Karachi Bakery – An honest Review

I first stepped in this Bakery after winning a Twitter contest, wanting to redeem my gift coupon. The Brand Karachi Mumbai has been there since 1953 and has carved a name in the Biscuit Industry. So when I came to know that it has a branch in Bandra- Mumbai, I had to go here. This bakery is located on the Linking road and as soon as I entered the shop, I knew this would be an interesting journey for the next few hours. What followed was sheer torture of my sweet tooth, I had a sinful indulgence in almost all types of biscuits, cakes and some new products introduced and the whole experience left me more sweeter than ever. I had to take a good  15 hours break post that experience to sit down and write my review as I am popular amongst my readers for honest reviews and I did not want my personal liking for the Bakery products to affect my review. So here is my honest review of the place.

Seating: The main door opens to the shop straight away surrounded by all biscuits types, you go a few steps inside to see the cakes and pastry section and further down you have seating space to eat some new additions to the traditional Karachi Biscuits (cakes, pastries, Pasta, Pizza, sandwich and other tit bits) The seating is for approx 10 people ( If you don’t mind standing then 20 could be easily accommodated near the eating area)

Business hours: Mon to Thur 10am-10pm , Thursday to Sunday 10am – 11pm

Staff: 2 shifts with total of 18 people apart from Franchisee owner Vikasbhai Pandya

Address: A-01, Kenilworth Shopping Arcade, Linking Road, Opp McDonald’s, Bandra West, Mumbai 400050.

Ambiance: The place is well Lit with ample lights all over to give a very homely feeling and the cleanliness is spic and span. The housekeeping staff is always on the move to keep the place clean adding to the ambiance of the place. The mild aroma of biscuits only adds to the ambiance. The sections of biscuits and Cakes are separately kept and maintain in the same shop with lights pertaining to the product which enhances the beauty of the products. Overall pleasing.

Service: The staff is very courteous and the franchise owner personally supervises the transactions at times making the customer feel valued. I also noticed that there is a good number of repeat customers which speaks about the brand value and good customer service. Overall satisfactory.

Price: The pastries are priced in the range of 90-100 and are worth it. The biscuits prices vary depending on the products and are at par with Industry standards. The Pizza and pasta too are decently priced. Overall good.

Review: This now becomes the most important part having said all good about what I found genuinely good. So now let us come to the honest review.

What scored well:

I tasted cakes and pastries and almost all of them were awesome. The Blueberry pastry and the strawberry pastry are a must try if you go here. The softness of the cake and the cream on top is balanced neatly to give the feel of a single piece being eaten. The freshness of the pastry was visible and felt in every bite.

I checked the Biscuits and the legendary Osmania and Italian spicy cookies could be robbed in the near future. J They are simply awesome. The other biscuits I tried and liked are the Salt Biscuits who love salty stuff with their tea, Ajwain biscuits for the health conscious ones, Kaju Badaam Biscuits and Cashew biscuits for the carefree ones like me. The crunchiness and the flavors remained intact all along.

I tried the Karachi Premium Dates Halwa and it is made with great craftsmanship. The texture is good and the flavors burst out with every bite inside the mouth. It is not sticky like the Mahim Halwa and does not give you a toothache, the sweetness is just perfect.

What needs Improvement:

I tried the Pizza and I did not find it appealing. The Mushroom Pizza was okay and one without mushroom needs a lot of improvement. The onion crunch can’t be felt while eating a Pizza. The crust should be thinner and only the spread above the crust with cheese should speak of the Pizza. The cheese need not be put mercilessly to make it appealing.

I tried the Pasta with red sauce and that too was not appealing to me. It was average. The spiciness was missing completely and the broccoli was slightly overdone.

Finally, the whole experience of eating came to an end with a cup of Tea which made me close my eyes and enjoy the flashbacks I had awhile back. The tea is a must try if you visit the place.

I am told that the Biscuits comprise 70%sale of the shop, cakes and pastries add up to 20% and the Snacks contribute 10% of the sale of the shop.

Suggestion to the management:

Please make the Pasta and Pizza a bit spicy from bland as a person eating there will definitely try sweet, sour cakes, biscuits and pastries before eating something spicy and his/her expectations from the sandwich/pasta/pizza would be with a slight tilt towards being spicy. Being a Chef I can advise you on a friendly note. Please see if this could be incorporated.

Try introducing that extra bit of spice in all the snack items and see the difference.  🙂

Ambiance: 3.5 Star

Service: 4 Star

Food: 4 Star

Overall rating: 4 star

Uttpal K

Copyright © Uttpal K

1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Uttpal K
   2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post

© Uttpal K., all rights reserved.

Copyright Notice:No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Uttpal K who holds the copyright.