Neil’s Donuts and Bake Shop
Black & White Cookie
White Chocolate Rainbow Cookie / Dark Chocolate Rainbow Cookie
Apple Cider Donut
Crumb Donut
Blueberry Cake Donut
Buttermilk Bar
Strawberry Frosting Donut
Vanilla Cream Powdered Sugar Donut
Located approximately 20-30 minutes outside of New Haven depending on traffic, the sleepy town of Wallingford even moreso than usual on a cold Saturday morning, it was nonetheless from down the block that one could recognize Neil’s Donuts and Bake Shop, puffs of steam from several idling cars building up just past 7am and a fast-paced queue presumably there from open to close Tuesday through Sunday.
Occupying a low-slung building at 83 North Turnpike Road since 2001, a surprisingly young age despite the décor and layout, it is upon arrival at Neil’s that guests will find themselves greeted by an unpaved parking lot flanked by small stands of trees plus mud and grass, several folks forced to park on the fringe before entering a bustling space where a true greeting is unlikely, no less than six pairs of teenaged hands behind the counter busily packing up boxes and exchanging goods for cash.
Old-school in terms of style if not age, nary a Cronut nor novelty save for ubiquitous Maple-Bacon Longjohns to be found, it was after perhaps ten minutes of trying to see racks around parkas and hats that the front of the line was finally reached, a young woman wearing her high school’s sweatshirt carefully boxing six fried treats before placing five Italian favorites in a bag.
Offering two small tables at the door, no locals keen on using them with almost everyone a regular intent on getting back home, it was with $12.57 worth of items spread out on branded napkins that tasting began by way of a Black & White Cookie coated in icing, the base itself a little crumbly compared to New York’s best versions while the Rainbow Cookies dipped in a similar coat were dense and moist with subtle Almond flavor playing well off the Raspberry Jam.
Next taking a look at Neil’s eponymous item, a mix of Cake and Raised choices collected based on personal preference and customer recommendations, first bites of the Blueberry Cake ring yielded a fairly mild hint of Fruit amidst a good crumb while the Apple Cider version performed even better in terms of flavor and texture, the item produced when one asks for a “Buttermilk Bar” longer than most and too dry with a distinct lack of tanginess that makes one wonder if Neil’s actually uses Buttermilk or if the clerk was mistaken.
Moving on to Yeast Donuts, the majority of folks in line composing an order entirely of these, it was with a Streusel topped version torn in half that the center could be visualized as fluffy but fairly typical of boxed mix, the flavor perfectly adequate though a bit sweeter than the typical Crumb Donut while both a Strawberry frosted Circle and the version sliced and stuffed with Vanilla Buttercream were exceptionally sugary, the latter so much so that two-bites was enough with the rest discarded to prevent making a Powdered Sugar mess of clothing or the car’s interior.
www.neilsdonuts.com
