Lee’s Donuts, Granville Island

Lee’s Donuts

Granville Island Public Market

1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC

You have to have tremendous will power to visit Granville Island and leave without a box of Lee’s Donuts. A fixture at the Granville Island Public Market, Lee’s Donuts is a long-standing family business that makes incredible donuts in all varieties, from old-fashioned cake donuts to yeast donuts, jelly-filled and with all types of toppings from mint to maple. The jelly filled donuts also come in creative varieties such as tropical flavours, mango and coconut and seasonal blueberry. I’m partial to the fluffy yeast donuts and they’re delicious at Lee’s Donuts, and since they sell out so quickly, there are always fresh donuts on hand. A Lee’s Donut is a cross between a fresh Tim Horton’s donut and a Krispy Kreme. Their donuts are not overly sweet and over-processed like Tim Horton’s, a Lee’s Donut is just the right amount of density so that you feel like you’re chewing a mouthful of sweet perfectly fried dough in your mouth, not inexplicable pounds of magic melting calories like a Krispy Kreme. There’s just something comforting about deep fried dough, and the homey atmosphere of the Lee’s Donuts stand also adds to the experience. Yes, the fact that the donuts have a home-made aura around them actually makes them taste better, as if each donut was fried and sprinkled with individual care with the customer’s taste buds in mind.

Lee’s Donuts also serves savory and sweet crepes. I ordered an egg and cheese crepe. It was made on the spot and was still hot after I carried it around the public market for half an hour to find a spot to eat. I love crepes with crispy edges but also with fluffy centers that envelope the filling in a perfect package, and the crepe at Lee’s Donuts was just that. A perfectly grilled blanket of crepe wrapped around melted, stretchy cheese and velvety eggs. Personally, I think that diced, hard boiled eggs would have given the crepe a little bit more texture and shape but all in all, I was pretty happy with this crepe. I’m looking forward to my next Lee’s Donuts visit, maybe I’ll venture off their donut menu and try some of the gigantic cinnamon buns or muffins with extra large tops.