Noah GalutenIt's time for Part 2 of our Giant Donut Fight. In Part 1, we visited the famed Randy's Donuts, declaring them the victor over the older but lesser known Kindle's Donuts. Actually, we tried to complete the second part of our competition last week, but were thwarted due to some slightly odd hours of operation. But today, finally, we are taking on the last two of these classically designed food shops, and deciding which one makes the best plain cake donut, served alongside a cup of good old fashioned coffee.
Plain cake and a coffee from Dale's Donuts; Credit: N. Galuten
We began at Dale's Donuts, which was closed when we arrived last week (they are only open from 4 a.m.-11 a.m., and 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m.). The architecture, of course, was identical to the others, as they were all originally designed as a single chain of drive-thrus. But it was relatively busy, and seemed to have a good collection of regulars. As we had already done twice before, we stood under a humongous donut, then ordered a regular-sized one. Like the rest, it looked precisely as expected. But then we bit into it, and found it to be both the crispiest, and the softest — showing itself off as a light, fluffy creation, fried with great care. The coffee was more than acceptable, and the competition, very suddenly, was Dale's to lose.
Looking up at Donut King II; Credit: N. Galuten
Our final stop brought us to Donut King II. From a visual standpoint, this location stood out from the rest. For one, they painted their big donut a noticeably lighter color than the others. But more importantly, the roof of the building had an electrical wire connecting it to a telephone pole, and hanging from that wire — framed just inside the giant donut hole — was an old Sega Genesis controller. We found this to be somewhat apropos, as donuts and video games have long been close companions.
A closer look at that Sega Genesis controller; Credit: N. Galuten
We should also point out that the service, from a very nice young woman, was the friendliest of the four. But there is still the matter of the donut and coffee. We took a bite, and quickly surmised that old Sega Genesis controllers do not have the power to improve donut-making abilities. It was drier than Dale's, more dense, and had a good bit less crunch to it. Also, the coffee was a little on the effete side.
So congratulations to Dale's Donuts in East Compton for winning this four-way battle. The only question left is, what shall we do next week? Giant La Salsa Man on PCH vs. Giant Hot Dog in Thai Town? Anyone?
Plain cake donut from Donut King II; Credit: N. Galuten
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