Lukoumades (pronounced ‘loo-koo-mah-thess) is the name for Greek donuts and namesake of the dessert bars at Hyde Park and Henley Beach. The light and fluffy delicious golden-brown dough balls can be popped into your mouth in one bite. Lukoumades have turned this traditional Greek dessert into indulgent artistic creations with toppings like ice cream, fruit, chocolate and more.

Lukoumades are launching a new winter menu featuring lukoumades rich with extra special toppings, plus waffles, cheesecakes and thickshakes. At their VIP taste testing night at Hyde Park, I sampled from the new menu items like all time classic and loaded lukoumades. I started with the lukoumades rolled in cinnamon sugar: light and airy. All lukoumades are made to order with local ingredients and fried in store.

For a more decadent take on this classic dish, try the loaded lukoumades. For the true blue Aussie there is the Lamington with strawberry jam and shredded coconut, or to really satisfy, there is the Snickers with melted chocolate, drizzled caramel sauce and Snickers gelato. I tried the Rainbow bubblegum: lukoumades topped with melted pink chocolate, 100s & 1000s and blue bubble gum gelato. The dessert is a combination of sweet and sour flavours that reminded us of eating ‘Bubble O’ Bill’ ice creams during summer as a kid.

The hot new menu item at Lukoumades is Belgium waffles. The Peanut Butter S’Mores are dipped in milk chocolate, drizzled with peanut butter, topped with toasted mini marshmallows (using a cute mini food torch!), vanilla bean gelato and crushed biscuit. My favourite is the Caramel Popcorn waffles. A mix of caramel sauce, white chocolate gelato and caramel popcorn making for a sweet and salty treat.

There’s also New York Cheesecakes coated in melted Nutella or white or milk chocolate and drizzled with peanut butter, caramel or Oreo toppings. All of these delicious desserts are $15 or under. All of the desserts pictured are sample sizes too so trust you will be filled up for a low price in store. However, if you want to share something bigger with friends you can try out the Overloaded – a mix of almost every ingredient I’ve named so far.

To wash down your dessert there are sumptuous smoothies and loaded thickshakes. The smoothies are made with fruit and milk plus unique ingredients such as flavoured gelato, Greek yogurt, peanut butter, cinnamon and even a double shot of coffee in the Start Me Up. At the same time, the creamy quality thickshakes taste as good as they look. Sweet tooths are sure to fit in both dessert and shake without exceeding their budget.

At the VIP tasting, we compared two thickshakes: Milk & Cookies and Reese’s Peanut Butter. The Milk & Cookies flavoured thickshake cup is coated in white chocolate and crushed Oreo. On top, there is whipped cream, an Oreo ice cream cookie sandwich (full size – no mini substitutes), three Cadbury biscuit fingers in white and milk chocolate and, finally, dusted in crushed Oreos. The Reese’s Peanut Butter thickshake is similarly over-the-top with a Reese’s peanut butter and chocolate ice cream cone and a mini peanut butter cup. The thickshake is peanut butter and Nutella flavour – made with Reese’s peanut butter syrup shipped from the US – and the cup is coated in Nutella and crushed peanuts. Lastly, topped with whipped cream and dusted in chocolate. You can see why it was hard to determine a winner.

Lukoumades new winter menu launches Saturday June 1st at both locations in Hyde Park and Henley Beach.

Words and Images by Chloe Cannell