Amidst Reliving Childhood: A Day at Nostalgia Bakery In Bandra, Mumbai!

The ever-long revamping of old buildings, particularly bungalows into cafes and restaurants, is now an old story in Bandra. Be it Chapel Road or Hill Road, the century-old bungalows have been getting converted for commercial purposes. The one new in line is a 1914 building, now known as Nostalgia Bakery. Although, this one aims at rekindling the old charm, not by going to the last century, but surely to the 90s, the decade we were transported to while sitting here on a rainy afternoon. 

Located on Bandra's Hill Road, beside the popular Yacht Bar, Nostalgia, a brainchild of Ranji Trophy cricketer and restaurateur Sinan Khader along with his uncle Salim Khader stands as a quirky, vibrant bakery from the outside, confined to just the ground floor while the facade of the building gives a contrast to the newly-opened bakery. However, that ground floor is the throwback to the 90's charm with endless items on display. We entered the bakery and found comic books and video game devices on the right side of the earthen stack. Other parts of the bakery displayed old transistors, digital cameras, vinyl records, posters, and coasters of classic Bollywood movies like Sholay. There were also handwritten scrapbook notes and various other vintage artifacts.

That long, forgotten rehash of childhood!

Within a small space, Nostalgia houses a big table with wooden benches along with small round tables and seating designed for confined seating. The big table we sat at got us to peek outside through the glass where the beauty of rains just appeared as fresh as our beverages and snacks. Again, a nostalgic trip to the old-school favourites, we started with the Bun Maska and Chai (shouldn't it be a crime to call it tea here!) while exploring our favourite comic and movie scenes from the 90s displayed from the paper kept under the glass. Both the items turned out to be just what we craved for as we sat amidst the aromatic environment of the bakery in this corner of Bandra on the day of the incessant rains!

From the display of the bakery items, we picked up the Egg Puff, Chicken Quiches, and Chicken Samosa and nothing could disappoint us. While the puff was fluffy from the inside, Chicken Quiches had the right crunch to our taste and the samosas were as much crispy as they were soft. All that could be added to it was the perfect bling of Milo Host Chocolate - yes, the one we left back in childhood! The Pallonji's Soda could also have been a good idea had it not been a rainy day, but we did not have a bad day with it either!

All this was an experience to cherish at Nostalgia where we sat beside the the poster of the Beatles and the Harry Potter books that almost looked incunables due to their condition but that was the charm we relished along with the food. However, Nostalgia can also be a little uncomfortable with its limited seating and congestion where there is a rare chance that you get the only big table there when in a group of more than two, and hence, is definitely not a place to loaf about. 

Be that as it may, this bakery also has a redundancy in its design; an earthen-finished interior which has become a common feature in every cafe and a restaurant next door. Nostalgia, although, has an added attribute of rough-plastered ceilings to give the place a whimsical touch straight from the bygone decade - that makes it all worthwhile in the corner of the busy Hill road. And, if anything can be added, it is the magnanimous gestures of the staff here that give a saccharine stay, even if it is a short one!