My wife came home with donuts from I’m Donut? in Times Square and I will be honest, my first thought was that she had brought home mochi donuts. The texture threw me off in the best possible way.
These are not your standard American donut. I’m Donut? is a Japanese concept that just opened its first location outside of Japan right here in New York, and what they are making falls into a category called nama donuts. Nama means fresh in Japanese and that is exactly what these are. Light, fluffy, almost cloud-like in a way that Dunkin and every other chain donut shop cannot touch.
We tried three. The Pistachio White Chocolate, the Strawberry Chocolate, and a powdered variety. All three had that same signature texture, soft and airy without any of the heaviness you usually associate with fried dough. They tasted good across the board. Genuinely good.
That said, if you walk in expecting mochi donut energy you might find yourself doing a quick recalibration like I did. These are their own thing entirely. Not better or worse than mochi, just different. A different kind of light, a different kind of soft. Once you adjust your expectations and meet the donut on its own terms, it delivers.
Worth trying if you find yourself near Times Square and the line is not around the block. I’m Donut? is located at 154 West 45th Street and they are doing something you genuinely cannot get anywhere else in the city right now.
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