Cream team

Slowly emerging from the shadows created by its more popular neighbouring cuisines such as Greek and Mediterranean is Middle Eastern fare The desserts especially have been inching along Mumbairsquos everevolving culinary scene one baklava at a time Speaking of baklava we recently stumbled upon a new interloper that is ready to topple over the filo pastrybased baklava with its fine kataifi pastry strands Enter the kunafa Known multifariously as knafeh kunafe and konafa with variants found across Greece Turkey and the Balkans this sweet is a calorific oneThe special rotary kunafa burnersMade with semolinabased kataifi pastry that is soaked in an orange blossomsugar syrup the kunafa is usually layered with the traditional kaymak clotted cream or a whitebrine Palestinian cheese called Nabulsi Once baked atop a special rotary kunafa stove the round and sometimes square pastry is then topped with nuts fried in gheeAt the newly launched Kunafa World mdash the first Mumbai outpost of the popular Bengaluru chain mdash thatrsquos housed in a tiny takeawaycumthreetable dinein spot along a small lane off the bustling Linking Road in Bandra the traditional kunafa gets a modern makeover Here one finds toppings like the de rigueur Nutella and its newest competitor mdash Lotus Biscoff We cannot resist this gooey slightly cinnamony flavoured spread and ask that the first kunafa we try be topped with itClassic Lotus Biscoff kunafaWhile at first the slightly confused counter staff tells us that this wonrsquot be possible as theyrsquove run out of it the manager quickly manages to locate a jar of the spread Our classic Lotus Biscoff kunafa Rs 420 is worth the wait We can even see it being prepared in front of us over the rotary burners behind the counter Oozing thick unctuous cream thatrsquos not too sweet the crisp kataifi pastry shines through and scores for both its taste and textureThe crunchy cheese kunafa we order next Rs 230420 for SL size has a totally different texture and taste profile from the classic one Baked in an oven this one is supposed to be eaten within minutes of being taken out wersquore informed This suggestion works well as we tuck into the molten Nabulsi cheesefilled pastry thatrsquos enhanced with a drizzle of the saffronsugar syrup served alongside it Craving for strong Turkish coffee or even a glass of water after all that sugar wersquore left high and dry No drinks are served here wersquore toldCrunchy cheese kunafaWersquore disappointed once again when wersquore told that we cannot taste the unique looking cone kunafas foureight pieces for Rs 290520 that are filled with Nutella and dusted with powdered pistachios This despite us having anonymously called up the outlet earlier in the day to make sure they were open and that all the items on the concise menu were available to order We get our Nutella fill from one of our four mini kunafa foureight for R385690 thatrsquos once again generously filled with cream with lashings of the chocohazelnut spread A plain cream one a caramel one and one topped with fried cashew nuts complete the quartet that we pack up to take back home They not only travel well but also taste fresh hours later when warmed up in the microwave for a minute and drenched in a shower of syrupy goodnessAt Kunafa World shop 3 Simple Apartments 16th road Bandra WestTime 1230 pm to 10 pmCall 7304605186