Prague’s Donut Shop, which styles itself as serving fresh, handmade doughnuts with style (I’m sorry, I can’t bring myself to type “donut”) along with speciality coffee, was recommended by the baristas at my very first stop in Prague, Pražírna Kavárna. Located in the Vinohrady district southeast of Prague’s Old Town, it’s been baking all its doughnuts on site in the kitchen at the back since 2016, pairing them with some excellent coffee. And that’s pretty much it.

There’s not much to the Donut Shop, just a counter and two three-person bars inside in the long, narrow interior. In fact, there’s more seating outside, with four tables spread out on the broad pavement, under the shade of a very large tree.

The Donut Shop has a single roaster on espresso and batch brew, the roaster changing every two or three months, although the individual beans on offer change more frequently. During my visit, it was the turn of Berlin’s The Barn, with a pair of single-origins, a Colombian on espresso and a Brazilian on batch brew.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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The Donut Shop is on the north side of a large, leafy square, Náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad (named after the Czech King George). As a result it catches the sun, although shading is provided by a wonderful tall tree right outside of the door. This is good news for the four tw/three person tables, three lined up along the wall and the other by the tree itself, since without the tree, you’d be baking!

The Donut Shop has a single, tall, narrow door, while inside, the shop is similarly tall and narrow, although it does go a long way back. About as tall as it is wide and maybe twice as long, most of the natural light comes from the door at the front with a little borrow light coming in from the kitchen at the back. The counter is on the left, while two three-person bars run along the right-hand wall. The first, which starts next to the door, has chairs, while the second has small, wooden stools. Right at the back, an opening leads to the kitchen where all the doughnuts are baked, while to the right of this is a set of retail shelves, stacked with bags of coffee from Berlin’s The Barn.

The counter has the till on the front corner, with the espresso machine, a three-group La Marzocco GB5 facing the blank front wall. The batch brew, meanwhile, is on a separate worktop behind the counter, where you’ll find a Moccamaster. The remainder of the space is given over to a massive three-tier glass display case, full of doughnuts, although there was a small concession to savoury with a couple of mozzarella, tomato and pesto bagels during my visit.

Like the Doughnut Vault in Chicago, which I visited last month, Prague’s Donut Shop closes when it’s sold out of the day’s stock of doughnuts. However, unlike the Doughnut Vault, the Donut Shop either bakes more doughnuts or it’s not as successful in selling them, because, fortunately for me, a decent selection remained at four o’clock on the Sunday afternoon I visited.

However, I started off with a gorgeous espresso, using the La Laja, a washed Colombian coffee. Really well-balanced and well-rounded, with a touch of acidity, it was commendably short, gone in just a sip and a gulp.

Naturally I had to have a doughnut, although I was spoilt for choice. Eventually I settled on the Boston Rhubarb, a classic sugared doughnut with a Boston cream filling, complete with chunks of rhubarb. And it was just divine. The doughnut itself superb, the dough light and fluffy, with a crispy sugar coating, while the cream was also gorgeous, the chunks of rhubarb adding the perfect finish.

December 2019: Donut Shop has won the 2019 Best Cake Award.

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