my hotel's colorful patio furniture

My hands-down favorite from this tour was Blue Star, which not only offers unique flavors, its brioche dough is truly unique and scrumptious. I favor raised over cake donuts, so I always choose from the raised selection in any donut shop. Several friends had raved about the Cointreau Crème Brûlée, but sadly, it wasn’t available the day I went. The Blueberry Bourbon Basil, as unusual as it sounds, was both beautiful and delicious.

6/25/24 Blue Star Blueberry Bourbon Basil brioche donut. Also shown is the rest of my breakfast, which was part of Inn at Northrup Station's daily Continental breakfast offering. The note I wrote was in reference to a scene I witnessed in the hotel breakfast room: A man was quietly enjoying his breakfast while reading, when a woman who was obviously a colleague (both dressed for a business function) greeted him heartily and plunked herself down at his table. It was an introvert's trauma that I had suffered so many times on business trips: All I wanted was a peaceful solo breakfast before embarking on a long day of listening to co-workers yack, and it would be ruined by co-workers joining me uninvited. 

I wanted to bring a box of Donut Bites as a gift to my brother and his wife, and they were all vegan/cake options, so it was a good opportunity to try a “bite” of Blue Star’s Maple-Glazed vegan/cake dough – and it was fantastic, too! I regretted that I didn’t sample one of the regular-size vegan donuts (to be fair, inclusive and totally piggy). I’ll save that (and Portland’s many other donut shops that I didn’t have time to try) for next time.

I didn't have the right colors with me to sketch Blue Star's lovely Blueberry Bourbon Basil appropriately, but I was too happy eating it to care.

 

Blue Star Bites -- vegan cake donuts