Crown’s: A 139-year-old Bakery in Coonoor

Coonoor town which is the lower part of Coonoor is crowded not just with people but with many shops and markets. It is easy to not notice this small bakery which dates back more than 100 years and still holds the same recipe and methods.

The fact that the bakery is featured in the renowned newspaper, "The Hindu" says a lot about this bakery's reputation. Like I mentioned in my previous blog, finding out Crown's bakery was a sheer accident while exploring the market in Coonoor.

The Crown's bakery dates back to 1880 and the interiors and everything else is capable of giving a feel of those times even today. The type of containers used to store the bakery items and the wooden shelves, all of them reminds of a long gone era.

My first try was this yellow honey cake topped with coconut flakes. There were chocolates from the King star chocolate brand, the one which is famous in the Nilgiris for their homemade chocolates.

I also packed a chocolate biscuit type snack, somehow I forgot the name of it! It was dry and we were heading to the old market in Coonoor from the bakery. It was in the morning, hot and sunny weather.

It was wrapped in this butter paper and I loved the packaging. The whole of the Nilgiris is trying their best to reduce the use of plastic and I was happy to see those changes happening.

I am not a fan of those cakes though. It was very dry and maybe I was eating that after climbing many stairs. It wasn't bad though. Not too sweet or anything, I may have enjoyed it with a tea or a coffee.

When we were in the bakery in the morning, everyone was so busy packing something as per the order. I was curious what it was they got so many orders.

Varkey or Ooty varkey was the best selling snack there. Even though I saw "Ooty Varkey" written everywhere in Ooty and in front of other bakeries, I didn't know what it was.

It was a crispy baked snack mainly enjoyed with tea. All of the snacks were freshly baked and arrived on a daily basis and we could see how fast they were sold out.

It was not just the baked items, the bakery has new packed products too. But more than just a bakery, it was also a place where some people came to hangout and have a chit chat, like this old guy in the picture.

He was very helpful in telling us about the bakery and a little about the place. Another interesting collection inside the bakery was the clocks and the glass jars that date back to the time of the bakery or older.

A few things can't be taken for its monetary value. Such a piece was the glass jars behind the glass shelf. Those imported glass jars date back to the time of World war. All of these pieces are very well maintained and kept in the bakery.

After we had something from the bakery in the morning we headed to the market and after a tiresome walk around the market we ended up in Crown's bakery to buy few more snacks to takeaway.

But this time when we came in the evening things were a little different. Big baskets of freshly baked bread had just arrived and they had just taken that inside the bakery and kept outside.

More baked goodies and we were there at the right time.

Those bread reminded me of how boring the packed ones are and brought a lot of childhood memories. My father used to buy these kind of loafs and non-pasteurized butter during our childhood. I remember the first time I had the bread and butter in college and came to know there's a different butter too, the very salty one!

There is one "Devaki" diary shop in Thrissur, "Goodluck cafe" in Pune and I'm not sure if "Kayani bakery" has it. These are the only places I have got that butter. So, I was more than happy to find the butter here in Crown's bakery.

I always try to find a place where I can get the butter that is not pasteurized and it is not that easy. There are a very few shops I have come across so far in the places I have lived.

Crown's bakery also have these mawa cakes, which are the simple cupcakes which tastes delicious. I used to love them from Kayani bakery in Pune. It was a pleasant surprise to see how these two bakeries which were established during those times still have the similar products and stuck to those old recipes.

They also had biscuits and cookies and other cakes. The aroma from the freshly baked food is something that makes you really hungry, in a good way.

Choosing the bread was a little confusing. One had this glazing top which was the sweet one and the other one the plain one, or, did I forgot that too!! Anyway, I was told the one with the glazing top is good and to try. And I ended up buying both and liked both.

The evening crowd in the shop was different and it was very busy with more orders coming in. But, we were so happy with finding the bakery and packing food home.

For me, this was the breakfast and evening snack for the day and the next day's breakfast. The bread tasted great with the fresh avocado spread too :)

I would really recommend you find this place if you are in Coonoor.

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