There’s always time for a doughnut, especially when they’re prepped and served fresh in front of your eyes.
This week saw Kilkenny’s newest doughnut venture – the only doughnut shop in the city following the closure of Boston Donuts on Friary Street last year – Oh! Donuts open on the corner of James’ Street and High Street in the unit until recently occupied by the short-lived High Street Coffee.
Operated by Colum Lydon (previously Murphy’s Ice Cream on The Parade), Oh! Donuts opened to the public on Monday and will be open six days a week from the off, running 9.30am to 6pm, serving a variety of fresh doughnuts prepped in-store daily with coffee and ice cream to go. Leaning into the notion of ‘it takes a village’, fellow Callan artist Paul Bokslag has designed a mural for the in-store visuals, along with the brand identity.
In a turn-up for the books, a box of three doughnuts arrived hand-delivered to the door last night with Mrs. Ken On Food due to catch up with the store for an on air feature this morning, which you can hear below. First impressions were good, the palm-sized doughnuts leaving the fried dough taste linger well, the three doughnuts on the table topped with a mix of white, milk and dark chocolate. In chatting with Colum, Monday’s first day of operations went well, with Tuesday selling out as locals and visitors alike flocked for a hot doughnut and coffee in town. Sure, there’s still plenty to work on, but they’re up and running and raring to go.
“The first two days were wet, so it kind of helped to learn things as we’re going, but today with a bit of sun, it’s busy – but busy is good”, Lydon told The KCLR Daily on Wednesday morning.
“Who doesn’t love a doughnut? It’s not a new product, nobody in Kilkenny has been doing them for quite a while, so I saw an opening and I went for it. The idea came about a few years ago but the right location never came up. Selling doughnuts, you need to be on the High Street, you need to have a visible presence which I think we do.”
You can listen to the full feature below. As for pricing, the ‘artisan donuts’ are retailing at €3 each, three for €8, six for €16 or a box of 12 for €30. Their ‘hot donuts’ are available at €2 each or in a bag of three for €5. The ‘Oh! Donuts Special’ features a bowl of donut bites with sauce and topping for €6 or with an additional ice cream topping for an extra €1.50.
Get updates on Oh! Donuts on Facebook.
