Batik making

Yogyakarta, as the reputed leading cultural centre of Java, had many different types of art forms on offer. There were numerous Batik shops scattered throughout the city, not to mention many creative touts with imaginative ways of trying to lure you into them. There was also the famous Ramayana Ballet, a dance-drama possessing exquisitely fine hand movements, and was performed with the well known Prambanan Hindu temples as backdrop. It told the story of Rama and Shiva and set good against evil.

Then there was J. Co Donuts and Coffee. First some background: I stumbled across the store on my first day here when I wanted a coffee break. What surprised me as I sat with my coffee and free glazed donut was the number of locals who had purchased a box of a dozen donuts to share amongst only a few, eg, three or four people. In the few days since then, I came to notice that it was quite a common feature of local life to have Yogyakartans carrying around a box of a dozen J. Co Donuts and Coffee. So this afternoon I paid the store a visit to try and understand why they were so popular, notwithstanding the fact that I would get to eat some yummy donuts.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the donuts had really fun, arty and creative names and flavours. For instance; the ‘Copa Banana’, a chocolate coated donut with banana cream; the ‘Hazel Dazzle’, a hazelnut chocolate donut with a coffee fudge centre; the Alcapone, a white Belgian chocolate donut with almonds; the ‘Why Nut’, a peanut butter donut topped with white chocolate; and the ‘Snow White’, a white chocolate donut drizzled with shredded coconut, but to name but a few.

Da Vin Cheez (a garlic and cheese donut)

Interestingly there were also savoury donuts like the ‘Da Vin Cheez’, a donut with a cheese and garlic (yes garlicy cheese ) topping; the ‘Mona Pisa’ donut, a chicken sausage tomato and cheese beauty; and the ‘Cheese Me Up’, another cheesy donut. In total there were some 30 different types of mouth-watering donuts on display.

Don Mochino (chocolate coated cappuccino cream)

I wasn’t permitted to take photos of the counter at J. Co Donuts and Coffee, but the ones I tried: the Da Vin Cheez, which was definitely cheesy and slightly garlicky, and the Don Mochino (chocolate coated with cappuccino cream) which was mouth-wateringly delicious. The centre was light and creamy and the cappuccino flavour made a great contrast to the chocolate topping, and which I preferred to the savoury donut. What a combination! Not only tasty, but also arty.

The donuts were about 50p each, although if you ordered a drink from their range of coffees and tea, you received a free glazed donut. J. Co Donuts and Coffee is an Indonesian venture with stores in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. It’s looking to expand and one is due to open up in Beijing shortly so watch this space.

J. Co Donuts and Coffee at:
Malioboro Mall
Tel: +62 (0)274 555 333
Web: http://www.jcodonuts.com

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