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CAFÉ culture has finally arrived on Exhibitions Avenue with the opening of a new triple treat venue with plenty of dunking capacity!
The first Planet Donut & Bakery restaurant is proving to be a magnet for office workers, students and weekend visitors to one of the most bustling districts of Manama.
The name is not new to the kingdom as the bakery is well-established in Hamad Town and coffee has also been served at its bases in Sitra and Zinj.
But happiness in Hoora features a combination of freshly-made bread and cakes, beautifully-brewed coffee and other refreshments, plus an impressive menu of filling delights in a bright, cleverly-crafted restaurant with added features.
A new menu has been devised and being close to the GulfWeekly HQ it seemed only natural to call in for breakfast bright and early at Planet Donut & Bakery.
Light, breezy and spacious, I took a seat after ordering the ‘PD Veg Platter’ featuring eggs of your choice, toast, grilled tomato with hash browns and an Americano or orange juice thrown in for good measure at a mere BD2.500.
Planet Donut & Bakery was established in 2000 under Woo Business Consultants and director Chorok Woo explained: “We’ve combined all three things that we do best - coffee, baking and serving good food.”
He showed me around the building and upstairs there was another comfortable dining area and a couple of cool study rooms, ideal places for the many students in the area to grab a bite to eat or a drink and still cram in some examination revision without any noisy distractions.
As the café/restaurant is open from 8am until midnight the menu caters for all times of the day. Apart from the scrambled egg cooked to perfection by Chef Vipin (far healthier than the sunny-side up alternative, I’m led to believe) breakfast platter I thoroughly enjoyed, there was also a choice of omelettes available until noon - a spicy Mexican and a rather tempting mushroom & cheese, both priced BD2.300.
Lunchtime treats, inspired by sister operation crust & crema, include lentil, Mexican chicken, mushroom and tyme and tomato basil, all BD1.800, plus a variety of burgers in buns from BD2.200 to BD3. Healthy options like Tuna Salad with broccoli, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, artichoke, zucchini and lettuce, or Honey Herb Chicken alongside apple slices, grapes, nuts and lettuce, both at BD1.800, will see me returning over the summer months.
There’s a full range of hot Arabica coffee from espresso (BD1) to the Caramel Macchiato (BD1.600) and cold collection such as Ice Americano (BD1.400) and superb Cold Brew (BD2) is matched by numerous teas, Frappes and fresh juices.
The mighty Café Bites range of sandwiches includes the Club Planet (BD2.500-BD3) with either chicken or turkey, onion, tomato, iceberg lettuce, egg and cheese. It looked mightily impressive and may demand another Eating Out review at a later date!
The desserts available include a tempting Affogato vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso (BD1.500) but you cannot step through the doors of an establishment called Planet Donut without trying one of the … doughnuts. Check the spelling because it sparked a heated debate back in the office.
It’s also a conversation recently conducted by the scribes at the Huffington Post because this treat has become such an integral part of popular culture, loved for providing us with mouths full of comfort and loathed for ruining our diets.
Beyond this love/hate relationship is another duality we apparently feel very passionately about: the correct spelling. Is it doughnut or donut?
Writer Kristen Aiken concluded that both were correct. Doughnut is preferred by style guides and dictionaries, but donut has become an acceptable substitute.
It’s difficult to pin down the exact date of the doughnut’s inception, but it’s quite clear that the first printed mention of the treat in 1809 referred to it as dough-nut, spelled out to its full glory, and with an added hyphen, describing the arrival of a Dutch delicacy also called ‘oly koeks’ to New York.
Oly koeks translates to ‘oily cakes’, a far less appetising name than doughnuts. Just imagine, suggested Kristen, if they were still called ‘oily cakes’ today, would Homer Simpson have ever uttered the phrase: ‘Mmm ... oily cakes?’ It’s a fair point.
I packed mine up and took it back to the office for a mid-afternoon treat. Chorok says Planet Donut offerings are lighter and fluffier than rivals because less oil is used, an addition to the company’s policy of not using any artificial preservatives and baking breads that are all Trans Fat Free.
“Our motto is simple: delight in every bite,” he added. He’s not wrong there.
And watch out for Ramadan. They’ll be a timely way to break your fast with a doughnut called ‘Vimdo’ featuring glazing specially-formulated to taste just like one of Bahrain’s favourite night-time drinks … dodgy spelling with that too!
