Eid gift: 5 places in Karachi that offer the best sweets

What better way to express love on Eid than with sweet delights like chocolates, cakes and desi mithai

KARACHI: Eid is upon us! A time to share and express love; while some may opt for subtler ways to express their sentiments, others manifest this love in the form of gifts and presents.

It's only fitting that one chooses the right gift for family and friends on this occasion. While everyone's preferences and definition(s) of a gift differ, here are a few options to help you decide:

Chocolates:Chocolates make the heart grow fonder, not only are they sweet and utterly divine, but they are universally loved by children and adults. Whether you want to give them to your foreign neighbours or your loving aunt, these gifts of sweetness will bring a smile to anyone's face.

Butler's: This modern cafe has a lot to offer, but it is best known for it's chocolates.

Eid specials include a selection of boxes ranging from Rs700-7000, depending upon the number of chocolate pieces you want. And then there are pre-made chocolate baskets which range from Rs2500-9000.

Choice of chocolates are assorted in which you can opt for white, milk and dark.

Although many of the pre-packaged boxes cannot be customised, there are a few which allow you to choose your favourites. These range from Rs300 to Rs4000, depending upon the number of pieces you want.

You can also customise a basket to your liking, place an order today and it will be ready by tomorrow afternoon.

On chaand raat they are open till 4:00am, leaving you plenty of time to decide which chocolate you would like to buy.

On Eid they will be open between 11-12pm till 2/3am.

Lal's: Placed inside beautiful boxes rest the delicious chocolates made by Lal's. They look elegant and pretty and taste just as good.

They have three new boxes for Eid, one is has different shades of blue and has an intricate Sindh design on it, one is pure gold with a brown lace and the other one is brown with a thin gold frame around the box.

One 9 pc box costs Rs1,000
The  16pc box costs Rs1,700
And the 20pc box costs Rs3,000

With each box you have the option to choose from the assorted list of chocolate flavours Lal's has to offer.

On chaand raat they're open till after midnight, around 1am.

On Eid their timings are from 12pm till 12/1am

Cakes:People love eating cake, not only does it allow generous servings, it makes the life of your host a lot easier and she can serve it right there and then! But it's hard to find cakes with a good balance and the rights flavours. Might we suggest a few that have dominated our sweet tooth?

The Riding Hood Bakery: They are known for making innovative cakes which taste absolutely delightful.

Their Eid special are three cake flavours, Malt, Fudge and Coffee - Rs1,250 for a 2.5lb cake, normally priced at Rs1,750.

People's Favourite: Children have voted and their favourites are the Malt and Fudge cakes.

However, their most popular cake aside form the deal is the Ferrero Rocher, and because it is the most sought after flavour, Riding Hood decided to make this decadent cake richer, more intense with more chocolate. The new generously rich one costs Rs2,500, while its old counterpart, the classic costs Rs1,700.

If you're not a fan of their Ferrero (which will be surprising to say the least), then go for their Belgian, which is the second most loved cake at this red bakery. It will also cost you Rs2,500.

Pie in the Sky: Who doesn't love a piece of heaven? Pie in the Sky is known for rolling out simple cakes which leave your taste buds tingling.

Although they don't have any Eid deals, this little bakery/cafe iss filled with cakes ready to take home.

People's Favourite: Malt cake is the clear winner and dominates the fridge at the bakery. Fudge is a close second and the New York cheesecake is at the third place.

Their 2lb Malt cake costs about Rs1,190 and their 2lb Fudge cake costs Rs990.

They're open till after midnight/ 1am tonight. And on Eid day they will be open from 8am till 2am.

While you can't order a custom designed cake, you can pre-order their regular cakes even on Eid, but by the look of their stock, seems like they won't be running out soon!

Lal's:  Known for their delectable desserts, Lal's caters to everyone's sweet tooth.

For Eid they have introduced new cake flavours which are only available for this special occasion. You can choose from a selection of Dark Chocolate, Triple Layer, Strawberry, Caramel, Fudge and Red Velvet (although this one is available all year round, it is a popular choice among many).

People's Favourite: The most bought cakes are the Triple Layer, Red Velvet and Dark Chocolate.

Price of all the cakes except for the Triple Layer is: Rs2,575

The Triple Layer, however, is super rich and has an extra dose of chocolate which is why it is priced at Rs3,160

If you have to gift a number of relatives and need to place a huge order of cakes, Lal's is catering to bulk orders. You just need to let them know one hour in advance and you won't have to worry about a thing!

On chaand raat they're open till after midnight, around 1am.

On Eid their timings are from 12pm to 12/1am.

Mithai:We were introduced to these sugary bites before we could even walk. A tradition in every household, mithai is the mark of festivity and celebration, you can never go wrong with these sweet delights.

Sindh Sweets: Located in Khaada Market, this sweet shop serves almost about every desi mithai.

People's Favourite: The assorted box, which mostly includes gulab jaman, chum-chum, barfi and their Sony kalakand - A Sindh Sweets special.

Their serving comes in different sized boxes: 1/4kg, 1/2kg, 1kg and 2kg.

And their prices range from Rs520 for the regular sweets, like gulab jaman, barfi, etc and Rs640 for their special mithai like the Sony kalakand.

Sohny Sweets: This place offers delicious mithai that can be eaten at just about any time.

People's Favourite: For desi sweets, people mostly go for assorted boxes, gulab jaman being the most-liked and preferred sweet, followed by barfi, chum chum, ladoo (motichoor and besan) and balushahi.

Their boxes range from 1/4kg to 5kg. They even offer to do baskets of 10kg.

They are open till 4am on chaand raat, and will be open from 9am till 12am on Eid.