Mister Donut VivoCity Singapore: Late Weekend Donut Shop

Mister Donut's VivoCity shop is at 1 HarbourFront Walk, #B2-51, Singapore 098585, on the basement food level of the big waterfront mall facing Sentosa, and it keeps later weekend hours than most branches: 10am to 10pm from Friday to Sunday. Monday to Thursday it opens 11am to 9:30pm. Order at the counter, pay by card or PayNow, and you are two escalators from the Sentosa Boardwalk with a box of ten in hand.

This is the Mister Donut most visitors pass without planning to. HarbourFront MRT, where the North East and Circle lines meet, feeds straight into the B2 level, and the Sentosa Express monorail and the boardwalk start upstairs. That makes the shop a practical stop before a beach day on Siloso or Palawan, an afternoon at Universal Studios, or a late film at the mall's cinema upstairs.

The later closing time is the real advantage. Several of the chain's other shops, including Novena and 313@somerset, close at 9pm every night, but on Friday, Saturday and Sunday VivoCity stays open until 10pm, which suits families coming back from Sentosa after dinner. On weekdays the counter opens at 11am, an hour later than at weekends.

Expect a mixed crowd at the counter: families with prams heading for the beach, teenagers on their way to the arcade and cinema, and office staff from the Mapletree towers along Telok Blangah Road picking up a box for the team. Weekend afternoons are the busiest, when Sentosa traffic peaks; arriving before noon on a Saturday, or after 8pm on a Sunday once the beach crowd has gone home, is the sensible way to avoid the peak.

Skip straight past the rings to the French Cruller section if you like cream. Angel French is a light, fluffy cruller split into a sandwich and filled with airy whipped cream, then coated in chocolate; the online store prices a box of ten at S$28.80. Custard Strawberry French swaps in a richer custard cream and a strawberry-flavoured milk chocolate coat, also S$28.80 for ten.

These do not keep well in tropical heat, so eat them in the air-conditioned mall or take them home in a cool bag rather than carrying them across Sentosa in the sun. The brand's own advice is to eat on the day of purchase, or chill for up to a day and take them out 30 minutes before eating. Never reheat the cream ones.

The yeast shell donuts are the softer option: Angel Cream is filled with whipped cream and Custard Cream with a thick custard, and a mixed box of five of each is S$28.80 online. For something crisp, the Honey Churro is a Spanish-style donut with a crackly honeyed surface, S$26.80 for ten, and the Chocolate Churro adds a chocolate coat for S$28.80.

Whatever else you buy, put at least one Pon De Ring in the bag. The chain's signature is a ring of eight chewy, mochi-textured balls, and the plain glazed version is the cheapest box on the menu at S$26.80 for ten. Children tend to pull the balls apart one by one, which makes it the least messy choice for a ferry or monorail ride.

For a crowd, the mixed boxes take the decision away. Yeast Ring Mixed pairs five Sugar Raised with five Honey Dip for S$26.80, and the Chocolate Ring and Strawberry Ring mix is S$28.80. Both are the airy, bready style of donut rather than mochi or cream, and they survive a couple of hours in a bag far better than the filled ones, which matters if the box is coming home on the North East line.

Mister Donut started in Minoh, a suburb of Osaka, where Seiichi Suzuki opened the first store in 1971; the company says it sold 4,000 donuts an hour on day one. In Singapore the shops are operated by RE&S, the group behind several Japanese restaurant chains here, under a partnership with Japanese brand owner Duskin. The VivoCity unit is one of about a dozen on the official locations list, spread from Punggol to Orchard Road.

The menu here mirrors Japan's, with a few local additions. The Singapore-only Golden Chocolate, a moist chocolate donut with a crunchy golden topping, contains orange, the one allergen besides wheat, egg, milk and soybean that the brand flags.

All Mister Donut outlets in Singapore are cashless, accepting PayNow, NETS and credit or debit cards. The chain is not halal-certified, though its FAQ says no pork, lard, animal gelatine or alcohol goes into the donuts, which is helpful if you are buying for a mixed group. There is no table service; you queue, point at the trays and take your box away.

Seasonal boxes appear through the year. This October the promotions page lists Pon De Lion's Spooky Treats at all outlets, and the online Halloween Mixed Box with two each of Spidey, Mummy and Monsta costs S$20.50. If those are sold out by evening, the core range is still on the shelves.

From the mall, the Sentosa Boardwalk crosses the water to Sentosa in about ten to fifteen minutes on foot, with travelators for most of the way. For a greener walk, the Marang Trail climbs from near HarbourFront MRT exit D up Mount Faber, a steep but shaded route with views back over the port and Sentosa.

On the mall's rooftop, Sky Park has shallow wading pools and an open deck facing Sentosa, a good place to open the box with children. In the other direction, the Southern Ridges start at Mount Faber and continue over Henderson Waves, so a donut stop can be the start of a long walk to Kent Ridge.

Address: Mister Donut, 1 HarbourFront Walk, #B2-51 VivoCity, Singapore 098585. Hours on the official locations page: Monday to Thursday 11am to 9:30pm, Friday to Sunday 10am to 10pm.

Getting there: HarbourFront MRT (NE1/CC29) connects directly to VivoCity's basement. Online orders through the brand's Oddle store can be collected in store, which saves queuing on weekend afternoons.