Keepin' it fresh at Tim Horton's

What Dunkin Donuts is to us (Americans), Tim Horton’s is to Canadians. Recently (and I mean very recently), the popular chain ambitiously opened twelve stores in NYC, most of which hover on/near 7th Avenue. And being the donut-obsessed gal that I am, I was eager to see what all the Tim Horton’s fuss was about. Literally everyone, from local food bloggers to the NY Times, was hot on this zealous Canadian import.

Making headway through my own personal hell, otherwise known as 34th Street, the first Tim Horton’s I approached (on 7th Ave.) looked much more like a kiosk than a fast food joint. “Do you all have any donuts left?” I asked the girl behind the counter. “No,” she said, “but there is a bigger unit on 34th Street by Tad’s Steaks. It shares a space with Pizza Hut.”

In the name of food obsession, I marched myself over to the Time Horton’s on 34th Street. The line wasn’t obnoxiously long, but the slow service was (however, I will give the employees credit for their patience and knowledge of the product). Finally, it was my turn to order. “Do you all have any apple fritters today?” I asked. “No, but we are baking donuts downstairs right now. I’m not sure if they’re making fritters,” the cashier said. I seriously considered waiting for the fresh batch, but instead chose to order a glazed blueberry cake donut that I saw behind the counter. Truth be told, I just wanted to get the hell out of the after-work madness that was 34th Street.

The cake was very moist (unlike Dunkin’s version of the same) and had a robust artificial blueberry flavor. While the thin sugary glaze had a nice subtle crunch, I wished that there was much more of it enveloping the donut.

Conclusion: I found Tim Horton’s to produce a better donut than Dunkin, but both Krispy Kreme and my local coffee cart’s glazed-cake-stick still reign supreme.

…

Until we eat again,

Lindsay, The Lunch Belle