Having recently opened up in Calhoun Commons, I was excited to try a new donut place — especially after learning they’re a cross between regular donuts and mochi. With an extensive menu, Mochinut serves up Korean corn dogs, ice cream, boba tea and of course, donuts. 

With an assortment of donut flavors ranging from traditional strawberry and chocolate to other new ones like taro and matcha, the menu itself is diverse and has plenty of options. However, I was disappointed to find out that not every store sells every flavor. Most specialize in just a few, and it was definitely disappointing to walk in and not be able to order the ones I wanted, or have to settle for ones I really didn’t want. Since it’s a chain restaurant, I don’t understand why they limit their menu at different locations. 

Aside from this, the donuts themselves were pretty good. Made with rice flour instead of regular flour, these donuts are a little bit denser and doughier, which wasn’t my favorite. However, this was the only notable difference. Ultimately, they weren’t much different from regular donuts aside from the shape. You can definitely tell there’s some difference, but it’s not a big enough difference for me to choose Mochinut over a regular donut place. They definitely weren’t bad, but I don’t think there was anything special about it either.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by their other food, especially their corn dogs. Usually I’m not the biggest fan of corn dogs, but I actually really enjoyed the one I tried. Although they’re huge — splitting one with my friend was the perfect amount — I really appreciated that it wasn’t too greasy or rich compared to other ones I’ve had before.

Located in Calhoun Commons, Mochinut is only about a seven minute drive from the high school and really easy to get to from most places in Park. Unfortunately, I didn’t love being inside the actual restaurant itself. There’s two ways to order inside the restaurant: at the counter or using a tablet. This was really handy, since when I got there it was really busy, and ordering on the tablet made the wait much shorter. The place itself is not really designed as a place to sit-in and eat, and it doesn’t need to be. However, with only four tables in the entire place, it’s cramped and hard to navigate inside. This obviously isn’t their fault, but if there’s an option to order ahead instead of inside, I would recommend it. 

Another drawback for me was the prices. At about three dollars a donut, the prices honestly aren’t that extreme. Still, it wasn’t good enough for me to justify spending that much on one donut when I could spend less and get food just as good somewhere else.

Overall, I did enjoy Mochinut. Although the donuts aren’t much different from something you could get at another bakery, I would still recommend going there to try the corn dogs and other food. Unfortunately, the prices are too high for me to justify going there regularly, and the actual atmosphere inside was not my favorite. 

“Mochinut”: ★★★☆☆