Jelly Modern Doughnuts

This location has much better doughnuts than the farmers market that disappointed me last time. My very favorite is chocolate dipped as the actual doughnut is just so moist and chewy. I always try the specials but eventually come back to wishing is kept it simple. Better off fresh, keeping it for later is totally not recommended. Kind of expensive but good for the occasional special doughnut occasion when times won’t do.

They use many immigrant workers and treat them terribly because they can’t leave or complain for fear of losing their visa. They also asked staff to get everyone they knew, friends and family (yes I was one and saw the message), to go on Unilocal and post fake positive reviews for their store, especially the new one in Toronto to try to improve their rating. I won’t support any business with such shady business practices or who abuse and take advantage of staff. Their stuff isn’t that good. My choice, might not be yours.

Hubby, baby & I made a stop here during our little road trip to Calgary a few months ago; we had heard of and seen this company on the Food Networks «Donut Showdown» so we had to give it a try!
First off, parking is extremely limited when it comes to the area this donut shop is located in, we had to drive around a few times to get a spot.
The shop itself is well lit with many windows, and really clean. The person at the till was friendly enough and the amount of donuts that remained were plentiful. We ordered a dozen donuts of a different variety & munched on a few on the 3+ hour drive home to Edmonton.
I have to say, as much as I wanted to love the donuts, they didn’t compare to the Donut Mill donuts in Red Deer; they hardened fast and by the time we made it home, the majority of them were a bit hard to eat while the Donut Mill donuts always seemed to remain fluffy. Maybe it’s the way they are made?
Overall, it was okay. Although I don’t think I’d be back unless I’m in the area.

Of course I’m going to write another review for Jelly!!!
It seems that I get these every time I’m in the area. Because, why not? How can you not like doughnuts?
We came in around 10 or 11am on a Sunday. The display case was packed with fresh doughnuts! (I tell ya, come in the morning). Their special doughnut that day was Nanaimo Bar. Well, let’s give’r a try!
We ended up with a dozen of their large doughnuts. 2 Nanaimo Bar, 2 Regular Jelly, 2 Maple Bacon, 2 Caramel Apple, 2 S’more, 1 Coconut, 1 Lemon. I’m surprised they even made the trek back to Edmonton. Sadly, some did not because we were hungry on the way home. These doughnuts surpass others, and we will keep coming back every time we are in town, as long as they allow us!

Had a sweet tooth craving and visited this place for the first time in a while. They still have amazing donuts which is a relief that they haven’t gone downhill.
I can’t afford to eat here on a regular basis for the sake of both my wallet and my rising belly but every time that I do, it’s always great.
Would love to see better deals for buying in bulk because I always purchase at least half a dozen since buying one donut does not feel like a bargain at almost 3 $ for one.
If you’re looking for not your average, amazing donut, you should go to Jelly Modern :)

Team Fam came here to stock up for a Back to the Future II kind of night and we ordered the following:
Green Tea
Classic Jelly
Chocolate Cherry
Orange
Maple Bacon
Vanilla
How could we not get the signature jelly doughnuts right? With powdered sugar on top and a gooey jelly center, this doughnut didn’t surprise me with the jelly as much as it did with the dough. If I did a blindfold test between this and Tim Horton’s the soft and cushy dough from Jelly Modern Doughnuts would help me spot the one from Jelly Modern Doughnuts.
Among Green Tea, Chocolate Cherry, and Vanilla, I think these were all great flavours that could be part of your dessert or afternoon snack since these share the same great dough and actually contain the flavour they advertise. Bonus points for having the right sweetness for me.
The Orange. Now we’re getting a little experimental. There is real orange on top which squirts a bit as you bite into it. This wasn’t my favourite because I wish the orange wasn’t so sour here.
The Maple Bacon is an interesting combination of savoury and sweet. If you are any sort of meat eater who needs to be convinced doughnuts are great, give Maple Bacon a try. Strangely, I quite liked the maple sweetness with the bits of bacon on top. It’s definitely the most enigmatic flavour I had here.

I can’t believe this is my first time trying this place! My friends and I came here for a study break and there isn’t much to say except that these are some delicious doughnuts!
The interior of this place is really bright and pink and they have a variety of different doughnuts to try, including a maple bacon one … Who doesn’t love bacon?!
They even have some gluten free ones! You’ve gotta try this place! Most unique doughnuts in the city!

Came here today for the sake of trying it out because everything looks sooo good.
I had the 3 bite crème brûlée and maple bacon.
To be honest it was nothing special. It was soft and it looked good but as for the taste, it was mediocre. Not worth $ 2.25 a piece.

Ahh such a great little place! I’m in a big donut-​loving phase and Jelly Modern Doughnuts gives me everything I need. Stopped in while running errands downtown to pick up a coffee and a peanut butter cup donut. NOM! My only regret is buying just one donut, next time I’ll pick up a dozen of assorted flavors. While I took my order to-​go, it’s a cute shop if you want to have your eats to stay. The funky pink & white décor is hip and cute, but if I’m going to stay and work somewhere I want cozier space. Nevertheless, this is one of my favorite spots off 17^th and I’ll be a regular for life.

The donuts are definitely nothing special, pretty disappointing and way overpriced!

I saw Jelly Modern Doughnuts on a re-​run of «You Gotta Eat Here». So naturally, I wanted to see what the hype was about. When I walked in, the first thing I saw was a surly girl working behind the counter. She just stared at me while I was trying to decide, which made me feel a little awkward. I finally settled for the maple bacon and skor bar donuts. I was disappointed honestly. Both donuts were just okay, they didn’t wow me. I wish they had a filling, as they pretty much tasted exactly the same, except for the icing being different. Seeing as these donuts are nearly $ 3/​donut, I expected more. Not somewhere I’d rush back to.

Really appreciate they offer new and special favours once in a while!
I love lemon curd, crème brûlée, nanaimo bar, tangerine dream…
Parking:
Used to have more free parking around.
But Jelly has some parking spots in the parking lot behind the building, just look for a sign (seems like having less stalls though).

As a professed donut connoisseur, I make an effort to visit the best reviewed/​highest rated donut shops in any city I’m visiting. Have visited a couple dozen across North America. Needless to say, my hopes were pretty high for Jelly Modern.
My girlfriend and I made the trip to the flagship location on a Sunday morning and were surprised when we were the only ones in the store. We were greeted by an unenthused woman behind the counter and had a look over the selection of donuts (about 2/3’s the Sunday stock noted on the website). We opted for the carrot cake, s’more, peanut butter cup, pumpkin pie, and maple bacon selection-​the donuts themselves looked great and the packaging was amazing. On the way back to Edmonton we sampled the donuts… this is where the positives ended unfortunately. None of the different flavors we tried resembled their names as you’d expect, nor were any of their donuts filled. I could have closed my eyes and eaten the s’more, pumpkin pie, or maple bacon and not been able to tell you the flavor. The pumpkin didn’t even have a note of cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves-​muchless pumpkin flavor itself.
These were aesthetic but relatively taste-​less sugar bombs that will leave you disappointed, especially for the price of 16.5/half dozen. Weighed against Tim Hortons, these tasted worse and cost 325% more. Not worth your time.

The best place about jelly modern is they cater to gluten sensitive diets! My partner in crime happens to have a huge gluten sensitivity, and I happen to have a huge sweet tooth. It’s difficult finding options that cater to both of us and that are also delicious for both of us.
I do think they need to figure out a better method for packaging the donuts; there have been several instances when I’ve taken 6 to go, and was not able to finish them immediately after purchasing, left them closed in the box and 2 hours later the donuts were too dry to eat. If it was just one occasion I wouldn’t bring it up, buy it’s happened multiple times and every time its disappointing.

Please come to Vancouver with your food truck, that’s when I’ll give the extra coveted 4^th star lol.
How cool is that, a food truck serving doughnuts is unheard of in Vancouver…

I don’t often eat donuts, but when I do, they had better be good.
Jelly Modern is terrific. The donuts are exotic enough to be interesting but not freakish. (Although I guess estimates of freakishness depend on how you feel about pork with your pastry.)
They have both cake style and yeast raised donuts and lots of gluten free options.
I stopped here for coffee and conversation one weekday morning. Service was super and we could have stayed all day in the bright, cute shop. (Note, low-​slung chairs and wooden benches may be a disincentive to day campers.
i tried a little piece of several donuts and enjoyed them all. Salted caramel was my favourite, tangerine dream and skor bar were also excellent. My friends tell me that maple bacon is over-​the-​top and another was a fan of the coconut.
Service was attentive and friendly. I brought a box to my bro and family and they were delighted by the maple-​bacony goodness of Jelly Modern.

Worse than I remember.
If these are «modern donuts,» GIVE ME A TIME MACHINE! Take me back to the glory days of good, old fashioned donuts! I don’t want to live in a world that sacrifices taste and quality for «upscale» and «chic.»
This all may sound harsh, but my complaint is that these donuts are all style, very little substance.
It’s pretty stupid that on my last visit I thought «three bite doughnuts» meant THREE of the little donuts for $ 2.25. I was surprised, after ordering 3, that my bill came to $ 7. Fool me once, shame on me…
Nevertheless, «three bite» should ALWAYS be written «three-​bite.» The hyphen is grammatically essential my friends.
I was underwhelmed when I tried Jelly before, but I decided I should give them another chance.
The donuts are just flat-​out not very good. There is barely bacon on the maple bacon, the peanut butter cup is pretty gross and the flavors of all their donuts just fall completely flat. Bland, uninspiring lumps of dough.
Donuts should be comfort food, but rather than comfort, these ones give me the cold shoulder.

I have always wanted to stop in and never have.
Luckily for me, Wendy made the decision for me and dropped them off at work for me!
Not what I was expecting. These arnt your everyday jellies, these are pimped out jellies.
The first one I tried was smores. So good, almost didnt want to let my husband take a bite. And the presentation was nice — made you almost feel bad for eating it. Almost.
The next was a rasberry powered donut. Great spin on a classic.
I cannt wait to head down there myself!

So maybe I was just a bit too excited for Jelly. It could be that I built them up so much in my head over the course of the last few months, that when I actually dove into my first box, I was a tad disappointed… I was expecting to give them 5 stars, then was going to give only 3, but realized that there could be some mitigating factors as to why it wasn’t as mind blowing as expected and settled on 4.
So it was my last night in Ctown after an ENTIRE Stampede. I went in thinking I would buy one and gobble it up. Wow, there are just so many glorious choices! From Madagascar vanilla, to raspberry filled jelly. Then really cool concoctions like S’mores, maple bacon, peanut butter cup, caramel and pretzel, and on and on. I knew I was having family dinner that evening, so I bought a box of 6 and took them to-​go. Now, a drive back to Edmonton, a wait till after dinner, that could explain my biggest disappointment: the dough part of the doughnut was very dried out, on all of them. So sad. I just don’t understand how the 7hrs in the box could dry them out that much… I have had boxes of Krispy Kream’s that are still moist 2 – 3 days later. Perhaps the box should have been in a plastic bag… Maybe that is something for them to consider offering when people buy a large box.
The other thing that irked me was that a few of them were just so sweet my face puckered and I couldn’t even taste it. I believe it was the S’mores one, it was like eating a spoonful of icing sugar, noting like a S’more. Now the raspberry jelly, that was a spectacular doughnut! It tasted like real raspberry, I highly suggest it. I guess at a place called Jelly, go for what their claim to fame is: The jelly doughnut!

Gluten-​Friendly available every day of the week now. PLUS a new location in Toronto, AND winners of the Food Network Donut Showdown (
)
Make SURE to call ahead and order your Gluten-​Friendly donuts. I showed up at noon on a Sunday, and there were NONE LEFT. I had tweeted the day before, and they knew I was picking up an order to take back to Edmonton for a friend — I was disappointed. :’(Didn’t expect that at all.