Bakery

Cartems Donuterie: Pop-up Shop of Donuts

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Cartems Donuterie opened up a pop-up shop in Gastown and another near Commercial. A pop-up shop means its only temporary. They sell unique donuts with very unique flavours and cater to people who are gluten-free and vegan.

My coworkers and I have heard a lot of buzz about Cartems Donuterie on Twitter and in the papers, so we decided to check them out during lunch. We also heard they like to be sold out quite fast, so we just monitored their twitter account to see what flavours were coming out next. On their first batch of donuts, they sold out in 39 minutes! So, we waited for their next batch to be ready before we headed out of the office.

They take online orders ( 2 days in advance) as well, just in case you don’t want to run into the problem with sold out donuts or the flavours you want aren’t there. They do free delivery in Downtown too.

Everything is made fresh with local ingredients! They don’t do their baking in the Gastown location since its just delivered to that location. It’s not a bad thing since it’s still fresh!

The shop is very small. When we went there, there were only 2 flavours left. 🙁 They are popular donuts.

It didn’t bother us too much since there were at least some donuts left and the guy serving us was very nice! There are no tables inside, so all the donuts you get at the store are for takeout.

After walking back to the office with our rain-soaked box of Cartems Donuts, we just dug in!

Since there were only 2 types of donuts left, we just grabbed a box of half a dozen ($15). They gave us an extra one since one of the donuts were a bit smaller. I didn’t notice the size difference, but a free donut is a good donut (hehehe…that was my asian side of me speaking).

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with a lot of sugar on the outside. It was beautifully fried! When you bite into it, the outside is crunchy and the inside is spongey. There was a good balance between the ingredients.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted like a slightly dense chocolate donut. The dominant flavour is the chocolate, but there is a very very subtle taste of the chilies.

Overall, the donuts were good, but since I am not a donut fanatic…I don’t exactly have a huge love for them. With $3 per donut, I would probably try more of the other flavours that are more unique.


Since I wanted to try more of their flavours, Angela of Munchkie’s Munchies and I decided to order a dozen and split them during lunch. Such a healthy lunch right? Don’t attempt eating a whole box of 12, since thats really just unhealthy on many levels. The dozen donuts cost $30.

Ordering online was quite painless, choose the donuts you want in multiples of 12 and pay through PayPal. You just need to make your order 2 days in advance. The order arrived on time and I had no issues.

Even though we ordered one of each flavour, we couldn’t try the Bee Sting donut since they didn’t have it. The donuts came in various shapes and sizes. Some were smaller, some were larger.

Triple Chocolate Threat ($3 each) is made with a base of chocolate cake, then topped with ganache and crispy chocolate pearls.

This donut was a bit dense and slightly dry. I liked the texture of the chocolate pearls that complimented the donut.

Flourless Bouquet Gluten-Free Donut ($3 each) but it’s still made in an area with gluten. Eat with caution depending on what your level of sensitivity is towards gluten. The donut has a berry tea glaze on top.

I found the glaze to be quite sweet, but it did have a strong berry taste to it.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut ($3 each) was coated with sugar and cinnamon on the outside. The quality of the donut could have been a bit improved since the shape of it was a bit weird.

What I like about this donut is the crunchy exterior and then the soft inside of it. This donut isn’t super special or unique, but it is good.

Sweet Snow Donut ($3 each) has a white chocolate glaze with large organic coconut shavings.

I’m not a big fan of coconut, but I liked how the taste was subtle and didn’t dominate the flavour. Good balance.

Sweet Heat Donut ($3 each) tasted a little bit different this time around.

The chili flavour was more prominent but not too overwhelming. It just tickled your lips a little. It was kinda a cool feeling.

Earl Grey Donut is infused with organic earl grey tea and a earl grey glaze with edible flowers.

I really liked this donut because it has a good subtle flavour of the tea. Very unique and its a must order.

Breakfast Donut has organic figs, flax seeds, and honey. This was definitely a donut for the wee mornings.

It was quite dense and packed with a lot of ingredients, but it kinda tasted like a bran muffin.

Carrot Cake Donut has carrots in their donut dough with a caramel glaze and topped with candied carrots and oats.

I felt like it didn’t represent a carrot cake since it needed a bit more cinnamon to really bring out that taste.

Classic Donut is topped with a vanilla bean glaze.

I liked the simple taste of the donut. Good fresh ingredients done right.

No Animals? No problems! Vegan Donut has chocolate cake, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles.

I LOVED this donut! Even though it’s vegan, it was so moist and chocolaty. I would definitely order this again!

Overall, there is a bit of a consistency issue with the donuts, but Cartems has a great concept in trying to bring unique flavours and ingredients into their donuts. Plus, they do cater to vegans and gluten-free individuals. I am sure in time they will improve on their products! Don’t forget to check out  Munchkie’s Munchies‘s review of Cartems!

Words of Wisdom:

  • My Favorite: Earl grey, Sweet Heat, Vegan, and Classic
  • Pricey for just a donut
  • Order Online to be guaranteed the flavours you want
  • Free delivery to the Downtown core
  • Under $10
  • Closest Skytrain: Stadium
  • Follow them on Twitter (@cartemsdonuts ) for availability of supply + flavours
  • Vegan + Gluten-Free Options

We Rate Cartems Donuterie: 

Address:
408 Carrall Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://cartems.com/

Cartems Donuterie (Pop-up Shop) on Urbanspoon


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Diana started Foodology in 2010 because she just eats out everyday! She started a food blog to share her love of food with the world! She lives in Vancouver, BC and adores the diversity of food around her. She will go crazy for churros and lattes.

6 Comments

  1. I can’t believe you two only ate doughnuts for lunch!! I’m not a big fan of doughnuts, but that last one really does look delicious… I think I may have to try it one day!

  2. Finally made it down there recently. It was just after 1pm and they still had quite a few types, save the Triple Chocolate Threat. Oh well, can’t win ’em all. So I got the cinnamon sugar and the maple bacon bourbon. Cinnamon sugar was melt-in-your-mouth, so much so that after a few “inhales” it was gone like vaporware. If I could nit-pick, a bit more cinnamon flavour would be nice, but otherwise it rocked. I give it 9/10.

    The maple bacon bourbon was HIGHLY anticipated, as I wanted to compare it to Rocket Donut’s version. And perhaps that was why I felt a bit disappointed. It was too sweet for my taste, the dough was a bit “moist” in the middle, and the bacon bits ….. not enough and overpowered by the maple bourbon glaze. Also the bacon bits themselves tasted sweet, as if they’ve been candied or something. I was merely hoping for a salty, strong-smoked flavour to juxtapose the rest of the donut. So in that respect, I’d rate the MBB I got a 6/10.

    • DesignGirl Reply

      I’ve been trying hard to get a taste of the maple bourbon, but i’m always out of luck! Rocket Donuts sounds good, I’ll probably need to take a trip down there!

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