Ottawa Foodies

6

What a brilliant way to start the weekend. Maple bacon left me speechless (in a good way). Soft, chewy, sweet and salty. And I don't even like doughnuts. Suzy Q is doing it right.

Suzy Q has become a part of my weekend errands in the neighbourhood. In fact, I now seem to plan the errands around the doughnuts rather than the other way round...
I like the light, yeast-raised doughnuts with just enough heft and I wonder why anyone would want doughnuts that didn't go stale quickly.
That said, I was in today to pick up my favourite--the coconut and kaffir lime and was disappointed that there is even less coconut on it than last week. The amount has diminished greatly since they opened. Got the caramel gravel road instead, but if you want caramel, the salted one is better.

4

You won't pay $2 for a donut? Surely that's what you pay at TimHo's these days, and those come out of the freezer. In Toronto you pay $4-5 for these "boutique" donuts (for lack of a better term). Suzy Q is so, so, fair.

2

I too agree with Des, I really want to like Suzy Q - they are local and fairly original and not a factory.
However, I object on principle to paying $2+ for what is essentially a mediocre doughnut.
If you are not interested in whatever their super-exciting topping of the day is, the doughnuts are a bit bland and go stale pretty fast.
I am a big fan of the plain doughnut - I just love those mini-doughnuts they sell at the Home Show and stuff like that.
Long ago when I was young, my boyfriend and I used to go for long rides on his Honda and stop in at the doughnut place that used to be at Montreal Road and the Vanier parkway - hot fresh doughnuts and coffee at 2 a.m. ....ah, nostalgia

1

Des nailed it.

Suzy Q gets an A+ for creative ideas (except for that froot loop thing), but overall their product are taste-duds due to not enough topping/dough ratio. They need to make the outer surface more permeable so that the flavour/liquid/glaze seeps in a bit. The dough would have to be different, though, it would have to be fatty and cakey.

I've seen this glaze seepage in cake-like doughnuts I've bought stateside, particularly a few weeks back. That dynamite old-fashioned glazed courtesy of the Hannaford in Lake Placid, which I polished off in three bites before I got the change from the cashier.

Thinking of that doughnut when I crossed the border back into Canada, I wept.

3

I really want to like this place! The people are so friendly and the doughnuts look amazing. The problem is, regardless of the exciting topping, all the doughnuts pretty much taste the same. The doughnut/topping ratio is such that I really just taste doughnut, leaving the toppings as mostly just an adornment. The doughnut is good, don't get me wrong; it's just sort of disappointing because all the doughnuts end up tasting exactly the same. It's great that Ottawa has a place to get doughnuts that are far different from the cloying cakiness of Tim Horton's (which I don't like at all). I just want to be able to TASTE the exciting flavours that Suzy Q has to offer.

So happy we have such a great addition to the Ottawa food scene!

2

Absolutely love this place. The dough is a yeast risen dough and so it is very light and fluffy. If you are expecting a tim hortons style doughnut then get out of here, terrible.

One you have one of these doughnuts no others will compare. Service is very friendly.

I had seen someone had said they wish they would have more glaze; well if they were to put any more glaze on the doughnut would kind of collapse, being that it's so light and fluffy. They would also get soggy a lot faster.

My favorite is the Lemon Raspberry Cassis with white chocolate drizzle. Menu changes every once and a while and they are always trying out new flavors.

Bottom line, you gotta go here!

1

Ok, maybe I'm just not a doughnut expert, but I found the donuts very light and puffy - not dense as others have suggested. (Tim's sour cream glazed is a dense doughnut). I really liked the doughnut, it was still warm. My kids went nuts as my daughter has been dreaming up maple bacon concoctions at home. I found the maple bacon ok - but the bacon lacked any bacony flavour - wierd as there was plenty on the doughnut.

Youngest had fruitloops doughnut - I couldn't bring myself to try this, but it got the approval of the 3 year old. (his favorite cereal).

My other daughter had the s'more doughnut and it got her seal of approval, however she did say she found it quite rich - she couldn't finish it and saved it for breakfast.

I on the other hand was happy to go for a second doughnut, so indulged on the caramel and roasted almond. This was very good.

1

Oh wow. I had a dinner party last night and 2 guests arrived with a couple of boxes of assorted donuts from Suzy Q. Incredible! We had to cut them into quarters so everyone could have a taste of everything. This is going to be a very weak spot for me. Tim Horton's ruined the donut, and Suzy Q brought them back!

1

I love the Salted Caramel doughnuts here. The Toasted Coconut are great too. Also pictured here are the Double Chocolate and the Blue Vanilla with Froot Loops. My daughter was loopy about the blue one.

The Maple Bacon is good as well, but I find the chewy chunks of bacon are more gimmick than gourmet. For salty-sweet I prefer the Salted Caramel. Either way, there is a doughnut for every taste here. Just awesome!