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The Best Donuts in Melbourne for Your Inner Homer Simpson
Iced, glazed, sprinkled or classic cinnamon sugar, we know the places to go for the best donuts in Melbourne.
The best donuts in Melbourne are worth crossing town for, from Moon Cruller’s golden French-style creations on Degraves Street and All Day Donuts’ famous pink-glazed Don Homer in Brunswick to Pecks Road’s Filipino-inspired beauties in Caroline Springs and DOH’s Korean cream-filled delights at Queen Victoria Market. For old-school favourites, Doughboys and CBD Bakery are keeping the classics alive with cinnamon sugar, glossy glazes and generous jam-filled centres.
And while the donut versus doughnut debate may never be settled, Melbourne’s love affair with fried dough needs no committee. This is a city that takes its sweet treats seriously, with custard-filled creations, outrageous toppings and enough glorious pastry innovation to make choosing only one a near-impossible task. From neighbourhood institutions to cult dessert counters, these are the doughnuts worth leaving the house for.
Donut Whatever
Pumpkin in a doughnut? Trust us on this one. Former Supernormal pastry chef Lidya Indriani is behind Donut Whatever, a small-batch Melbourne operation inspired by Japan’s cult nama doughnuts and the Indonesian sweets of her childhood. Her secret is roasted pumpkin folded into a buttery, 24-hour-rested dough, producing golden, impossibly soft beauties somewhere between brioche and mochi. The original comes dusted in milk powder, while matcha and white chocolate cream, maple glaze with sea salt and orange zest, and cheddar-topped rings take things somewhere deliciously unexpected. Catch the next farmers market appearance or preorder drop, and be quick about it.
Sitchu Tip: Start with the original milk-powder doughnut. It’s the best way to appreciate that extraordinary pumpkin-enriched dough.
Melbourne farmers markets and online preorder drops
DOH – Daily Oven Heaven
Queen Victoria Market has a delicious new chapter in its doughnut story, thanks to chef Matthew Youn and his Korean-inspired DOH (Daily Oven Heaven). A short stroll from the famous jam doughnut van, this sweet little shop turns out gloriously soft, milk-enriched doughnuts, filled to order with house-made creams and custards. The Korean sweet corn is the one to chase, with corn paste, custard and cream, while the ang butter pairs sweet red bean paste with a generous slab of chilled butter. Earl Grey, black sesame and matcha are equally tempting, particularly with a sesame latte on the side.
Sitchu Tip: Start with the sweet corn doughnut. It’s a brilliant balance of sweet and savoury, and one of the more interesting creations on Melbourne’s doughnut scene.
9 Dhanga Djeembana Walk, Melbourne CBD
Bottari
A little taste of Seoul has arrived on Elizabeth Street, and the doughnuts are worth getting excited about. At Bottari, owner Jiwoo Kim serves kkwabaegi, the gloriously chewy Korean twisted doughnuts she travelled back to Korea to master. Fried fresh to order, they’re golden and crisp outside, beautifully soft within and finished with a dusting of soybean powder. Pair yours with an ah-shot-chu, Korea’s cult iced peach tea with espresso, or a Ferrero latte, and settle into the bright, relaxed cafe for a very sweet afternoon.
Sitchu Tip: Order your kkwabaegi fresh and enjoy it while it’s still warm. The contrast between the crisp exterior and chewy centre is half the pleasure.
600 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne CBD
Joey’s Doughies
Joey’s Doughies turns QV’s Food Hall into a bright little sugar counter for CBD office workers, students and anyone whose errands have taken a dangerous turn. Founded by Joe La and Brian Taing, the shop makes handmade donuts, crullers, old-fashioned rounds, scrolls and coffee, with a rotating cabinet that might run from crème brûlée and OG glaze to Dubai chocolate and maple walnut.
Sitchu Tip: Go early. This is not a place for late-afternoon optimism.
QV Melbourne, Level 1 Food Hall, Melbourne
Hector’s Kiosk
Hector’s Kiosk gives Bourke Street a tiny doughnut counter with big city charm, swapping the brand’s famous sandwiches for maple-glazed, cinnamon and kiosk-only specials. Sitting at Melbourne’s GPO, it feels made for tram-stop temptation: a paper bag, a glossy glaze, a coffee and five minutes stolen from the CBD rush. Flavours can run to strawberry milkshake, rum and raisin, chocolate peanut butter and evaporated milk, so arrive early before the cabinet thins.
Melbourne’s GPO, 350 Bourke Street, Melbourne
G-Free Donuts Melbourne West
G-Free Donuts Melbourne West is less bakery counter, more Melbourne rite of passage: hot cinnamon and jam donuts between footy quarters, market strolls and weekend provisions. Gluten-free and dairy-free, they still land exactly as a good donut should: warm, sugared, soft-centred and gone too quickly. Find them at the MCG, MCC, Richmond’s Gleadell Street Market and Flemington Farmers Market on the 2nd Sunday of the month.
MCG, MCC, Richmond Gleadell Street Market & Flemington Farmers Market
Moon Cruller
After five years as Fitzroy’s delicious little secret, Moon Cruller has finally found a permanent home on Degraves Street. From Lune Croissanterie’s Kate and Cam Reid, this cult favourite is devoted entirely to the French cruller: golden, ridged rings of fried choux pastry with delicate, crisp edges and wonderfully soft, almost custardy centres. Cinnamon sugar and vanilla are the classics, while passionfruit, raspberry and Biscoff bring a little extra excitement. The new retro-futurist shopfront is a beauty, all sculptural concrete and amber lighting. Add an Ona coffee and thank Melbourne for its excellent taste in pastry.
Sitchu Tip: Start with cinnamon sugar to appreciate that extraordinary texture, then choose something glazed. These beauties are best eaten fresh.
26 Degraves Street, Melbourne CBD
Pecks Road
Three brothers, three-day dough and a very good reason to head west. Pecks Road is the handiwork of chef Albin Lawang and his brothers AJ and Arbi, who have turned their Filipino heritage into some of Melbourne’s most exciting doughnuts. The ube coconut bombolone is a beauty, filled with whipped purple-yam cream, rolled in ube sugar and finished with meringue shards and crumbly ube polvoron. Then there’s the caramelised apple fritter, cinnamon twists and inventive monthly specials. Beautifully made, wonderfully generous and well worth the trip to Caroline Springs.
Shop A6/1–7 Caroline Springs Boulevard, Caroline Springs
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Hector’s Deli
Hector’s Deli made its name with sandwiches, but its doughnuts are giving Melbourne another reason to queue. Made at Hector’s Bakery in Richmond, the pillowy, yeast-raised dough undergoes a three-day proof before being fried to golden perfection. The glossy maple-glazed original is the one to beat, although the cinnamon sugar version has plenty of admirers. For something a little more adventurous, head to the dedicated Hector’s Kiosk on Bourke Street, where flavours have included strawberry milkshake, rum and raisin, chocolate peanut butter and evaporated milk. Get in early. These beauties sell out.
Richmond, South Melbourne, Carlton, Fitzroy and Melbourne CBD
Sloppy Joe’s Deli
Sandwiches might be the headline act at Sloppy Joe’s Deli, but the house-made doughnuts are giving Melbourne’s sweet tooth plenty to talk about. This Queen Street favourite does American-style indulgence exceptionally well, with golden, pillowy doughnuts in flavours ranging from classic cinnamon sugar and vanilla glaze to custard-filled beauties. The maple bacon number has earned something of a cult following, bringing sweet, salty and savoury together in one magnificent mouthful, while the apple fritter, packed with cinnamon-spiced apple and finished with vanilla glaze, deserves equal attention.
Shop 2/190 Queen Street, Melbourne CBD
Shortstop Coffee & Donuts
Shortstop Coffee and Donuts does exactly what it says on the tin, only with far more finesse than the name lets on. At its tiny Sutherland Street store, donuts are made fresh on-site throughout the day, with natural ingredients, specialty coffee and a flavour list that knows how to keep a classic interesting. The Cinnamon, Cardamom & Sugar is the not-so-humble signature, fragrant and nostalgic in all the right places, while the Maple Walnut & Brown Butter brings a richer, nuttier kind of devotion. Earl Grey & Rose, Triple Matcha and the Australian Honey & Sea Salt Cruller are all worth eyeing off if you’re building a box.
12 Sutherland Street, Melbourne
All Day Donuts
Some doughnuts are impossible to resist, especially when they’re pink, covered in sprinkles and look like something Homer Simpson would devour in three bites. At All Day Donuts in Brunswick, Raph Rashid’s cult-favourite bakery has been making Melbourne sweeter for over a decade. The Don Homer, with its raspberry glaze and rainbow sprinkles, remains the signature, but the rotating flavours are every bit as tempting. We’re talking raspberry yuzu, strawberry cheesecake and even a rather wonderful rhubarb fritter with vanilla-orange glaze. Throw in excellent filter coffee and a retro neighbourhood setting, and the only sensible thing to do is order a box of six to take home.
12 Edward Street, Brunswick
Doughboys Doughnuts
From a makeshift kitchen in his mum’s laundry to one of Melbourne’s most beloved doughnut counters, Walter McKenzie has been making very good things happen since 2013. At Doughboys Doughnuts, the Bourke Street cabinet is a glorious parade of handmade, golden beauties, from pillowy French toast and pecan maple to cinnamon sugar and vanilla-glazed classics. The old-fashioned buttermilk doughnuts deserve equal attention, especially the brown butter and sea salt number, while rotating specials keep things interesting.
Sitchu Tip: Grab a mixed box for the office, and you’ve made everyone’s day.
535 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
CBD Bakery
There’s something wonderful about finding a proper old-school country bakery among Bourke Street’s office towers. CBD Bakery has been keeping Melbourne’s sweet tooth happy for years, with handmade cinnamon doughnuts, glossy iced rings, jam-filled beauties and generously sized long Johns. And with cinnamon doughnuts starting at a rather lovely $2.40, this is one city treat that won’t break the bank.
Everything is made in-house, with vanilla slices, neenish tarts, lamingtons and excellent savoury pies competing for cabinet space. A little slice of country bakery heaven in the middle of Melbourne.
480 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Penny For Pound
Sometimes, all you want is a really excellent jam doughnut, and Penny For Pound knows exactly how to deliver. From pastry chef Matilda Smith and partner Ben Wilson, this much-loved Melbourne bakery makes its doughnuts with beautifully soft brioche, filling the raspberry number with house-made jam before giving it a generous tumble in cinnamon sugar. The classic cinnamon ring is equally lovely, particularly alongside a good coffee. And with a cabinet of buttery croissants, Portuguese tarts and twice-baked pastries competing for attention, leaving with only one thing is a challenge.
387 Camberwell Road, Camberwell; 7 Cochranes Road, Moorabbin; 5/701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn
Levain Doughnuts
Two founders named Anthony, one home kitchen and a serious appreciation for a good doughnut. Levain Doughnuts has grown into a bayside favourite, turning out beautifully soft, yeast-raised creations with generous fillings and gloriously indulgent toppings. The vanilla slice doughnut is a beauty, packed with silky pastry cream, while the crème brûlée brings a crackly caramelised top. Ferrero, lemon meringue and vegan apple pie are equally tempting, but don’t overlook the hot dough bites, served warm beneath lashings of Nutella, pistachio or Biscoff. Order a mixed box for delivery or make a sweet detour to Mentone.
100 Nepean Highway, Mentone
Piedimonte’s Supermarket
We’ll let you in on a very good secret: the ricotta donuts made fresh each morning at Piedimonte’s in Fitzroy North deserve a place among the best donuts in Melbourne. Made in-store by the beloved neighbourhood grocer’s pastry team, these Italian-style beauties are soft, sugared and wonderfully fresh, with ricotta folded through for a delicate, creamy lift. Head in early, because the locals are very much onto them.
37/49A Best Street, Fitzroy North
TODCO (The Oakleigh Donut Company)
TODCO serves Oakleigh’s sweet-toothed spirit to the city’s doughnut map, with artisan doughnuts fried and decorated in small batches throughout the day. Since 2017, the family-run favourite has grown from its Portman Street base to Richmond, South Yarra and Chadstone, with 30 flavours spanning yeast-raised, cake, choux, vegan and gluten-free styles. Go for the Greek-leaning specials if they’re in the cabinet; they’re the signature move.
Oakleigh, Richmond, South Yarra & Chadstone
Candied Bakery
There’s good reason to cross the West Gate for Candied Bakery, where husband-and-wife duo Orlando Artavilla and Toula Ploumidis have turned Spotswood into something of a pastry pilgrimage. Their glorious vanilla slice doughnut is the one to chase, combining pillowy dough, silky vanilla cream, glossy icing and a crown of crisp puff pastry. It’s part American bakehouse, part European patisserie, with buttery croissants, generous cinnamon scrolls and excellent savoury pies competing for your attention.
136 Hall Street, Spotswood
American Doughnut Kitchen
American Doughnut Kitchen has been feeding Queen Vic Market queues since 1950, and Melbourne’s devotion has barely cooled. The order is beautifully unchanged: hot jam doughnuts, fried in the van, rolled through sugar and handed over in paper bags while the market moves around you. Filled with raspberry-plum jam and best eaten too soon, they remain one of the city’s great breakfast loopholes.
Queen Victoria Market, Queen Street, Melbourne
Tivoli Road Bakery
Tivoli Road Bakery sits just off Toorak Road, giving South Yarra the sort of pastry counter that makes a quick coffee stop dangerously elastic. Bread may be the backbone here, with sourdough, pies and sausage rolls doing steady trade, but the doughnuts have their own following. Flavours rotate, from custard-filled classics to fruit, caramel and chocolate-led specials, so go early, scan the cabinet and let the day’s batch decide for you.
3 Tivoli Road, South Yarra
Loving our pick of the best donuts in Melbourne and looking for more baked delicacies? Check out the best bakeries for a sweet treat, and the Melbourne-based cake shops that have all your sugar needs covered.
