What was once a godown at Kamaraj Road that used to supply bread, salt biscuits, buns, and rusks in 1902, now stands as a major cultural landmark in central Bengaluru. Even after 120 years, the hot cross buns during Christmas or the mutton brain puff during Ramadan at Albert Bakery still tingles the taste buds of dessert and snack lovers in Bengaluru.
Mohammad Sabir, who is the managing director of Albert Bakery and the fourth generation businessman, believes that ‘keeping it simple and affordable’ is the key factor behind the bakery becoming a culinary landmark known for its lip-smacking desserts.
“It was my grandfather Mohammad Suleman who started the godown in 1902. However, in 1921 we moved to Frazer Town and converted the godown into a bakery. We realised bread and buns were part of the daily livelihood for people and that is mostly the reason why we wanted to open a bakery,” said Sabir.
Khova naan.
“Since the bakery was opened during the British rule, my grandfather felt that keeping a name that is Western would be more appropriate and popular and therefore it was named ‘Albert’. However, it is not associated with the name of any of the British rulers or officers.”
His father Nawab Jan added a culinary twist by introducing a range of desserts and snacks that came with new stuffings and flavours. The famous khova naan—a soft and crunchy filo pastry—was first introduced here at Albert Bakery and it is now available in many varieties like mutton khova, coconut khova, and sweet khova.
The bakery is also famous for its other snacks like mutton brain puff, veg sandwich, egg pudding, chicken mayonnaise bun, mutton tandoori roll, chicken swiss roll, chicken shami kabab, banana grape muffin, and chocolate pastries among others.
Mutton biriyani puff
In what appears to be an unusual practice, the bakery has followed a tradition of opening its doors to its customers from 3 pm every day. “The mornings are closed for customers, but open for our bakers who are onto baking the fresh desserts for the day. We only allow our customers from 3 pm after everything is kept ready to be served with freshness,” says Sabir, who also exports varieties of khova naan to Saudi Arabia.
Albert Bakery is also the go-to shop for people during Christmas. From hot cross buns to plum cakes and roast cookies to marzipan cakes, Sabir calls it a celebration of desserts during Christmas.
Sabir, a hotel management graduate, says that with changing times comes new decisions. “We did not open any outlet for 120 years because we wanted to maintain the originality. However, in the coming days, we are thinking of expanding and are planning to open a new branch of Albert Bakery in Bengaluru soon which will have some surprises in its culinary spread. We will disclose our plans only later,” Sabir adds.