Sweet whiffs: Misquita Bakery opens doors to residents of Clifton, DHA

It is located near Café Clifton on Saba Commercial.

KARACHI: This pastry is too good. I have to tell my wife to come here, said a customer as he left the new branch of Misquita Bakery with chocolates and chocolate-flavoured sweet delights.

Famous for its steaming hot cross buns for Good Friday, Saddar’s famous Misquita Bakery has now opened a branch near Café Clifton on Saba Commercial. “We have opened a branch here as we wanted to expand our business due to the increasing demand of our customers,” explained the owner of the bakery, Syed Haider Abbas Zaidi. “When the DHA and Clifton clients came to us in Saddar it would cause a lot of traffic issues as the roads would get blocked.”

The new bakery opened its doors last Friday. The whiff of freshly-baked biscuits and bread hung in the air with mouth-watering strawberry cheesecake and mocha coffee occupying the fridge.

The original bakery, named after a Goan, JC Misquita, dates back to 1939. Zaidi’s father, who worked there, took over in the 1970s and moved it to its present location at Haider Manzil near CID Headquarters in Saddar.

The bakery opens up early morning after Fajr, and closes at 1am in the morning. This allows people to start their breakfast with fresh bread and croissants, and also end their day with delicious dessert.

Zaidi said that he can’t promise if the new branch would be able to offer hot cross buns on Good Friday as the set up is new. However, he assured of a new variety of items that will be offered.

Neatly packed Baklava is being sold for Rs800 per kilogramme while a salad bar of fresh fruits and vegetables is also being offered which, according to the owner, is unavailable in other bakeries.

Moreover, the bakery offers 25 varieties of biscuits, including puff biscuits and apple day which are made of butter. Around 14 to 15 kinds of cookies are being offered in flavours like coconut and almond.

The owners said that since their Christian wedding cakes were popular, they would soon be taking it to the next level and use machines to make them. For those worried about their calorie intake, the bakery also offers sugar-free and diet biscuits as well as brown bread.

While competition runs high amongst the numerous bakeries of the area, Zaidi says that Misquita Bakery cares a lot about maintaining its quality. Zaidi said that the bakery remains open 364 days a year, and is only shut on one day, that is, Muharram 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.