I find it hard not to talk about Shortstop when I think of Melbourne. I’ve wanted to get my hands on their goods for the longest time, so it wasn’t at all surprising that I insisted we visit their store when we went to Australia last December.

I think everyone knows I’m not a massive donut (doughnut?) person, but this place might just have made me one step closer to being one. In our 15 or so days in Melbourne, I’ve dropped by their quaint Sutherland Street shop three times. Looking back, I really should have visited more often but I feel my already burgeoning waistline is thanking me that I did not. My rubbish exercise “routine” doesn’t allow me to eat the amount of sugary treats I think I deserve.

One thing I love about Shortstop is how they often rotate the flavors and the types of donuts that they have on offer. I do think they come up with some of the nicest flavor combinations and it can make deciding which one to get all the more challenging. Good thing that the people working at this branch are extremely friendly! You won’t feel like you need to know which flavor to get as soon as you put your foot through the door.

I highly recommend trying their limited edition / seasonal ones, if you’re up for it. However, if you chance upon the Maple Walnut & Brown Butter ones, please give those a go. You won’t regret it. I know I have so many other flavors I still need to try, but that one is by far my favorite. So grab a seasonal one AND the maple walnut donut. It’ll be fun!

Donuts, like other pastries, are best paired with a hot cup of my favorite caffeine. We went for the flat white each time we visited Shortstop and they always went down pretty well. I always wanted to stay as long as I could just so that I could enjoy the wonderful smell of coffee and donuts in the air. We never do because of the limited seating available. It would be too selfish of us if we don’t to let other customers sit and enjoy their precious little donuts.

We spent a couple of days in Sydney after the Christmas holidays and I was ecstatic to learn that Shortstop had another store there. I planned on bringing a dozen donuts back with us to Wellington, but things didn’t go as expected. I was gutted that we didn’t get to go. I guess that just gives us one extra reason to start plotting our next trip to Australia sooner rather than later. A return to Shortstop is definitely going to take the top spot on the priority list!

Shortstop Coffee & Donuts: 12 Sutherland Street, Melbourne VIC 3000