Someone mentioned chicken patties the other day, and the talk, naturally, veered around to Wenger’s. Some friends thought the best patties were to be found in Flury’s in Kolkata, but I don’t think anything can beat the warm lamb and chicken patties of Delhi’s best known confectionery.
But in this festive season, when everybody wants to bite into something sweet or savoury, Wenger’s is like Kumbh Mela. And that is why I have been relying on small neighbourhood pastry shops to fill me with joy.
Actually, our own little shop called Breadz or Chawla’s, in Mayur Vihar Phase 2, is not bad at all. The young man called Abhishek who runs it now is fond of baking, and they do sell some nice varieties of patties, pastries and breads. But I was told about a tiny place called Cake Heart in Gautam Nagar and thought I needed to support some very, very small and medium enterprises.
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So, one day when the sun was shining and the fog was still to set in, I took the Metro to Green Park. I jumped into an auto there. I was told to look out for a Hanuman Mandir in Gautam Nagar (which, as you would know, is opposite Gulmohar Park). I spotted the temple, and found Cake Heart (phone no 9711-979-979) next to it.
It’s a small place, with cakes, pastries and savouries placed in counters. They sell pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, burgers and hotdogs as well. But I wanted pastries and patties, so looked at the comprehensive menu, and asked for an assortment of pastries – black forest, chocolate truffle and pineapple — and some chicken patties. The pastries are mostly for ₹30, while the blackberry, chocolate truffle and fresh fruit ones are for ₹ 40. The chicken patties (as well as the mushroom patties) are for ₹ 25, while the paneer ones are for ₹20, and veg patties for ₹ 15.
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I brought some home, for we had a quite a few people visiting. So everybody had the pastries and the patties, drank some coffee, and felt quite festive.
Of course, as I said, I am a Wenger’s man. Still, this small place in Gautam Nagar isn’t bad at all. The pastries were not very different from the kinds that you get in Bengali Market, or elsewhere: creamy, chocolaty and soft.
Fillings matter
I like my patties to be filled to the brim with the good stuff, and Cake Heart’s patties had a nice stuffing of chicken, lightly spiced and tasty. The outer pastry was good, too, neither too greasy, nor too dry. It’s also quite a large-sized one.
Pies and pastries make me nostalgic, for they remind me of my food sojourns in Manali and McLeodganj. The German Bakery in Manali had the best cinnamon rolls and walnut strudel, and McLeodganj’s Chocolate Log café, placed on the edge of a mountain, had great savouries and coffee.
A happy trend
I am now happy to see that little confectionery shops are mushrooming across Delhi. I am all for people who want to spread some joy into the lives of the city’s often troubled people.
Like Kolkata, where every neighbourhood has a sweet shop, I think one day Delhi will have a confectionery in every locality. The more, the merrier, I feel. As the old man said (or nearly said), let a thousand patties bake.