General Porpoise

The ambience is really nice
But donuts are yuck ! Not worth the $ 4.21
The bag had oil stains on it– the donut smelled oil — greasy on the fingers and barely any filling in the donut — as well as it was soggy on the bottom maybe the fresh donuts in the morning are good so the reviews but the donuts before closing were yucky and they had a lot left

I hate people on Unilocal that mislead me by complaining about shit that doesn’t pertain to whether or not the food itself is actually good. So a donut is $ 4. So what? All I want to know is, are the donuts cream filled? If so, are they amazing? If yes, give 4 – 5 stars. The donuts here are indeed cream filled and are indeed delicious and the place is effing cute. Come in with your $ 4, bite into the vanilla cream, sip your coffee, enjoy the rain falling outside, and then give them the recognition they deserve on Unilocal for a great donut.

I had already visit two doughnut shops during my time in Vancouver and Seattle. None of them impressed me much. Walking back to the car, I decided to stop by General Porpoise. It was Wednesday, January 20^th, a little after 1:15pm.
That day, they were offering the following flavors: $ 3.85 ea +10% automatic gratuity
*Vanilla custard
*Chocolate marshmallow
*Lemon curd
*Peaches & cream
*Plum jam
I’d been wanting a custard doughnut and I finally found it! The filling was velvety, silky and creamy. The doughnut light, but still soft and chewy. It was sugared, but still managed to not be overly sweet. I was definitely a happy girl. The doughnut was exactly what I was looking for.
Part of me wanted to try the lemon curd, but we were on our way to the airport and I was super full. Doughnuts are a little pricey, but so worth it!

Delicious donuts, friendly staff, and a cozy space.
The donuts are light and airy that you can easily end up eating more than you planned… There’s no signs of excess of grease when you pinch and eat the donuts — you might even consider it healthy (?!).
The vanilla custard is a comforting classic reminiscent of Beard Papa’s puff pastry. It is balanced and everything you’d expect in a great custard cream.
The lemon curd is sour, tangy, and mouth watering. It’s my personal favorite as the acidity cuts through the doughnut adds to the lightness of the doughnut. Definitely a solid choice for someone looking for a filling both creamy and acidic.
The plum jam tastes a notch sweeter than the other two but the organic fruity tastes come right through the sugar. It’s a tasty choice and complements the vanilla custard for those who want to double up their order.
Really enjoy the doughnut and the atmosphere. Seems like an ideal place as a rainy afternoon hide out.
Minor observation — the oolong is packed in a tight tea bag. It’s probably not the preferred way to brew/​serve oolong. And upon closer examination, I’m quite certain that what I had was not Dong Ding oolong.

I used to work in the area so I occasionally like to treat myself and try out new places once I’m off. I came in on a Tuesday morning bright n early at 7:30am and there was a couple inside conversing with the owner. Once they saw me waiting, they left and I proceeded to order 1 of each of the flavors that looked good to me– the chocolate marshmallow, vanilla, and lemon. When I was about to hand the owner my card to pay, he started telling me about this holiday donation program they started. To make a long story short– I got my $ 12 worth of donuts for FREE! The couple I mentioned earlier happened to be the kind benefactors and made a generous donation to the Elina’s Fat Stomach fund. So basically they donated X amount of money and that money goes toward the next customer’s order until the money runs out. Kind of like a pay it forward deal. I’m telling this story because 1. I think it’s awesome that they did this because it totally made my day and 2. How sweet are they to begin a funding program like that to make their customers happy!
Anyways, customer service aside, let’s get back to the donuts. Even though I got them for free, these donuts were still incredible! My favorite was the chocolate marshmallow. It was light and fluffy yet rich and full in flavor. All the donuts I got were sprinkled with sugar and the actual dough portion was everything a donut should be expected to be– golden brown on the outside and pale on the inside, sweet yet not that sickeningly sweet that leaves a film in your mouth, and a nice yeasty flavor.
I do think $ 4 a donut is a little much but worth it for some high quality donuts! Go treat yaself

What is there to say? Good Doughnuts and coffee.
Know that the chocolate marshmallow is really sweet and was a bit too much for early in the morning, but tasted great. The rest have a great balance of sweet and flavor (vanilla, lemon, huckleberry).
The coffee is well made. I should have got a pour over instead of the espresso, not because it was bad, I just would have liked to try one of the unique roasters.
The space has the soft, light touch that Renee Erickson brings to her places. It is a great place to wake up.

General Porpoise looks good — their website, logo, and space are all very attractive.
When we arrived at 7am on a Wednesday morning, it was pretty quiet (no line) and I found street parking easily (free until 8am).
There were four flavours: mincemeat, lemon curd, vanilla custard, and chocolate marshmallow. The dough is light and fluffy with just the right amount of filling. The staff were friendly and the tables were clean.
Definitely give them a try if you live within walking distance, but I wouldn’t drive out of your way, stand in line, or circle the block 5 times to find parking for their doughnuts.
tl;dr — go before 8am for no lines and easy/​free street parking.

The cutest donut shop in all of Capitol Hill — perhaps in all of Seattle?!
General Porpoise serves the fried, fluffy kind of donuts topped with sugar. Since we decided to get the Candy Cane donut, the filling was extra creamy and sweet with a slight minty-​ness.
These donuts are pretty heavy — so you may not want to go running after eating one. On the other hand, they are definitely satisfying, though pricey.

Beautiful interior and lighting PERIOD. General Porpoise is a instagrammers dream come true, hahah FYI, any pictures taken here will look amazing because of all the natural light from the big windows.
Their malasada (Portuguese style) donuts are delicious! I thought I could only get yummy malasadas in Hawaii but wow, General Porpoise knows how to make these to perfection! I usually like the original without any filling but they only have ones with filling. I tried the vanilla, paradise jam, and lemon curd. They had a little too much filling for my taste but nonetheless it was all really good. Vanilla was my favorite and the lemon was my least favorite.
Yes I understand that the donuts are on the pricey side, spent about $ 22 for 4 donuts and a tea but I thought it was totally worth it. Also, other reviewers who gave this place one or two stars because they ran out of donuts… Please come on, try the donuts first at least before reviewing. They recently opened and it gets busy and I’m sure they are trying to make quality FRESH donuts. Plan ahead and call beforehand to make sure the donuts aren’t sold out before you make your trip out there. I knew that the donuts get sold out, so I made sure to get there earlier in the morning and they had plenty.
Overall, it is definitely hands down the cutest donut shop that serves fluffy and spectacular donuts! I am one happy customer.

fresh made custard filled donuts. how can you go wrong with that?
IMHO, the vanilla ones are the best. the others sound very tempting but they’re not as smooth or tasty as the vanilla with the donut itself. we also ordered the chocolate and cranberry quince ones.
coffee is strong and tasty. very limited seating but very cute shop.

Found this place on Instagram and thought it was a cute place to try when visiting Seattle for the first time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too impressed by the expensive doughnuts and pretty deserted surrounding, but I’m glad I tried it.
+Cute marble countertops
+Interesting flavors to try, chocolate marshmallow, salted caramel, vanilla, apple jam, etc…
+Logo and design of the place is very aesthetically-​pleasing! The bathrooms are pretty nice too.
-$ 3.85 for a cold doughnut is definitely too pricey for me… Flavors sounded better than they tasted. The apple jam one wasn’t really anything special :(
–Location was so deserted, we were the only people in the area on a Saturday morning around 9 am (too early?). No line to be found.
–Coffee was good, but pricey as well.
Can’t really comment on service as the ordering experience is pretty efficient and standard. Would say it’s an okay place to try if in the Capitol Hill area early in the morning (before 10 am) but I don’t think it’s worth making a special trip out to the area for their doughnuts. Cute interior though!

Typically, I’m not a donut fan. (I know, I know. So sue me.) My philosophy: they’re just small, worse than average cakes, nothing to get excited about. But today I happened to find myself parked right next to General Porpoise, and my curiosity got the better of me.
The space is adorable, like its mascot: clean and white with marble and pink accents, and a few precious tables. It was a little busy on a Sunday at noon, so the entryway was cramped with people queueing up for donuts. The specials were lemon curd, apple [something], vanilla bean, salted caramel, and chocolate marshmallow, each nearly $ 4 apiece. The smiling counter staff kept the line moving quickly, and I was in and out with all five specials in five minutes.
Each donut’s fluffy, sugared body is scarcely able to contain its innards; a little dollop of filling beckons, a preview of the delicious bite yet to come. I’m nerding out about these donuts, I know, but they’re seriously tasty. I ate all of the chocolate marshmallow, which had little chocolate nibs speckled through the whipped filling. I sampled the vanilla bean and the (very) salted caramel: both fantastic! I have yet to taste the lemon curd and the apple, but I like the looks of ‘em. I would happily return!

My sister and I had high expectations after seeing the cool pics and yummy donuts even though the prices seemed high and the donuts seemed scarce. We were determined to nab the highly coveted pastries so we came at 9 AM on a Saturday morning, even though it could’ve been cutting it close.
GP is a lovely little space with white walls, a hot pink espresso machine, and a loft area for extra seating which is great because the main floor had three 2-​tops which would fit, like, 6 people max. We got in at the nick of time because a line quickly formed after we got our food. People really wanted to try these donuts and who could blame them– they look like filled malasadas! The loft has one large table that could fit 10 – 12 people and a few more 2-​tops.
2 lattes + 2 donuts = $ 21. The donuts were $ 3.85/ea– I saw that the prices were lower in previous photos. We got the chocolate marshmallow and pumpkin spice donuts. The chocolate marshmallow was really yummy, except they didn’t fill it all the way. I tore the donut in two (we split the two, obvi) and one half barely had any chocolate in it. The pumpkin spice, however, was OVERLY filled and tearing it in two got filling — which was too much pumpkin, not enough spice– all over my hands. :(We wished it was the opposite because the chocolate marshmallow filling was very tasty. The actual donut part of the donut was pretty good, but not worth the price sticker. No knives at the self-​serve station; we saw a very smart lady using a spoon to cut her donut next to us later.
As for the much lauded coffee, $ 5 for an 8-​oz vanilla latte seems a little steep and, honestly, it wasn’t that great. My sister, the lover of all vanilla lattes, couldn’t even finish half of hers. I tried the brown sugar sweet latte, which turned out to be not sweet enough and seemed thin for a latte. Maybe they use fat-​free milk?
Overall, it was a let down that left us still hungry, but it was a fun, kitschy experience if you want to treat yourself. Get the chocolate marshmallow! There is even little bottles of bubbly you can buy if you don’t feel like coffee. :)

My sister and I came to check out this new coffee and doughnuts place earlier this morning. We arrived around 9am and the place was already pretty busy. I really like how they have additional seating in their upstairs area and where you can sit and people watch below. Their décor is really cute and simple with white tiles and walls. We ordered two lattes and two doughnuts to share and the bill came out to be $ 21. Pretty pricey in my opinion for what we got. I heard they raised their doughnut prices from $ 3.50 to $ 3.85 per doughnut since they’ve opened which is crazy because $ 3.50 for a doughnut to begin with is already really expensive.
I ordered a standard vanilla latte and my sister tried their sweet latte with brown sugar instead of vanilla. She didn’t think it was sweet enough and tasted almost watery and I wasn’t very impressed with my vanilla latte either and didn’t finish my coffee. It was too sweet and the coffee taste wasn’t strong enough. We got the chocolate marshmallow and pumpkin spice doughnuts to share. The chocolate one was really good and we really liked the little chunks of chocolate bits that was part of the filling and wished there was more filling in the doughnut. The pumpkin spice one was too pumpkin-​y in our opinion but had a ton of filling. The guy that recommended it said it tasted just like pumpkin pie — definitely not! The doughnuts themselves had a good texture to them and probably would have been good on their own without any filling.
Overall the place is very cute and definitely worth checking out but I probably won’t come back because of the prices of the doughnuts and coffee. (I didn’t look but my sister said our lattes were about $ 5/​cup and we got the 8oz cups! Plus they automatically add a 20% gratuity fee! That’s just crazy in my opinion.)

I stopped by over the weekend bright and early (9am) and had a handful of donuts and some coffee while I was there. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and design of their little shop and definitely liked the coffee and doughnuts.
I tried the vanilla custard and apple jam doughnuts and really enjoyed both, although there was a bit more filling then I preferred. I think it would be nice if they had plain malasadas to go with their variety of favors, but I don’t have any complaints about any of their offerings. I gave a couple doughnuts to friends and they all equally enjoyed their flavors (lemon curd, chocolate marshmallow and pb&j.) As for coffee, I had a brown-​sugar latte and really enjoyed the flavor and espresso. I would definitely recommend it as a good stop for coffee and a doughnut in the morning.
**I noticed that it looks like they make about 300 doughnuts per day, which is a pretty fair amount, so maybe everyone should stop buying dozens at a time and save some for their fellow community. Or just wake up earlier and don’t give dumb reviews.

My review is based off of a donut my s.o. got me. He picked it up at 7am and I ate it at 5pm (10 hours later). Take note that each donut is about $ 3.00. In my opinion, it’s a bit high for a donut.
On to the donuts:
I ate the donut with the vanilla mascarpone and it was okay. It tasted like a donut from the restaurant called Lola, but with the mascarpone put inside of it. Next, I tried the donut with the lemon filling and it was pretty sour for my taste. The chocolate one tasted like a chocolate mousse, so that was pretty good. I did like that the donuts weren’t too sweet.
Tip:
I recommend eating your donut within 2 hours. When I got the donut, it was soggy with oil.
One day, when the hype goes down, I’ll go to the store and try a fresh donut. Maybe it’ll taste differently. :)

Came in on Friday around 10AM and they were already down to their last few donuts. There was an apple jam and a few more chocolate marshmallow donuts left. I asked if they were making anymore and they told me no so if you want specific flavor you need to come early.
These donuts are essentially a stuffed malasada. The apple jam was directly in the middle so you get a few bites of donut and then apple jam plus donut. The apple jam itself was ok, I’m normally not a huge fan of jam in my donuts but I do prefer it over a chocolate filling. One thing i did like about it was that it wasn’t too sweet. I also bought a latte with my donut. The latte was hotter than I would have preferred but I liked the flavors of the coffee.
This place is towards the pricier side and gratuity is included whether you like it or not. The people that work here are friendly and coffee came out pretty quickly.

Who could ever hate a donut shop?! Just the idea alone is a happy one. Sugar crusted baked goods that are filled to the brim with custards and jellies just makes me smile so wide that I knew I’d love General Porpoise before I walked through the door.
But then I did get a chance to visit and it was even better than I’d imagined! Firstly, all you need to know about this place and its personality is right there in the hot pink espresso machine. How cool is that?! It’s stylish, it’s playful, it’s smart, and hey — it makes on helluva cup of coffee!
Renee Erickson hired a young award winning pastry chef to take on the challenge of making these donuts and from what I can tell, she’s kicking major ass. Like the piggy that I am, I bought 4 donuts to split with my fiancé. We simply could not leave without having tried them all. Duh! So we had vanilla custard, chocolate, cherry, and apple. They’re rich, they’re doughy, they’re basically perfect.
I’m reading complaints about them running out. People, it’s their first week and the WHOLE CITY is freaking out. Call ahead if you’re worried they won’t have what you want. I imagine it’ll be a few days or weeks before all the kinks are worked out. If you’re that distraught over missing out on the city’s hottest new donuts, I recommend skipping over to their wine fridge and grabbing a bottle to drown your sorrows in. And then just come back! C’mon — it’s a tiny shop and they can only make so many at a time while keeping them fresh. I’d rather support a small local shop that has fresh donuts than hit up a counter with leftover cheap stuff that’s hours and hours old. Three words: This place rocks.

What a cute little coffee shop! Glad it finally opened. A place that’s finally open before I start work and very close to it. Since this is the only second day they’ve been opened, I haven’t had the chance to try their donuts. Yes, eventually I will and I can’t wait! As far as the coffee, it’s amazingly delicious. I love how the taste of the coffee is different from other mediocre coffee spots. The taste of it is actually what I look for when it comes to coffee and this will certainly be a spot that I’ll be visiting very often.

I’m still wiping the delicious sugar and addicting custard off my face.
Seattle has been thirsty, IMHO, for a really great donut shop. This is it! I loved the donuts here. Holy porpoise! The donuts here are on another level. At $ 3.50 each, the price might turn you away but I think it’s worth it. I’d much rather pay that price for 1 really awesome donut versus a couple mediocre ones.
The dough is perfectly fried. Really fluffy, moist, slight hint of lemon flavor in the vanilla custard one, the perfect size (and density) for a treat. All the donuts are sugared for a great texture and flavor. The filling is perfectly portioned and not too sweet. I love that the flavors are all a bit unique but still classic — chocolate marshmallow, apple jam, vanilla custard, etc.
Eating the donut is a bit messy, but that’s part of the fun. I bought 11 donuts. I ate 1. I’m looking at the other 10 like I haven’t eaten anything in weeks. I’m drooling. I need it! *Reaches over slowly…* :P
And of course, Renee Erickson kept in line with the large sea life theme of her shops/​restaurants. Love it.
A small note: As of this writing, I believe General Porpoise has only been open for 2 days. The wait was a bit long this morning. And they almost ran out of donuts when I got to the front of the line. Since I got so many donuts, the girl behind looked piiiiissed! Oopsh. Sorry about that lady. But at least, there were a couple left, haha: P. I think next time, I will either call ahead or come in really early. The front of the house service folks had no idea when their next batch of donuts would come. That’s a bit odd to me but maybe they’re still working out that kink.
I’ll DEFINITELY be back. RAGE for the DONUTS!