Old Dhaka is a repository of wonders, some are historical structures, a few sell special delicacies and others are shops or services dating back to the colonial period.
On a rickshaw scouring Luxmibazar, we were looking for a shop which, reportedly, is one of the first bakeries of Dhaka.
Actually, some claim this is the oldest bakery but we do not have enough documents to ascertain that.
However, this much is certain, Prince of Wales Bakery in Luxibazar, just beside St Gregory’s High School and College, has been around for about 150 years.
What!!!
Well, the guys who work at the shop tell me it’s actually 165 but let’s settle for 150.
So, what’s so special about Prince of Wales Bakery?
It’s the name of course, and the logo which, you guessed it, is a crown.
Over the decades, the fame of the bakery has diminished as other more flashy confectionery stores have sprung up.
Yet, we still prefer to come here to buy biscuits, pastries and the famous butter cake, still made following the same recipe introduced at the turn of the last century, enthused one Akbar Ali, a resident of Luxmibazar and a former student of St. Gregory.
The Bakery is not illuminated and neither does it have any prepossessing qualities apart from the name.
However, what it lacks in aesthetics is compensated by the heartwarming hospitality of the people working in it.
As we went, they offered us the famous butter cake with hot tea – a treat indeed!
And then the story unfolded.
This was opened by a Welshman in the mid-19th century, said Muslim Mia who is the pastry chef and has been living in Luxmibazar since the early 70s.
That person sold the shop to a Bengali working here and since then, the same family has been running it, he adds.
Right across the street, the dazzling lights of a modern day fast food and pastry joint playing loud music appeared to be more appealing but Muslim Mia calmly smiles and comments: “with winter comes Christian marriages, New Year parties and other events at the local church and we inevitably get the orders.”
Muslim Mia, a soft spoken bearded man seemed to stress a little on the ‘we’.
I have made 200-400 pound four storied cakes for weddings, Muslim Mia says, adding: “a well-established socially acclaimed Bangladeshi Christian family owning a renowned business conglomerate often places large orders for corporate events.”
The ready-made items are average; however, big orders for an event are prepared with the utmost care, Muslim Mia observes.
Just recently, we supplied 100 cup cheese cakes to a very prominent embassy in Dhaka, the pride in his smile was too pronounced to miss.
I think I knew what he meant!
The store-manager tells me to come back in December to see the rush.
We are deluged by orders of wedding cakes and if the client wants the best, we try to keep up the name of the bakery.
Appreciating the made to order special red and blue boxes of the bakery, it struck me that although this has no connection with the establishments serving the royal family in Britain, the name Prince of Wales works as a sort of a guarantee of heritage and quality.
In Britain, any store supplying the royal household carries a royal warrant and that includes all items from salt to vinegar to wine to butter and buttons.
Many miles away, in a country which was once part of the British Empire, Prince of Wales Bakery carries the same cachet as the real royal warrant.
I bet you will not be able to resist the desire to buy something and take it home in that famous red box emblazoned with the large crown.
After all, no matter how much we denounce imperial Britain, the magnetism/splendour associated royalty never fails to impress us.
