Small Mercies
Why go
Small Mercies makes kkwabaegi, Korean twisted doughnuts, in a tiny shop on Mount Eden Road. It's run by Eunsun Jung, a chef from Korea, and Mikey Rush.
The iced and special kkwabaegi are the reason to go, and they sell out by early afternoon. The first time I went, at 2pm, only the original was left. They fry several times a day and the full cabinet is out from 9.30am, so that's the time to go if the iced ones are what you're after.
The coffee is single origin, and it's good.
What to expect
The shop is small and full of bright, postmodern colour, much smaller than it looks on Instagram. There are three window seats inside and two or three little bistro tables on the pavement. It's a shopfront, so it's more of a takeaway place than a sit-down one, though people do stay. There's a steady stream of people in and out.
Your kkwabaegi comes with a pair of scissors to cut it in pieces.
They also do chapssal, the glutinous rice doughnut balls, and yakgwa, the syrup-soaked biscuits.
