Will Mumbai drool over NYC’s cupcakes?

Vanilla chocolate cupcake

It's no surprise that a long queue greets us as we approach the newly opened, much-hyped Magnolia Bakery in Bandra. The flagship store in Mumbai is a 2,300 sq ft, 80-seater that includes ground and a mezzanine floor. Large crowds are queueing up to get a slice of cake that has been immortalised in pop culture since the 1990s. "Do you really want to stand in a queue for a cupcake?" my partner asks, keen to turn around. The line is moving quickly, I assure him. Honestly, it's a crawl.

Patrons browse the offerings at the bakery. Pics/Satej Shinde

The bakery chain arrived in India, courtesy Spago Foods in 2019, and opened outlets in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, before entering Mumbai. What makes a small West Village bakery in Manhattan (established in 1996), become an institution, a tourist destination in the USA, and now an international chain with outposts across cities including Dubai, Amman, Manila, Istanbul, and now, Mumbai? This writer has always found food to be a key link in literature and pop culture, be it covert meetings in the Secret Seven series where delicious homemade lemonade and cookies are served, burgers whipped up at Pop Tates in The Archies comic series, or even Jane Austen's writing where she made romance sound as delicious as scones topped with clotted cream.

Classic banana pudding

It was season three of Sex And The City where Carrie Bradshaw and Miranda Hobbes had yet another heart-to-heart chat about the new love in the former's life. It was hard to miss the large cupcake with the candy pink frosting at Magnolia. What is it that a giant cupcake can't possibly solve? Over the years, the bakery - which is also given credit for having inspired the cupcake craze of the '90s - was spotted in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) where Emily must rush to the bakery for Nate's birthday. To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021) also paid tribute to the city landmark when Lara Jean and Peter were excited to stop by the bakery on their trip to New York. During our chats with our family members in the USA, when we mentioned the bakery opening in Mumbai, the banana pudding got the unanimous vote.

Snickers icebox bar

Inside the bakery, panels of white and the pastel green shades complement each other. There are quartz countertops, white brick tiles, and monochrome hexagonal floor tiles. Our favourites are the long, large glass counters that allow you a close look at the tempting fare, while the staff hurriedly note down the orders on their tab. There are cupcakes, cheesecakes, cookies, brownies and puddings. There's eggless ice cream and a coffee machine too. We tried the linzer bar (Rs 220), a nutty sweet bar made with raspberry filling and crumbly almond topping.

Linzer bar

The crust is delightful. The key lime icebox bar (Rs 380) is perfect. It combines a graham cracker crust with tangy custard filling. Not cloyingly sweet, the flavour of the lime is well balanced without being overbearing. The snickers icebox bar (Rs 380) with a chocolate wafer crust layered with peanut butter, cream cheese and whipped cream filling, topped with pieces of Snickers, was delicious; however, the vanilla cupcake with the chocolate frosting (Rs 175) was too sweet.

Classic tres leches

The classic banana pudding (Rs 350) is worth the hype. This writer isn't a fan of the fruit, but we polish off half the generous serving. We wash the desserts down with an iced mocha (Rs 130), Darjeeling tea served in a cute potli bag (Rs 180), and an Americano (Rs 160). The array of desserts on display are tempting enough to tease us to plan a return, but we cannot leave without indulging in the classic tres leches (Rs 435). It is cold, moist, creamy and the soft sponge cake drenched in a trio of milk is comforting and rewarding. The generous serving ensures that it's more than sufficient for the two of us. When we return home, our neighbour notices the doggie bag from the bakery, and shrieks aloud, "The NYC one? It's here!"

The browsing window of the bakery filled with its desserts

The hype might be here to stay. While the bakery has experimented with mango desserts in their outlets across India in the past, it will be interesting to gauge if they continue to innovate with seasonal produce and local flavours to survive the stiff competition from some of Bandra's favourite and old-time bakeries.

Magnolia Bakery
Timings: 12 noon to 11 pm (open all days)
At: Maqba Heights, CTS F/862, Pali Road, Bandra West
Call: 9009166214

'''' Exceptional, ''' Excellent, '' very Good, ' Good, Average. Magnolia Bakery didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals.