Our first introduction to Astro Doughnuts was at an outdoor movie screening of Top Gun last summer at Veterans Park in Culver City. It was one of the food trucks at the event. I was in line for another food truck with a friend so I sent my husband to get in line at their truck to get me fried chicken. Everybody in front of him was ordering the PB&J doughnut. Although he ordinarily wouldn’t eat a doughnut, he did enjoy an occasional PB&J sandwich so he ordered one of those. To say that on first bite, the obsession was born would be a severe understatement.
A former coworker was working at Deutsch and she posted a photo on Instagram that Satan had pulled up, showing the photo of the Astro Doughnuts food truck. I immediately tagged my husband on her post and mentioned that he had been craving those doughnuts and for him to head over before they left. My husband luckily made it over right before the end of the lunch rush and was lucky to get the last two PB&J doughnuts.
When I mentioned that a Santa Monica storefront was opening up, he kept checking their Instagram page for updates on opening day. They finally opened last Thursday but we were both busy with work so we made a plan to pick up dessert before our Saturday night dinner reservation. Sadly, the business hours on the site and even on the door were not accurate. We arrived at 7:18 p.m. and though my husband begged the guy in the store to let him in just so he could buy his PB&J doughnuts, his efforts were foiled because they had none left. He looked sad and dejected as he walked away empty handed.
On this beautiful sunny Sunday, I decided it time for a proper and successful do-over. This time I called the downtown Los Angeles location and asked for the Santa Monica phone number. The woman on the phone claimed to not have their number but she was told they would be closing at 3 p.m. today. At the time of the call, it was 1:45 p.m. so we immediately headed out.
I dropped my husband off at the corner and asked him to order me 2 fried chicken thighs and tater tots. I drove around the block and saw a guy in a Prius getting ready to leave on the same block as Astro. I immediately made a sharp U-turn and pulled into the spot. Thank you Parking Fairy.
When I walked into the shop, my husband had just ordered 8 pieces of chicken which was 6 more than I wanted though he correctly assumed I would want leftovers so points scored for him. He also ordered my tater tots extra crispy. For his lunch, the cashier offered him a make your own combo consisting of a fried chicken breast sandwich with a farm fresh egg in between a cheddar biscuit and for dessert/breakfast/snack for the week, he ordered 3 PB&J doughnuts and 3 coconut almond doughnuts. While we were waiting, we noticed a kid chomping down on the most popular offering which was the chocolate chip cookie dough. I decided to buy the second to the last one since clearly the day’s diet was blown.
The food arrived and boy it was a sight to see. Talk about abundance of happiness!! I immediately started munching on the tater tots which were perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The fried chicken was cooked simply. It had a light tight crispy batter with juicy moist meat underneath, lightly peppered but not overly seasoned. It was also surprisingly not greasy or oily like the fried chicken at other establishments.
The decadence and indulgence obviously came in the form of their doughnuts. The chocolate chip cookie dough had a dense chocolate cake for its main portion with a thick layer of iced sugar and chocolate chips on top with a scoop of actual cookie dough filling the hole in the middle. The key is to parse off a bite of the main doughnut and take a piece of the cookie dough and set it on top of the bite to get the full effect of this doughnut. The seasonal vegan coconut almond doughnut is much lighter, more subtle but definitely is still a contender. With that said, both pale in comparison to the PB&J doughnut. The combo of the peanut butter icing and chopped peanuts on top with the jelly oozing out of the middle is what foodies call a foodgasm. Hail to the king of all doughnuts!!
The true sign of a successful paring/merger of flavors is the ability of each layer to complement and yet be able to stand on its own. Astro Doughnuts is just beginning its winning streak and we cannot wait to enjoy their offerings over and over. We are customers for life! Thank you for coming to California and thank you for coming to the Westside!!
Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken
2309 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(424) 280-4414
I first came upon Yours Truly when I was on Resy looking for weekend dinner ideas. I looked on Yelp and there were only reviews posted, all positive, so I booked a Saturday night dinner. Unfortunately, my husband caught the awful cough I’ve had for the last 3 months so we pushed had to o push our dinner date a week.
When we arrived for our 7:30 dinner reservation, the restaurant was about halfway full. The clientele was Venice hipster upscale chic. The restaurant’s decor was eclectic shabby chic to match. We were blessed with our server, Glen, who was truly quite phenomenal. He was present when he needed to be but always had a watchful eye from afar.
First to arrive were the Parker rolls which were served with seaweed butter. The 6 dinner rolls were petite, quite warm and had a slightly crispy top with moist center. Its accompaniment was slightly salty with some subtle hints of herbs.
Next to arrive were the avocado hummus which came with a toasted flatbread and the charred peas salad. The hummus was quite rich and tasty and the sugar snap peas in the salad had a very light citrus dressing. However, the greens which sat on top of the peas were not the best paring. The stalks of the stems were very hard to chew even though the leaves were quite dainty. It really took me out of the moment and was sadly a miss.
Fortunately, the fingerling potatoes came out piping hot and saved the day. There was an egg yolk in between each of the potatoes which were perfectly cooked. The flavor of the dish harkened the pasta dish which was its inspiration. This by far, was my favorite dish of the evening.
The two main dishes, the Nashville hot shrimp and roasted chicken were the two priciest items of our dinner. The shrimp came out crispy, tightly breaded and hot, in temperature and in flavor. It sat on a piece of toast with some coleslaw on the side. The roasted chicken had a bit of toasted breading on top and under the skin and a few items on the side which had flavor combinations reminiscent of a chicken pot pie.
I think of the items we ordered, I would recommend the avocado hummus, fingerling potatoes and the Nashville hot shrimp. The six $9 dinner rolls just seemed a bit much for what they were. The greens on the salad dish was too distracting and the chicken breast simply didn’t have enough flavor contrast to be interesting and also was at a high price point of $36.
With that said, the restaurant is beautiful. It would be a great place to meet a group of friends to have drinks and share a few plates. The service is first class and we met Paul who is one of the partners and he is very intent in making sure Yours Truly is one of the go to restaurants on Abbot Kinney.
Yours Truly
1616 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
https://www.ytvenice.com
https://www.fiftyonekitchen.com
Grace Gambin
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