Donutorama

Incorrect address. He’s no longer here but jumps around and I guess does pick up orders and sells his stuff at various restaurants according to one of the guys around the cart pods I talked to. His actual website has more accurate info than Unilocal.The guys at the parking lot and food carts were super helpful trying to give me clues as to what’s up. Boooo. What a waste of time and scoping out sweet parking in this busy chunk of Old town/​downtown! I walked up and down 3^rd between Ash and Pine thinking I must be blind and nada. other food carts and a huge ass line at mediocre tourist trap Voodoo and still nothing. Sucks! Good thing I got rockstar parking. Money wasted at the meter! Aack!

I have to confess I am a sucker for warm dessert… Especially warm dessert that made to order right in front of my eyes!
So I really enjoyed my Crème Brulee Beignet! With the outlayer caramelized by the heat from the blow torch was crispy and the vanilla custard inside so soft and smooth…
Great little snack anytime of the day! Fingerlicking good!
Just tell me please, it is not fattening!!! I didn’t even want to read the warning at the bottom of the sign…

Deconstruct a crème brûlée and merge it with a beignet. Surely the makings of an ingenious dessert. Its hard to dispute pairing the deep-​fried crunch and chewy goodness of a beignet to the already perfect match of rich custard and burnt, sugar crisp.
The little cart at SW Ash and 3^rd St is plainspoken and plain, with just the word «beignets» prominently displayed all over. But a big, larger than life image of said crème brûlée beignet caught our eye from an easel board on the side (do read the official warning at the bottom, numerous abuses are gleefully detailed there). While classic beignets are the core of the menu, its the crème brûlée version that steals the show.
The friendly proprietor happily prepared one for us, firing up a torch and caramelizing it beautifully, with just a bit of burnt crust and custard bursting out the center. It was a great mix of textures, fun to have, definitely a bit decadent.

Dear. Sweet. Baby. Jesus. Claus.
Crème brûlée beignet.
Should be illegal.
I have never had anything like this before, and it may have ruined me for all future fried-​pastry-​type items. I’m not a frequent sweets eater. I’ll try a donut maybe once a year. But…
These are incredible. It’s a perfect little yeasty pillow of dough filled with a delicate vanilla custard, which would be sinful enough. The real kicker, though, is in the finish: it’s like a dip and a douse in sugar, then torched, leaving a thin, brûlée crust all around, making for a surprise, delicate crust-​crunch with every bite. Perfectly cooked — that wonderful *almost* burnt taste.
Let those fools stand in line in the rain for crappy Voodoo donuts. Donutorama is where it’s at. Find ‘em at Boke Bowl, too. Wow.

Whoa.
This little food cart shanty got it right.
A block south of Voodoo downtown, Donutorama offers only two items: beignets. I sampled (re: devoured) each today. First type: crème brûlée. A puffed pouch of dense doughnut filled with custard. Real vanilla bean. Chewy. Decadent. To complete the symphony of sugar, this ultimate square is doused with a spoonful of sugar (as if I needed any help getting this medicine down) and blow torched, leaving a crispy, browned-​and-​almost-​burnt shell. Upon arrival, I was put off by the giant puddle (it’s gotta be 10″ high) of half-​liquefied sugar until I realized what this majestic slope had in store for me. Once prepared, he hovered it, like Baby Simba being presented during his fruit smear baptism and I bowed down after stomping my hooves like the giraffe. Or soon to be the elephant. I now have a new appreciation for the Tony Montana pile of sugar.
The taste was embarrassingly good. We were given an optimum consumption time of «½ to 1 block away» to cool the burn and set the shell. I smuggled it into my vehicle where I lamented the absence of tinted windows that would render my O face and crumb-​laden shirt incognito. No dice. I stopped caring and shoveled the sweet magma down my gullet, rejoicing every bite.
Now, the regular beignet is an totally different matter, thus complementing the menu and making it a one-​stop sugar shop. Both these items are stellar in taste, value and variety. Beignet is similar to an elephant ear: light, fluffy, almost crispy and soft to the tongue. It’s wholly doused in powdered sugar (which has to be my least favorite thing on earth), but the beignet makes it work. Still saccharine but not as decadent, the beignet is a gateway drug (let’s be real, a gateway HUG that fills your belly and soul) to the richer, more opulent crème brûlée varietal. Crème brûlée is no beginner feat.
After the sloppy mouth vacuuming stopped (if you go with people, make sure you trust them to see you at your slovenly-​est), we remarked in retrospect the crème brûlée could have been half as large and just as satisfying. Or we could have just picked one.
Ha, who am I kidding. This is the bees knees. I’ll never waste minutes (or hours) at Voodoo again.
Also: free sticker! Like this dude needs any advertising. Word of mouth served him well. The mouths have it. Give him your money.

I saw the sign for beignets and that was all I needed to see! I’m glad that there were two of us so we could order 2 (1 for $ 2, 2 for $ 3). The owner was really friendly and made the beignets right in front of us and served them to us piping hot with a generous helping of powdered sugar. «Good luck with the wind,» he said as he handed us the tray. In a minute I knew what he meant as the swirling winds soon had us covered in powdered sugar, much like one of his beignets. But they were great when they were hot, light and fluffy and not too oily… yum!

these are freaking *amazing*. far and away better than any doughnut i have had at voodoo at any point in time. why anyone would go there (other than to get married, i guess?) instead of donutorama is beyond me. light, fluffy, delicious. definitely walk the 100 feet past voodoo and eat something really tasty.

Greg moved to his own cart near SW 3^rd and Ash this past summer. While a few of his doughnut creations from the winter are no longer offered, Greg has found his groove selling beignets and crème brûlée beignets. Frankly, if you can execute 1 – 3 top-​quality items in a food cart, you should be just fine. Take a look at what it’s done for places like Nong’s Khao Man Gai.
The beignet at Donutorama is incredibly light and pillowy, and the soothing abundance of powdered sugar will remind me not to wear a black hoodie to this cart again. Ghost panda, anyone?
The crème brûlée beignet is basically similar to the crème brûlée doughnut I had on my original visit at the beginning of the year. The custard filling pokes its head out at the top, just inviting you to devour it. Greg will torch this guy in front of you, right on the spot. The freshly created sugary shell is heavenly.
Be on the lookout for other fine creations promoted on their business FB page. Try a Bananas Foster fritter or a Nutella crème brûlée beignet, for starters. Ask if you can get a scoop of ice cream along with it.
Taking some back to work to make new friends? You can get a dozen beignets for $ 12 or a half-​dozen crème brûlée beignets for $ 15.
Give this cart some love and head on down there! It’s truly an elite place to go to!

Donutorama’s big schtick is their crème brûlée donut, but I’m sorry to say that it’s just kind of meh. First of all, it’s overpriced for what it is, but considering the prices of food in Portland as of late, that’s somewhat forgivable. What’s unforgiveable is the use of spices in their crème brûlée donut. I mean, it’s a perfectly fine donut, but what I dislike about it is the spices that they use to flavor the vanilla custard inside the donut. They should really rename the donut as a «spiced» crème brûlée donut — think Christmas and Thanksgiving flavors. It has hints of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg in the custard. While that’s appealing to some, I was expecting a more traditional vanilla bean crème brûlée flavor. I wish they had that as an option. Otherwise I wouldn’t be so meh about the donut. But yeah. It’s okay. Just not great. Three stars seems apt.

Walked by their beignet cart and got a regular and a crème brûlée one. Friendly guy working the cart. Regular beignet was good as it was light and fluffy, but what a messy thing to eat while standing. The plastic spoon sucks that you pretty much have to use your hands and the powdered sugar just gets everywhere on your clothes! The crème brûlée beignet was not what I expected. It didn’t really taste like crème brûlée and it was rather sweet. It reminded me of a Boston Crème Pie as the sign said.

If you like standing in line for an hour at Voodoo for their super-​sugar-​coma gems, then by all means, go hang with the tourists, but you are SO missing out if you do.
1 ½ blocks away sits a small cart called Donut-​O-​Rama and the gentleman that runs the place is a freaking donut genius!
He makes beignets, or a «French» donut, either plain (damn good) or the crème brûlée version which is, frankly, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
The sign says: «Crème Brûlée Beignets. ‘Nuff Said.» The sign does not lie.
They are made fresh, he pops them in the freezer for a minute or two to cool them down, then fills them with crème brûlée. He finishes them off with sugar on top and torches it while you watch. They are still warm goodness when he hands them over.

Beignet? What is a Beignet? I don’t know but the Wife saw the place while walking back to the Car and said we had to stop.
I now know what a Beignet is. A deep fried, puffy, light fritter topped with powdered sugar. I am not a big fan of powdered sugar on anything but Donutorama has changed my mind.
I found the Beignet to be light and airy. Cooked to order with a heavy dusting of powdered sugar or should I say reminds me of Mount Hood in the winter covered in snow.
The wife thought the Beignet was a little overcooked, but when I reminded her at least it wasn’t chewy but light she noddingly agreed.
We only ordered one for $ 2, but I wish I had ordered 2 for $ 3 so I would have had more than one bite. ;)
I hear Donutorama does a Crème Brulee version stuffed with a vanilla cream and topped with sugar torched to a golden crispness.
I may just have to try this on our next trip to town.
***Update on 09/​08/​12*** Was in Portland yesterday and on my way out I stopped back by Donutorama. Ordered two Crème Brulee Beignets. Greg the owner is wonderful to chat with and while we chatted he prepared my Beignets. The Crème Brulee is their normal Beignet that he stuffs with a Vanilla Custard. The custard uses real vanilla beans. Nom. He then dips the top into some sort of liquid. It had a hint of liqueur, so I will have to ask next time what is in the liquid. He then sprinkles sugar on it and torches the puppy to a nice golden crispness. I did enjoy these.
Greg told me next time I have to try his new Bananas Foster. He takes an apple fritter, tops it with a scoop of ice cream and then flambes bananas and pours it over the top. How can you go wrong!

Most delicious Beignets I ever had. Had the freshly fried plain one, wonder soft on the inside and crispy on the outside goodness. Loved it.
Had the Crème Brulee one too the filling was super vanilla flavor and tasty. I have less of a sweet tooth and prefer the plain one.
Owner is very friendly and very knowledgeable about where Beignets come from and how they are carefully made to achieve this yeasty pillow of perfection.
Cheap too if you didn’t feel like waiting in long lines across the street for Voodoo, stop by for a freshly made one here instead.

This review is for their beignet cart on sw 3^rd. I found this after some beers and watching the germany/​greece game.
The beignets were pretty damn good. I got 2 of them for $ 3. They were pretty nice and fluffy with the powder being pretty tasty too. These were some solid beignets and made for a nice quick snack after some drinking.

It was my first time trying a «Beignet» I had always heard about it on TV on show about Louisiana. I Loved their crème brûlée beignet, great rum aroma and the torched sugar makes a great texture. I like their regular beignets too. Very yummy. Best to eat it warm. The owner fry’s them up fresh. Yums. Try it Sat. night then went back again Monday to get more.

This Guy has something really special. His crème brûlée doughnut is awesome. I also enjoy the traditional raised glazed. I am sad he had to walk away from our corner. I hope he relocates back by us soon

To be fair, let me first say that I have only tried the crème brûlée donut. That being said, I was not at all impressed by the donut. The owner seems like a really nice guy. He was very personable and watching him make the crème brûlée donuts was fun. Admittedly, the anticipation was mounting as this trip to Donut-​O-​Rama had been in the planning stages for a few weeks. It is only open Monday thru Friday 7am-​2pm. So I planned a food crawl Friday and included it at the top of the list. I wanted to like. I really did, but I just could not get over the fact that it just did not live up to the hype. It’s called a crème brûlée donut. There are certain expectations when something is named after such a dessert. Crème brûlée itself is not even that fancy. It just sounds fancy, but great crème brûlée can blow my socks off. I was hoping for my socks to at least smoke a little, but alas, no smoke, not even a little tingle. It was just too sweet. I was hoping to be reminded of the bliss accompanied by breaking the top shell of torched sugar to get a scoop of decadent creamy custardy goodness. I realize that one of the adjectives used in my previous sentence is not a real word, but that is what you expect when you have a great crème brûlée in front of you. Even if I had lower expectations from the start I would still have been unable to look past the sugar overload. I have a notorious sweet tooth so that last statement is profound.
Again, the owner seems like a stand up guy and I’m sure he’s doing his best to make it. However, like Voodoo, Donut-​O-​rama seems to be built on trying to be unique as opposed to making a consistently mind blowing product. I will go back and try the buttermilk bars because well… I’m a fan of buttermilk bars. I plan to go in with lowered expectations but still be hopeful that the next time will warrant a bump up to a three star, maybe four.
Definitely, give it a try yourself because I am pretty sure not everyone will share my humble opinion.
A hui hou!

Finally a donut option that isn’t Safeway or Voodoo.