New Worthing bakery to offer ‘ever-changing’ continental flavours from Madrid to Mumbai

Madrid to Mumbai Artisan Bakery, owned by Javier Navasques, began serving customers on Saturday, April 1 in Heene Road, at the edge of the West End.

Hove resident Javier, who was born in Madrid, announced the news on Facebook last month that he would be opening his newest bakery in Worthing – with an ‘ever-changing variety’ of fresh bread and artisan bakes, sweet and savoury options.

He said that Madrid to Mumbai would be ‘drawing an imaginary bridge’ between this country and South America and their ‘love of the Spanish sweet bread ring that ‘we Spaniards like to have over Christmas’.

Javier said ‘business has been great’ and ‘very well received’ so far in Worthing.

“People are craving something like this,” he said. "There are not many bakeries around.

"Madrid to Mumbai is a way of expressing a food journey, with different style of cooking.

"I have very traditional Spanish sweet bread and Italian cakes.

“I don’t want to be bored and do the exact same thing, day in day out. Food should be entertaining and fun.

"This is my heritage. It is just myself that runs it for now and I want to keep prices reasonable.”

The food at Madrid to Mumbai is made from scratch and served fresh on the day. The Spanish sweet bread ring is only available for a limited time.

Javier said: “This one from Madrid to Mumbai is made with Marriage’s Flour organic flour, free range eggs, cinnamon infused whole milk, orange and lemon zest and juice, dark rum, orange blossom water, cane sugar and butter, topped with almonds, the sweet ones, and with blue poppy seeds, the savoury ones.

“Fillings available for the sweet ones are Chantilly cream, Clementine and lemon marmalade from the queen of marmalades, Perfectly Preserved, or whipped dark chocolate cream.”

I went for the savoury option and it was bursting with delicious flavours. It was filled with spicy chorizo, whipped cream cheese and basil, red chilli, organic tomato slices and rocket – which complimented each other perfectly. I can safely say it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever tasted.

The venue itself was in a beautiful location, near the seafront, and it has so much potential to become a popular place for locals to grab a bite to eat for lunch.

Javier explained that his previous venture in 2020 – a café in Ham Road, East Worthing – was not successful, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I turned it into a bakery overnight but the footfall wasn’t great,” Javier said. “I decided to move the business home and work in markets for a few months last year.

"I’ve been on the lookout for a property since I closed the other one. It’s not easy to find properties.

“And then I found this great spot. Last Saturday (April 8), I baked my first batch of bread before 9am and, within minutes, it was gone.

"I put a sign by the glass telling customers when the next batch would be ready by. I had queues ten minutes before.”

Find out more about Madrid to Mumbai on Facebook and Instagram.

Have you read?: In photos: the top 10 restaurants in West Sussex, according to OpenTable

West Sussex walk with photos and video to guide you: Clapham Wood circular with bluebells and glorious views

Sussex residents will receive an emergency alert on their phones this weekend – here's all you need to know