Best Bakery: True to its name?

Best Bakery Review

Best Bakery has been around as long as I can remember [which admittedly is not too long!].  In the typical ‘kid in a candy store’ fashion, I remember going to their Kaloor branch and looking at the various pastries, sweetmeats and cakes at eye level as the counter was about as tall as I was at the time! They also had several other things included branded biscuits and chocolates. The main point of interest however, has always been their range of biscuits. Our favourites were the Salt biscuit and the spicy ‘Masala biscuit’ which I initially was not too fond of when my young taste buds could not take the mild but persistent heat although that eventually outgrew everything else to become my favourite.

Having several branches across the city is a strong point, making their products easily accessible. The Edappally branch even featured a restaurant [now closed] with decent food and possibly the best porottas I have tried. Over the years, they have grown and so have I, to the point that I have to look down at the glass display at the pastries and cakes; in some areas, metaphorically too: the pastries at least no longer inspire the same sense of delight I used to feel. Especially after our taste buds have tasted the remarkable quality of offerings that came first from Breadline at MG Road in the early 2000s [which has since closed down, wonder whether anyone actually remembers that place!] and shortly afterwards: Bread World, which still sticks around. [We are focusing on Kochi and not counting back to really great cakes we have had outside of Kerala years before those popped up too.]

Now after years of refraining from buying any pastries from them, we finally decided to give those another chance and see whether things have changed over the years, and [somewhat inadvertently!] also sample a few new additions. Who am I kidding, the main purpose if you have been paying attention to this point was: to get ourselves some of that delightful masala biscuit! On to the food we go!

Masala Biscuit

The masala biscuit is a real treat for the taste buds assuming you can tolerate a little bit of spice. The biscuit itself is rather perfectly round and has a light but lovely glaze on top. 

It has bits of lovely caramelised onion, black sesame seeds, black pepper, bits of curry leaves and a hint of ginger. Bits of cashew only add to the incredible richness of the biscuit while providing a bit of crunch too. The biscuit itself has an amber-brown colour and a remarkably powdery yet firm texture that breaks nicely. If you can handle a little bit of heat and there is just one thing you must try from here, it has to be this one. If you cannot take any hint of spice, move onto the next item.

Butter Salt Biscuits

Danish Cookies have nothing on this one! The biscuit is not very sweet as most bakery biscuits tend to be and that is where it works: the mild flavour of the biscuit works great with the wonderful grains of saltiness. 

The real highlight is the texture: it is incredibly soft and really powdery. It holds its shape but does not snap clean; it simply crumbles. Other bakeries have tried to match its success but nothing we have tried from anywhere else has even managed to come close. The others ones are either too sweet or the texture is just wrong: usually ending up too crisp. The ones here are the best we have had, anywhere. For the record, this one is free of egg too so it is vegetarian. Use of butter means it has lactose however.

Carrot Cake Loaf

This is a rather new addition that was not there a few decades ago. We tried it only recently however. The exterior looked promising with a mild dampness to the touch and a dark, dark colour on top with noticeable flecks of carrot, dried fruit and nuts distributed in the body of the cake. It had a lovely slightly sweet aroma with a few notes of spice.

When we took a bite, we were pleasantly surprised that it was rather moist, perfect sweetness. This was reminiscent of fresh homemade cakes. The cake was perfectly sweet aided by the dates and the nuts improved the overall texture. This was a definitely a purchase we were happy with and is very economical considering the quality and weight. It has a disclaimer you can see on the box, which states that it contains egg.

Black Forest Pastry

Just out of curiosity, we tried out their Black Forest pastry which used to be the go-to cake for most people for almost any occasion.

AND IT WAS… Still pretty much the same. Bummer. 

The overall mind numbing sweetness of the cake seemed to have generally reduced thankfully but the cream was still rather cheap feeling and the overall combination left a lot to be desired as the cake itself hardly had its own flavour. It still has not caught up with the other bakeries on this front. Other buttercream cakes may work fine as long as they are coined as ‘old-fashioned’ cakes but a black forest should still be a lot better than this in order to bear the name. Sure, even the ones sold in more expensive bakeries are pretty far from the real thing which should have sour cherries and Kirsch. Bloomsbury had one that was close but it was too long back for us to accurately review. I guess you will likely need a German Visa to experience an authentic ‘Schwarzwalder torte’!

To sum it all up:

Biscuits are as great as ever, they remain our all-time favourites

Most pastries still leave room for improvement

They have adapted slightly: the new cakes are well executed

Could improve quality of certain cakes: especially Black Forest.

They are doing well and it would be in their best interests to keep up the quality of their biscuits and savouries high as always.

Best Bakery, true to its name still has the best ‘bakery biscuits’ in the city. Their savoury items are also good enough quality even if it may not be the absolute best available. They remain one of the most iconic bakeries of Kochi and have some unique and delicious offerings that you will not find anywhere else, daresay: in the world. 

Type of Cuisine: Bakery, Desserts, Cakes, Savouries, Snacks
Location

Near Axis Bank, Manimala Road, Edappally.

Parking: Most branches have space for a few cars in front, should not be a problem.

Ambience: Average

Service: Quick, Pack 'n Go!

What we liked/Recommended for:

• Delightfully rustic biscuits. 
• Old-fashioned butter cream cakes. 
• Good quality snacks and savories; much to choose from. 
• Value for money. 

Potential Shortcomings:
Some items still stuck in the past [details above]. Stiff competition. 

Taxes: Included in price, no fat tax applicable.

Phone Number: +91 484 255 5957

Timings: 08:30 - 21:30

Website: https://www.bestbakers.in/

On Zomato: