Neate Donuts – New Donut Shop by JJ Bean Coffee

I learned about Neate Donuts by JJ Bean Coffee from Noms Magazine. According to the JJ Bean website, when the Neate family (owner of JJ Bean) first started their business in Vancouver in the 1940s, they were pedalling deliveries of fresh coffee and donuts around Vancouver, then they began to focus on coffee and the donut aspect was lost. It was always in the vision to serve coffee and donuts together again and now they’re bringing back the family legacy. The grand opening promotion is not until May 5-10, but it has opened its doors now on the street front of the Oceanic Plaza at 1066 West Hastings Street. I was in the area, so I had to go check it out.

I always prefer yeast donuts over cake donuts so I was quite excited to give this a go. It was around 2pm and there was still a decent amount of selection on the display case. I remember seeing Razzle Dazzle, Apple Fritter, Glazed, Raspberry Jelly, Lavender Early Grey, and Lemon Cream. There might be more, but I also ran into someone I know so I was distracted. I ordered a medium Latte ($5.55, discounted to $5.30 because I ordered for-here) and two donuts to try: Lavender Earl Grey ($3.75, a seasonal flavour, according to the website) and Lemon Cream ($3.75).

First of all, the Latte. It uses JJ Bean coffee, of course, so you know it’s a solid coffee. When I used to work downtown, I often went to the JJ Bean one block away from my office for coffee meetings and my afternoon pick-me-up. It’s consistent, the espresso flavour was balanced, and I don’t have any complaint.

Now, the donuts. Both were cream filled donuts, but there was more filling in the Lavender Earl Grey than the Lemon Cream, and the Lavender Earl Grey filling was a bit runnier than the Lemon Cream. Overall, I found the dough to be a bit denser than I’d like. It had a nice chew but it felt a bit heavy. I was glad that the Lavender Earl Grey filling didn’t taste like a potpourri; it reminded me of a London Fog. I love face-puckering tartness in my lemon curd, and the Lemon Cream filling was tart, but I think this was a bit too acidic (think lemon juice) and felt imbalanced.

Final Thoughts

As this is only their soft opening period, I wouldn’t necessarily hold them to the things I didn’t like about the donuts. That being said, they have been making donuts and perfecting the recipes since the Coquitlam Sunwood location was opened in 2021, so this is not new to them. Perhaps it’s a personal preference but I think some other places do it better. The interior is so cute, though, and it would make a great location for coffee meet regardless. Will you give it a try?

Neate Donuts by JJ Bean Coffee
1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
jjbeancoffee.com