Ol’ School Donuts

Mmmm, donuts. Better yet, warm, freshly-​made doughnuts.
Mike looooves their doughnuts. We tracked them down in Bedford one sunny afternoon. They have a good selection of toppings, including maple bacon (how can you go wrong with that combo?). I had the cinnamon sugar myself.
You get 10 doughnuts with two different toppings for only $ 5. And they are really, really good. They serve them in a paper/​cardboard boat reminiscent of what fries come in at midways. They also give you a little wooden fork, because some of those toppings can be messy. Like the maple bacon. Mike definitely needed his fork. I happily covered my fingers in sugary cinnamon and devoured my treat.
This food truck is worth tracking down wherever they may be. If you think you don’t like doughnuts, I really suggest you give these ones a try. Fresh, warm, soft and nothing whatsoever like Tim’s concoctions.

The magic of Ol’ School Donuts is fresh, crispy, warm donuts straight out of the fryer. We found them this weekend at the Canadian Tire in Dartmouth Crossing and ordered the cinnamon-​sugar dozen, $ 5 of awesomeness! You can also choose lots of different toppings at $ 5 for 10. Here’s an industrious group of young men, one mixing dough in the kitchen aid, one running the fryer, and the other minding the customers.

Boldly opening up in the late fall/​beginning of Canadian winter, Ol’ School Donuts is a bus that’s been painted fire engine red and converted into a mobile donut dispensary.
While they sadly tend to spend the bulk of their time outside of the peninsula, that has changed at least a little bit lately. It seemed to be donut destiny when they were not only in Halifax, but also parked up the street from my office and there in the evening when I’d be off at 7. I rushed home to get my girlfriend and parked near the lot behind Atlantic News where they were set up. It was encouraging to see a few people there, even though the spot’s not as on the beaten path as others.
Two menu boards with borders to match the bus displayed several delicious sounding options — peanut butter cup, maple bacon, strawberry shortcake, chocolate Skor, caramel pecan crunch and Boston cream being the options that day. As Boston cream is my favourite donut at a certain ubiquitous Canadian chain that par cooks their products at central bakeries before sending them to stores, I had to go for the real deal. As this is also my paramour’s fave, she went with the maple bacon to give us more donut diversity. They were ready within a couple minutes, and soon we were on our way back to the car to stuff our gobs. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into, expecting a cream-​filled, fist-​sized donut, but what we got were baskets of 10ish mini-​donuts, covered in their respective toppings. They were, however, fantastic. Fresh out of the super cool donut making contraption that they have, they’re just slightly crisp on the outside and airy, but still pleasantly dense on the inside. These have most certainly not been par cooked and sitting out in the open all day. The Boston cream drizzle reminds me of the Toaster Strudel icing, but only richer and less cloying. The chocolate sauce is, well, chocolate sauce. No wheels being reinvented, but it’s tasty. The maple bacon donuts are great as well, with the same little loops of fried dough wonder with a maple icing drizzle and bits of thick cut bacon on top. No bacon-​flavoured soy bits here.
Each basket will set you back a fiver, but think of these as the restaurant quality dessert that they are, and you’ll forget both the price and whoever that Tim Horton guy is anyway.