Made first at the Amba Vilas Palace with generous amounts of ghee, sugar, gram flour, Mysore pak was the result of head chef Kakasura Madappa’s quest to make something unusual for the Maharaja. The Maharaja loved it so much that he asked Madappa to open a sweet shop outside the premises of the palace. The recipe has been fine-tuned and altered through the years but the original sweet is still available at Guru Sweets in Devaraja Market run by Kumar and Shivanand, great-grandsons of Madappa. Photo Courtesy: iStock

Ramashray
Clearly, one piece is never enough to satiate cravings for this melt-in-mouth dessert, so many on their way out or while waiting in queues at Ramashray order Mysore pak. They have two variants: ghee and milk and both are equally delicious. 

Price: Rs 800 per kg onwards
Available at:  Shreeji Sadan, opposite Matunga Station East

Sri Krishna Sweets
Most people we asked referred us back to this multi-chain outlet and swore by its taste and texture. As its packaging says, melts your heart; we’d agree, it does.

Price: Rs 82 for 100 gms
Available at: Chembur, Vashi, Mulund and Matunga

Bombay Sweet Shop 
They offer two innovative versions of the Mysore pak, including the kaapi pak that brings together love for the traditional sweet and a strong cup of joe! It is topped with a dash of sea salt and white and black sesame seeds. The badam pak is flavoured with badam milk and topped with a shimmery gold almond flake.

Price: Rs 650 for a box of 9 pieces
Available at: www.bombaysweetshop.com

Mani’s Lunch Home
While the queue outside is for meals served on a plantain leaf, on days that  Mysore pak is served as dessert, we’ve seen people pack some to go too. Their ghee, we are told, is sourced all the way from Coimbatore.

Price: Rs 640 per kg
Available at: Komal Building, 86, ground floor, 2nd Road, Chembur