Sugar and spice: Cinnabon rolls into town with sweet menu

Cinnabon offers three flavours: classic with cream-cheese icing, chocolate and pecan. Other items include mini-cinnamon rolls, lattes, cinnamon sticks and slushies. Servers, shown here, went around with samples at the launch Fridays. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI: All Nauman could think of as he bit into the soft, cinnamon-flavoured dough was that it was worth the wait. The popular cinnamon rolls of Cinnabon, originating from Seattle, US, are now available in Karachi at the Dolmen City mall with another franchise due to open in a few weeks at the Atrium Mall.

“I had this [Cinnabon] about six months ago in London,” Nauman said. “I’m glad they have finally opened in Karachi. Their signature classic roll is by far the best,” he added. Nauman and his sister Huma along with 500 other people were invited to the launch of the brand on Friday.

Cinnabon chose Lahore as the location for its first franchise in Pakistan in 2010. At present, it has two outlets in Punjab’s capital. “We were planning to open one in Karachi for a few months but just had to work out all the details,” the CEO for Cinnaworld, Yasser Khawaja, told The Express Tribune. “It is just a great brand, its unique taste, in my opinion, is very well suited for our taste buds.”

But there were some mothers who were cautious about feeding their children ‘too much sugar’. “It is definitely very tasty but not something I would let my son have every day without fear of him developing a sugar problem,” mused guest Mrs Iftikhar.

On the menu, Cinnabon offers three flavours of its specialised rolls, classic smothered with cream-cheese icing, chocolate and pecan. Other items include mini-cinnamon rolls, lattes, cinnamon sticks and iced beverages (slushies). A single cinnamon roll costs between Rs250 and Rs310, depending on the flavour of your choice. A box of six costs Rs1,320. A mini roll is priced between Rs175 and Rs230 while a pack of nine will cost Rs1,510.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2012.