Cronuts (KLonut) in Malaysia – Dessert Storm – BIG, Publika

In KL, cronuts are only attempted by Delectable by Su and Ben of the BIG Group (as far as I know) and for Su’s, it was only available within the month of July. I was so busy that month I never made it to her shop in The Gardens.

Just 2 weeks back I was in Ipoh with Tourism Malaysia and I managed to sample Burp & Giggles’ cronuts. As usual a disclaimer that I must make here is that I have not been to New York and I have certainly not tasted a “real” cronut made by the creator himself Chef Dominique Ansel. I have no way of knowing however whether the taste is even close to that of the much coveted original.

cronut - burp and giggles ipoh - desserts-001

But I must say that out of 2 ‘cronuts’ that I have tried; 2 from Burp and Giggles in Ipoh and 1 from Dessert Storm in Publika; my preference goes to the former.
At least the former had nice spongy insides with layers of flaky pastries that were very much less greasier compared to the “Klonut” at Dessert Storm, Publika.

Kaya Klonut- RM7 @ Dessert Storm, Publika.

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens-005

However an important point to note here us that the ‘Klonut’ from Dessert Storm, Publika is NOT meant to be like the original but an interpretation of the cronut. So in a way it was not meant to be directly similar.
Anyhow, even on its own and with no comparison with any other cronut wannabes, the ‘Klonut’ at Publika was hardly worth its price tag of RM7. In essence it was just an extremely greasy piece of pastry with barely any character, texture or taste.

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens-003

Other flavours offered were peanut butter & caramel, kaya & coconut and Milo. The price is the same for any of the flavours.

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens-001

Here’s a cross section.
As you can see, it’s really an oily piece of deep fried flaky pastry. Thank god for the kaya (coconut jam) which is the only saving grace of this very badly made pastry. I have never felt so cheated of RM7.
The KLonut is 2 bites at most, but it was so bad that I couldn’t finish half. And because it was RM7, I decided not to waste it and doggy-bagged the other half. I shouldn’t bothered really, for the other half ended up in the dustbin 3 days later. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens-004

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens-006

NOTE: Dessert Storm, B*wiched, Plan B Roaster, Bread and Shucked are all located within Ben’s Independent Grocer.
PS: Mabel, the pastry chef here is a really nice girl. I’ll probably hop in for her other desserts the next round. Do note that this review is purely about the Klonut and I have not tried the other desserts here at Dessert Storm.

Dessert Storm Publika - klonut by Bens

This Post Has 11 Comments

  1. daniel

    Work in Publika and I can tell you that Plan B, BIG (restaurant within the BIG supermarket), and S.Wine are the outlets that we (myself and my colleagues) had banned long time ago.
    One has to give credit for all that clever marketing, though unfortunately it had no substance to back it up.

  2. Average Joe

    @Daniel,

    I agree with you. All restaurants/cafes owned by BIG group(located inside and outside Publika) are overhyped, expensive, low quality food and don’t forget lousy service!

  3. Holly

    Finally a blogger that say it as it is!
    I can’t believe all the rubbish on the blogs about food by the BIG Group. Food and service is a total disappointment compared to what they wrote!

  4. Stella

    I agree with the above comments! Plan B’s service is one of the worst I’ve ever experienced! They should buck up in terms of service.

  5. Kelly

    Wah the ones you had looked even flatter than mine (the KLonut I mean, of course). It tasted like deep fried puff pastry only, not puff pastry x croissant. We made the mistake of having the kaya and coconut one first, so it was kinda like…hmmm yummy….less… Yummy and than meh. RM21 for 3 KLonut we finished in about half a minute (one tiny bite of out each because 4 people). Ouch!

  6. Veron

    Totally concur about BIG’s outlets. I won’t eat at their outlets even if they offer the food to me for free.

  7. camilla

    Seems that the comment section for this post has become a ‘disgruntled Ben’s customer complaint section’.
    I shall not add to it but I have to say I’m not that happy with Plan b, S.wine or the Ben Gen Food Store either.
    Anyhow the KLonut is a total disaster. I bought 2 (being greedy to sample 2 flavours) and just like you, it was the worst pastry that I have paid for. At least most bad pastries didn’t cost me RM7 each!

  8. Tony blogger indonesia

    No cronut or KLonut here in Jakarta. 😀

  9. marge

    damn the ones from Ben’s are so not cronuts AT ALL !!! cheaters like totes

    1. Rebecca Saw

      No it’s not cronuts for sure. But they did state that it’s their “own version” and it’s not cronuts per se 🙂
      However, even so, it’s really not nice. LOL

  10. Maurice

    If you couldn’t take more than two bites, return it back to the vendor. Tell them you are not satisfied with the product, they have the right to recook a new one, but if it still doesnt taste good, demand back for your money as it falls below your standard of expectation.

    Thats what I do most of the time, places like Mad About Coco, seriously ripped my wallet apart and taste like crap. It’s a good reason to write a bad review and never to going back 🙂

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