Lucky's Doughnuts & 49th Parallel Coffee - gastrofork

With a coffee shop literally on every corner of Vancouver, you would think finding a good cup of coffee was an easy task. Being an ex-barista (who sporadically drank coffee because it makes me talk a million miles an hour), I can be a little picky with where I go to have a cup of coffee. That could be an entire post on itself (hmm, there’s an idea!), but for the sake of keeping this more focused and short – let’s stick with what we’re here for: 49th Parallel and Lucky’s Donuts.

If you’re cruising down Main Street looking for Lucky’s, you’ll want to look for this sign:

Lucky’s Donuts is a part of Forty Ninth Parallel Coffee’s cafe on East 13th and Main. This is a great combo of two high quality items. The great thing is they have a Fresh Sheet and you can get a Coffee & Doughnut for $4.

Now before you go “whaaat? I can get that at *insert cheaper coffee/donut place here* for much cheaper!!”, let me tell you that it is worth every penny you pay for. I also feel that Lucky’s and 49th Parallel are not looking to please that ‘coffee and a donut for $2’ clientele anyway.

When we arrived, there were only a handful of donuts left (I was so sad!). So we ordered Old Fashioned ($2 each without the special) and Chocolate donuts ($3 each without the special).

The space is nice with two areas for seating. There’s a lot of wood in the theme and most areas are great for groups. I love watching them make the coffee right then and there, there are a variety of ways they prepare it so it’s interesting to watch.

My friend ordered a hot chocolate with his donut.

I ordered just a plain drip coffee, and it was delicious! The roast was not bitter and had a slight sweetness to it. I felt kind of bad adding milk and sugar to it after I had a sip of it because it could very well be tasty on it’s own. And yes, I’m very messy so I got coffee everywhere on my saucer (sigh).

My chocolate donut was very different on my first bite than what I was expecting. I guess so many overglazed and super sweet donuts have ramped down my expectations. This donut is actually quite nice, not very sweet yet very cocoa-y. The donut is more cakey in comparison to many other donut places.

My friend ordered the Old Fashioned Donut which was also cakey and not too bad.

On a separate occasion, Nat brought back their Maple Bacon Apple Fritter ($4). I would recommend you skip the two I had and go STRAIGHT to this one if they’re still available when you go. This is by far the best donut I’ve had EVER!

The ones Nathalie brought home were a little on the burnt side but I overlooked it with it’s delicious maple glaze and crispy bacon toppings. Neither taste is overwhelming or too sweet, just very balanced. Definitely try this one out (again, if it’s not sold out!) and grab a cup of coffee while you’re there – you won’t regret it!

Food:
(I’m giving them a 5 for the Maple Bacon Donut AND the delicious coffee)