Hara Donuts 安心おやつ。。はらドーナッツ

Occasion: 食べ歩き on a Sunday afternoon

When: One lazy January weekend

Venue: Hara Donuts, PASEO WEST, 1F 

Address: Kita 6 Nishi 2 

(located right next door to Starbucks Coffee, PASEO Sapporo JR Station)

You would be surprise to know that i'm writing this blogpost at 5:05am. Why do I choose to write this topic at this very point of time? and why is this my first post for the year 2012?!  in which, btw, 

Happy New Year 2012 everybodehhhhhh.....

The answer is very simple. I crave it!

YES!! I AM CRAVING FOR A HARA DONUTS RIGHT NOW AT 5:07AM!! 

(yes, 2 minutes have passed....)

This craving caught me by surprise cause to be honest, it didn't blow my mind away on the first bite and it was pretty alright for me in regards to the taste. But i guess hara donuts are one of those stuff in life that grows onto me. Something good to have but not remembering it off for awhile then suddenly BAM!! one freaking morning when no form of life has awaken to embrace the world yet (okay.. maybe the roadside cleaner... or the drunk people dragging their feet home.. or 'whosoevernot'... but you get my point! And worst of all..... you can do nothing about your cravings cos the mall is not open for another 5 hours or so!! So what now?! ):

Back to this special donuts that is trolling me right now. What is Hara Donuts? (website: HERE)

The CNN calls it 'Japanese Boutique Donuts' (click HERE for article)

From some articles I've read, it is also called the friendly, healthy and HAPPY donuts. 

(Read more)

Some calls it 'Tofu Donuts".

Some DON'T EVEN call it a donut, cause it is made with 'tofu' 豆腐。Okay, more accurately it is made from 'okara', a by-product produced during the making of soy milk and tofu. Well known to be highly rich in fibre and very nutritious. 

It is really popular healthy snack take-out store that has branches all over Japan and one will always find a queue at its store front especially in Tokyo. Originally started from Kobe, its' latest addition smacked right at our door step at the newly renovated PASEO. If I am not mistaken, there is another outlet located somewhere between Odori and Susukino. 

If you are expecting Krispy Kreme and Mister Donut kind of donuts, boy, are you wrong?! It is definitely not and far fetched from tasting the same. In fact, on my first bite, it sort of reminded me one of the version of 'you tiao' or 'you zhao gui' 油炸鬼 back home in KL. If you can read Chinese/ Kanji, you would find that the characters I just typed is literrally translated to 'Oil Fried Ghost'. LOL. As for why it is call that, go wikipedia it or something k. BUT not today cos wikipedia shuts down today in protest for SOPA. If you do not know what SOPA is, go wikipedia that also on the following day! And by now, you would have made me very curious on what do you actually know?!!! Do you even read??!! *baffles* Anyway, back to the main topic, hara donuts reminded me of one of the doughy version of the 'you tiao' but not the same thing.

So, pictures of the day to tell the story as below:

Love the simplicity of the signboard and store concept.

There's a sitting area that fits probably 10 pax at most for those
that would like to order drinks to go with their hara donuts.

The famous Hara Donuts!! Yumms!! *salivate*

Little merchandises that is being offered for sale.
Think some proceeds go to the 'Dogs for the Blinds' Charity.

Friendly staffs and open- styled kitchen area possibly to promote
compliance and cleanliness. I like this kind of display. It makes
me feel as if they have nothing to hide. No dirty processes in
making my food that is to be consumed into my mouth! Silly much? hehe
And besides, it is always fun to watch how the food is created. (:

More hara donuts!!!!! Look at them so fresh and yummilicious looking!
They are quite a number of flavors to choose from!

Flavors you can find in Hara Donuts are such as listed on their website.

but I noticed that some of the offerings are new as one of the donuts we saw that day, tomato トマト flavored donuts, was not shown on the website. Apparently they have 日がわり (special offer of the day- ¥130~). Guess you need to go to the store to find out what is the special donut of the day. Some of the permanent flavors worth mentioning are such as コウチャ (black tea), ほうれん草 (spinach), にんじん (carrot), さくら (sakura). I find these flavors so different as compared to other donuts stores. Not only that, these flavors are so good too. Hara Donuts also offer the usual flavors of fruits (strawberries, lemon) as well as sweet flavors such as chocolates, white chocolates, coffee and etc. Prices range from ¥120- ¥160 per piece. 

'Food wikipedia' Tah with はらドーナッツ

My turn!! (:

By the time i took this pic, we've already started nomming. Hence
there's already 3 left in the bag.
Chose the original はらドーナッツ、丹波黒豆きなこ、コウチャ、チョコ
and i forgot what else. LOL.

As mentioned earlier, I didn't find it mind blowing at first. It wasn't love at first bite at all. I found it rather subtle and just a good snack at that time. BUT how the devil it crept up to me at this point of time!! At when I would have to sit around thinking about it non-stop while awaiting for the mall to open!!!! 

YOU SNEAKY DONUTS!!!!!!!!!! 

*waiving fist in the air*

Check out the queue formed. That happens regularly but it doesn't take too long.

Moi posing at the store front. what's new? hehe

Okay. That is all folks. I should continue sitting and waiting around like a mad woman until the time  can rush to the mall and get my fix of this little devils. Happy donuts... HAH!! They're right about it being called happy. I'm sure it has to do with being a healthy snack but as for my definition... I will feel happier once i get to sink my teeth onto these devils. Just as Homer would have said....

"DONUTS. Is there anything they can't do?" 

~Homer Simpson~