J Co Donuts @ The Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

Last weekend, we did a quick walkabout around the new malls - the Gardens and The Pavilion. The Pavilion is enormous with 6 floors of retail and food outlets to satisfy all our spending needs for quite some time. Although most of the places weren't opened yet, I did a pretty good walk around looking at what food outlets they had (more on that later on). Instead, let's do a quick review of J.Co Donuts - the Indonesian doughnut chain. It seems Big Apple Donuts is based on their concept hence the look alike packaging and varieties offered here.



Queues were evident here - long ones to get your box of doughnuts. I liked the design of the place especially the zip on the huge wall. Instead of the usual metal teeth in the zip, they used J.Co Donuts coffee mugs to line the sides of the zip. Also cool was the mirror which reflected the queue of people waiting patiently for their doughnuts. Part of the place has tables and cosy chairs for you to sit and enjoy your doughnut and coffee. There's even free Wi-Fi for those who wish to surf the net.



Like Big Apple Donuts, baking takes place on the premises. Here baking may take place at the back of the counter in a teeny weeny space but it feels more hygenic especially since it's covered up with plastic see through panels. The staff is properly attired with hats, masks and plastic gloves. The staff is Indonesian so I suspect they brought in their own people pending training locals here.


Alcapone

They were having a promotion - RM33.40 for 2 dozen doughnuts. Definitely a good deal as the doughnut is RM2 (for the Glazzy) and RM2.30 for the assorted versions. Since we couldn't eat so many doughnuts in the danger of ending up looking like Homer Simpson, we got two boxes of half a dozen doughnuts (RM11 per box). The original plan was Splashie Boy took one box home and I had one to sample. Unfortunately our plans were dashed as he found out more people were attending his family dinner so I had to give up my box of doughnuts too. Sniff! I did get to sample one doughnut though - the plain glazed one known as Glazzy which got my thumbs up. It's softer than Big Apple Donuts and the glaze is thicker and sweeter.


Black Jack

Although I didn't get to taste them all, heard good feedback from Splashie Boy's family. General consensus was it's nicer than Big Apple Donuts. The kids loved it and had fun fighting over which flavours to try. They went crazy for the chocolate varieties since they loved chocolate. The Coco Loco - the chocolate topped one with chocolate cream inside had their vote.


Cheese Miss You

The Alcapone is their best seller - melted chocolate with loads of almonds sprinkled on top. In fact, it looked like a warzone of almonds. The Black Jack version was a dipped chocolate doughnut which the kids loved. Even the Cheese version smelt good and tasted good according to Splashie Boy.


Oreology

The crushed oreo biscuits version wasn't fantastic and looked so like the Big Apple Donuts version.


Crunchy Crunchy

J.Co Donuts crunchy doughnut uses crunchy corn flakes versus cocoa puffs like the Big Apple Donut.


Why Nut?

A firm favourite with chunks of peanuts topping a chocolate glazed doughnut.


Coco Loco

This was the kids' favourite as it had cream oozing out of a nice soft doughnut topped with dark chocolate glaze.


Miss Green T

The green tea topping definitely looked better than the pale one in Big Apple Donuts.


J Crown Oreo

They also have these varieties known as J Crown which look like a ring or flower. Similar toppings are used like oreo, white chocolate with nuts, dark chocolate and etc. Although they look very pretty, tastewise, it's not as soft as the doughnut.


Tira Miss U

The tiramisu version with sprinkles of coffee powder. Even Splashie Boy, the anti-coffee person liked this one. It's filled with tiramisu cream. Must be artificial flavouring since it should not have any alcohol.


Snow White

Last but not least, the classic doughnut with icing sugar and cream within. Other varieties we didn't get were their Berry Blue, Mango Blitz and Sugar Ice. When we bought the doughnuts, we also got free Hari Raya packets. Pretty nifty packets as you're entitled to a free Glazzy doughnut if you present it to the counter. There's also a system for you to order the doughnuts - join the queue and pick your doughnuts, they'll put a queue number on it. Wait in line to get to the cashier and say your queue number to pick up your doughnuts once you have paid.

Overall, I would say I kinda prefer J.Co Donuts with their softer texture and stronger flavours. However, Big Apple Donuts does have their advantage due to their proximity at the Curve to my house. They also have introduced a local favourite, the Durian version. Heard also through the grapevine they're opening in Cheras while J.Co Donuts will be opening in Sunway Pyramid. There will also be a Big Apple Donut in the Pavilion but at the 6th floor while J.Co Donuts is located on the first floor.

Other food and beverage places to check out in the Pavilion - Esprit Cafe run by Aromas Singapore. They have durian puffs which are supplied by the Happy Meals place Teckiee blogged about. Interesting concept - the cakes are cut into tiny cubes for one to try and assortment. There's old favourites from Equatorial Hotel - Etoile Bistro at the concourse area and soon to open Kampachi on the sixth floor. Most of the places are around the first, third and sixth floor. First floor also has the supermarket, Mercato which does not look exciting. What looks exciting is the soon to be open Paul which has cafes all over France and UK. There's Tony Romas, Crystal Jade Kitchen and Yo! Sushi from London on the first floor. The sixth floor looks interesting with restaurants like Angus House, Bosphorus (Turkish food) but will only be open in November. Third floor outlets look like bars as they're at the street level - La Bodega and a Mexican bar and grill. Definitely loads to look forward to when you make your way here.

J. Co Donuts & Coffee
Lot 1.05.00
First Floor
The Pavilion
Kuala Lumpur

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

Tagged with: Doughnuts + The Pavilion

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