Skip to main content

My favorite neighborhood bakery

When I first arrived in Malad, you couldn't buy edible bread anywhere in the vicinity. Fast forward six years and we are now spoilt for choices. I now have six bakeries within a five minute walking distance. And that's before counting the bread baking shops inside my next door supermarkets.

So why do I return to just one of these bakeries every single time...

French connection is for the days I want to eat healthy. Their USP is their 100% whole wheat breads. They also sell half loaves so I can buy one of those Atta Bread ones and finish it before it gets stale. There's also pure whole wheat cookies and the biggest winner of the lot - 100% whole wheat pizza base. It's so soft and delicious I don't bother to make any more pizza bases at home.

French Connection is also for the days I am feeling lazy. Or days I don't feel like eating home cooked food. I venture into the bakery on my way back from work and pick up their spinach paneer roll. Or Paneer Tikka Strudel. Or Veg Puff. All their savory snacks are delicious.

Finally, French Connection is for days I am feeling indulgent. I haven't tasted their cheesecakes or apple pie yet, but their seasonal fruit cake is de rigueur for all our office birthdays. It's the softest yellow cake sandwiched and topped with whipped cream and a lot of fresh fruit.

All of this baked right in front of you when you stop by. Who wouldn't like bakes so fresh!
Labels:

Comments

Srivalli said…
Wow you are so lucky! and making me J ok..:)..wish I had something like that close by too..I can agree who will bake when you are spoilt for choice..
November 20, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Raw_Girl said…
Where in Malad is French Connection? I live at Kandivli...Do they also have pita bread and crackers?
December 1, 2010 at 10:13 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are
25 comments
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru
14 comments
Read more

Of Brun and Bun Maska

There is more to Bombay's breads than the pao that goes into pao bhaji and vada pao. There's Brun. and there's bun. We will get there. First, you have to get to know the city's Parsis. And Iranis, who are also Zoroastrians, but came to city a little later, in the late 19th or early 20th century. And when they came, they brought with them these little cafes that dot the city. I am no expert on Irani chai cafes. And I can't tell you whether Yazdani Bakery will provide you the best experience or Kyani's. But I can tell you a few things you need to ignore when you get there. Appearances don't matter; so ignore the fact that the marble/glass top tables and the wooden chairs look a bit dilapidated. Also ignore the rundown look the place sports. Instead, get yourself settled. And order a bun muska. This one's familiar to you as a first cousin of the soft hamburger bun. It's similar, but just a tad bit sweeter. Maska, of course, is the generous dollop o
13 comments
Read more