Savoury doughnuts on the rise in Melbourne

Frankenstein has got to be feeling a little slighted with all these crazy mash-up food fads – cronuts, duffins – being named after him. But the Melbourne food scene likes to let its freak flag fly, and savoury doughnuts are beginning to chant from the sidelines.

While not technically a new dish per se – savoury lentil doughnuts called vada​ can be found in many south Indian restaurants, and variations on the youtiao​ or Chinese cruller are popular around Asia – new twists are popping up around town and are well worth getting your fingers greasy for.

Mammoth

Armadale's newly minted Mammoth cafe has received a mammoth welcome hug from locals and its meal-sized lobster doughnut is proving just as conversation-worthy. Taking on a burger formation but switching out the bun for a sweet and salty dusted doughnut from 5 and Dime Bagels, the doughnut is bisected and clamped around baby slipper lobster, tangy green mango and papaya slaw and a lick of spiced mayo.

736 Malvern Road, Armadale, 03 9824 5239

Boney

The revamped, slightly grown-up Pony now features a menu designed by chef Karen Batson (Cookie, Magic Mountain Saloon, Colonel Tan's) that includes a spicy jalapeno doughnut – little footballs of polenta-based dough, laced with jalapeno and served with whipped, mustard-spiced maple butter and a super chunky avocado and corn salsa. Slice them in half, slather on some butter, heap on the salsa and eat it like a sandwich.

68 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 03 9663 8268

Prohibition Food & Wine

For an ideal bar snack, try the confit garlic doughnuts at Prohibition Food & Wine, inside a handsome former bank. The bite-sized morsels – fried crisp outside, oozy and cheesy inside, flavoured with garlic confit, doused in pecorino with a chunky tomato marmaletta on the side – are perfect with a Dirty Martini.

1395 Toorak Road, Camberwell, 03 9889 2385

Hell of the North

Fitzroy's French-leaning Hell of the North applies a sexy subtlety to its pork and gruyere doughnuts – succulent pulled pork with just a hint of gruyere is wrapped in a thin bread shell and fried until crisp, sprinkled with crunchy sea salt and served on a spoonful of golden aioli.

135 Greeves Street, Fitzroy, 03 9417 6660

Two Wrongs

Zachary Riggs and Isaac Constantine are the brains behind "fine diving" bar Two Wrongs – the intersection of dive bar and fine dining, where street food is elevated and fine dining is injected with a bit of fun. With an ex-Cutler & Co chef in the kitchen, their handsome doughnut is made with a milk bun dough, encasing a jammy mix of pork shoulder and pork jowl. It's dusted with lemon citric acid and served with a green tomato relish for serious flavour-bombing.

637 Chapel Street, South Yarra, 03 9827 4510

Dexter

But the award for the Most Jam Ball-Like Savoury Doughnut has to go to Dexter in Preston. In a slightly sparse stretch of High Street, X marks the spot – literally – of this breezy "non-traditional meatery", where you can get a gorgeous, perfectly round doughnut the size of a cricket ball. They use an actual doughnut dough recipe, fill it with a jammy smoked beef brisket, fry it until it's light, then roll it in a sweet, spicy mix of sugar and paprika and serve it with a capsicum relish. Bite right in – you won't burn your tongue on volcanic jam but you will order a second one with your mouth full.

456 High Street, Preston, 03 9973 3577