Bun(dle)s of Joy

They’re here, they’re hot, they’re sweet and sticky and as good as the original. Well, almost. The buns at Cinnabon Bandra, Mumbai’s first outpost of the American mall chain, are a little more doughy than we’re used to but they still manage to hit the spot.

Located on Pali Naka (also home to Basilico, Pali Village Café and Janata – popular area, this), Cinnabon is squeezed into a tiny space with limited seating. You can eat at one of the plastic tables if you prefer, but take-out is a better option. Just microwave your buns for 15 – 20 seconds when you get home, and they’re as good as new.

Binge-bon

The menu here is limited (they don’t have the chain’s cupcakes, for instance) and entirely drenched in sugar. You can get Cinnabon classics, Minibons, Bites and Stix. These are all essentially the same thing in different shapes and sizes - sweet dough coated with cinnamon and topped with grainy frosting. It’s the kind of food that your taste buds instantly respond to, that you eat more of than you should, and that invariably makes you feel sick after.

Also available is the Caramel Pecanbun, where the cream cheese frosting is swapped out for caramel sauce and topped with pecans. The nuts on ours were soggy with a stale aftertaste, and not half as good as the original. You can also get the over-thick and under-appealing blended frozen drinks, which come in strawberry, mango and mocha flavors, but you might want to consider the cappuccino instead – it’s substandard, but also the one thing at Cinnabon that won’t give you diabetes.

Getting there: Dr KB Hedgewar Road, Pali Naka, near Basilico, buns start at Rs 65.