American in London seeks New York-style bagels

May 12, 2011 6:16 AM

Where in London can I find decent New York-style bagels?

I'm an American living in London and one of the things I miss most about the US is the food. I love New York-style bagels and grew up with the tradition of eating bagels while reading the paper on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I can't do this here and I miss it.

Is there anywhere in this city where I can find a decent approximation of the New York bagel? I'd prefer somewhere close to where I live (NW1), but I am willing to go anywhere, pretty much. I am desperate.

This question was asked here previously, but I'm hoping things have changed after six years. I've seen the bagel places on Brick Lane and they are not what I'm looking for. I just came across this piece and will be trying that place out shortly. I've asked friends here and ended up with the vague suggestion of going to Golder's Green and exploring, but I'm not particularly optimistic about that (these friends don't know proper bagels and I don't know Golder's Green).

For the record, my favorite bagel place in New York is Murray's Bagels at 6th & 13th. I was raised on Bethesda Bagels (DC area), though I think they've gone downhill in recent years.

Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted, tested, and reviewed in a follow-up here.

posted by Put the kettle on to Food & Drink (31 answers total)

Where in London can I find decent New York-style bagels?

You cannot, in the same way you can't get authentic fish and chips in Boston or amazing BBQ in Wales or real-deal deep fried Mars bars outside Glasgow, despite what anyone living in any of those places will tell you about their local joints. They may be great but they are not the same. In terms of bagels, the water is different, the altitude is different, the style is different and in fact the milling process for the flour is different. It will not happen.

I am so very sorry to tell you this but the best I was able to do, even with perfect access to both Brick Lane and Golder's Green, was the frozen Broadway Bagels from Tesco. The Everything variety covered a multitude of sins when toasted, and the size and texture was acceptable.

Background: I am a native New Yorker and I grew up between H&H Bagels and Zabar's. I moved to London for 10 years, where I failed continually in this quest. Abandon hope. Ignore the natives who tell you they have found your answer. They know not of what they speak.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:25 AM on May 12, 2011 [7 favorites]

The Chowhound UK community is mostly American expats in London.

I haven't been, but a few New Yorkers recommend to go to Golders Green and in particular, Carmelli's and Daniel's.
posted by vacapinta at 6:28 AM on May 12, 2011

Here's what people said the last time someone asked this.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:42 AM on May 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

That is in the OP, MC.
posted by proj at 6:44 AM on May 12, 2011

Yeah, I'm with DarlingBri on this. When I lived in the UK, I searched far and wide for a single Real Bagel and never found one. My solution was to learn to make bagels myself. A few of the necessary ingredients are a little work to track down, but it's worth it.
posted by Spinneret at 6:45 AM on May 12, 2011

I live in Brum, but making bagels at home is easy. Even I can do it (but don't tell my mom). The biggest problem in London is water quality. You can overcome the problem by making Montreal bagels.

http://www.weekendbrewer.com/Cooking/bagels.htm
posted by parmanparman at 6:59 AM on May 12, 2011

Mentioned in the last thread but worth repeating. Beigel Bake on Brick Lane. Traditional Jewish bakery open 24 hours. Best served with cream cheese.

Having said that, my personal favourite is the humble Bagel Factory, but I'm not sure how their products compare to the NY experience. I'd be very interested to know, though.
posted by londonmark at 7:08 AM on May 12, 2011

you can't get authentic fish and chips in Boston

Never mind fish and chips, a relatively new addition to the local cuisine, but you can't find decent New York-style bagels in Boston, either. And don't get me started on the pizza.
posted by jsavimbi at 7:09 AM on May 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Never mind fish and chips, a relatively new addition to the local cuisine, but you can't find decent New York-style bagels in Boston, either. And don't get me started on the pizza.

New Haven style pizza is damn tasty.
posted by parmanparman at 7:13 AM on May 12, 2011

Response by poster: I lived in Boston for three years and I couldn't find proper New York bagels there either, jsavimbi. Sigh.
posted by Put the kettle on at 7:16 AM on May 12, 2011

Not to derail but for those of us for whom this is the closest we've ever got to a new york bagel - how are they different?
posted by missmagenta at 7:22 AM on May 12, 2011

Not a direct answer to your quesiton, but one thing to also consider is that there's been stories and theories floating around that the reason New York pizza taste the way they do is because of New York water. To the point that I know of pizza places outside of New York that will ship in water from New York to make their dough. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing might be at work here. While might be the same case where you can probably find decent New York-style boiled first type of bagels in other cities, one that tastes like a bagel you'd buy in New York might be a bit tough.
posted by kkokkodalk at 7:27 AM on May 12, 2011

this is the closest we've ever got to a new york bagel

You poor savage.

Unfortunately, for years of not living stateside, I was forced to consume Lender's "bagels", which were best kept frozen and then forcefully pried open with a knife and placed in a toaster. There was no available method to consume them untoasted.

It's like anything else embroidered into the fabric of a certain locale, whether it be pad thai, ceviche, the burrito, chicken tikka or weisswurst: it cannot be replicated anywhere else.
posted by jsavimbi at 7:32 AM on May 12, 2011

If you're really lucky you'll find some Polish-style bagels. About the size of a fist and approximately as soft, these are delightful.

And to correct DarlingBri, you won't find a proper deep-fried mars bar outside Stonehaven. Glasgow was a latecomer to that game, but we'll take the credit for the chip roll and the deep-fried macaroni cheese pie. You're welcome.
posted by scruss at 7:37 AM on May 12, 2011

The broader question may be where in New York can one find a decent bagel anymore? Answer: make your own.
posted by caddis at 7:41 AM on May 12, 2011

Response by poster: missmagenta:

They should be somewhat crispy (and preferably shiny and almost lightly golden in color) on the outside and chewy on the inside. I'm not sure how exactly to describe the texture, but it's denser than a typical loaf of bread -- closer to the texture of something like sourdough bread than to white bread. My favorite kind is poppy and my favorite poppy bagels are covered in seeds rather than just having a few here and there. My favorite ones are also huge (compared to, say, the Brick Lane ones). When I was in New York, I found that you could generally (not always, but most of the time) tell what a bagel was going to taste like by its appearance.

They should look something like this.

Supermarket bagels need to be toasted to taste OK and they still don't taste like proper bagels.
posted by Put the kettle on at 7:50 AM on May 12, 2011

In 2005, when I first lived in Birmingham I was lucky enough to live in a flat with a vegetable steamer. I got the bright idea to thaw the bagels in a steam bath and then toast them, which had amazing results. The biggest problem with frozen bagels is the loss of moisture. By thawing them out in steam, I was able to add in a couple of ounces of needed moisture without making the bagel soggy. When It got to a point where I was seeing the luster on the crust, I would take them out and toast them.
posted by parmanparman at 7:56 AM on May 12, 2011

seconding DarlingBri. been looking fruitlessly for 8 years. they do not exist.
posted by wayward vagabond at 8:01 AM on May 12, 2011

True story: I once flew to London with a backpack full of frozen New Jersey bagels as my carry-on.

You've gotta toast them to get them back to their optimum freshness, but they do keep fairly well and still taste like real bagels when all is said and done. Be sure to ration accordingly.

A few months later, I did the same thing with B&W Crumb Cakes.

_{Damnit. Now I'm hungry. And also quite far away from NJ/NYC. Damnit, why doesn't the rest of the world have decent baked goods?}
posted by schmod at 8:11 AM on May 12, 2011

Put the kettle on: Supermarket bagels need to be toasted to taste OK and they still don't taste like proper bagels

If you can find them try these. You may have better luck elsewhere but all I can tell you is that after decades as an ex-pat, that's the best I've been able to do.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:19 AM on May 12, 2011

Do you have any kitchen skills? You can try making your own bagels. I tried for the first time about a month ago, and was shocked at how easy and awesome this recipe turned out. They got an avid thumbs-up from my born-in-New York, bagel-loving boyfriend.
posted by phunniemee at 8:40 AM on May 12, 2011

Some time ago, I heard of a place in Dublin that imported their bagels daily from H&H; there might be a place in London which does the same.

That said, this Yank liked the one from Beigel Bake.
posted by brujita at 9:13 AM on May 12, 2011

You might try Roni's in West Hampstead which I always liked and which this blogger considers New York-ish.

(That said, as a Brit in New York I have now heard so many contradictory definitions of what constitutes the "real New York style" bagel that I've come to believe it's just a proxy for whatever kind of bagel the speaker prefers...)
posted by oliverburkeman at 9:21 AM on May 12, 2011

Sorry, got to agree with a bunch of people here, New York bagels are not found outside of New York. You might get close, but you won't match it. It's a combination of the water, the way it's cooked, the air and the Jews.
posted by Brian Puccio at 10:57 AM on May 12, 2011

Beigel Bake or nothing. This NYer went to Golders Green and was sorely disappointed. YMWNV.
posted by zvs at 7:57 PM on May 12, 2011

Beigel Bake is a fine London bagel and my first choice of the available fresh options; it is not, however, a New York bagel.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:10 PM on May 12, 2011

Damnit, why doesn't the rest of the world have decent baked goods?

Wow, US centric much? Bagels are not the be-all end-all of decent baked goods. Never been to Aberdeen? Then you've probably never had a rowie. They are amazing. The are life-changing. But I wouldn't be so blinkered as to suggest the failure of anywhere outside NE Scotland to have tasty, tasty lard croissants is a failure of the world's ability to bake.

OP, the closest thing is to learn to bake them yourself, I'm afraid. Smitten Kitchen's recipe best approximates what I remember growing up.
posted by Cuppatea at 1:15 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

As a number of people have noted, Beigel Bake may be tasty, but it is not a New York bagel. I admit that it is a round baked object with a hole in the middle -- but then, so is a donut.

I'm also skeptical of the recommendation of Golder's Green; yes, that's a very Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, but Jews do not have the same tastes all over. For example, here in the UK, Jews actually fry their gefilte fish. They don't always have it fried, but frying it even occasionally would be unthinkable to an American Jew. Similarly, we once asked a British friend to bring whitefish to a Rosh Hashanna meal, and she had absolutely no idea what it was. Growing up in the US, I assumed it was a universal Jewish thing, but apparently, it's an American Jewish thing.

Anyway, I enthusiastically second Oliver Burkeman's recommendation of Roni's. It's not exactly a New York bagel, but it's pretty close to the bagels I ate growing up in the Washington, DC, area, and it's very good. Roni's also makes excellent challah and rye bread, and they sell very high-quality lox. (Their cream cheese, however, isn't exactly the same as the cream cheese I'm used to-- it's a little too light and airy. For American-style creamcheese, you'll want to buy Kraft-brand "Philadelphia" from any grocery store.)

If you do go to Golder's Green, when you exit the Tube station, head northwest on Golder's Green Road. You'll see a number of kosher delis and bakeries, especially on the right side of the road. I haven't tried bagels from any of them, just because I'm satisfied with Roni's, but if you want to be a completist, there are probably a few places you could try.

(And while you're on Golder's Green Road, Kosher Kingdom has some good Jewish foods, ranging from a potato kugel that an American would recognize to the aforementioned fried matzo balls. )
posted by yankeefog at 4:36 AM on May 13, 2011

I wasn't going to comment because my favourite bagel shop is the Happenin' Bagel Bakery in Finsbury Park, but it's mostly because of the name and the amazing florentines they do as well.

However I need to wade back in because my boss and I were just talking about bagels coincidentally, and he tells me that the best bagel in London is to be found in the Brass Rail Bar in Selfridges. Go! Investigate! Report Back!
posted by greenish at 7:32 AM on May 13, 2011

I was in Golder's Green yesterday, and I tried Carmelli's, which got a very negative review in the the blog entry oliverburkman linked to. I actually liked the sesame seed bagel I had more than the blogger, but I still prefer Roni's. The Carmelli bagel had a very nice taste, but it was a little too soft and doughy on the inside, and, worse, was too tough on the outside. I enjoyed my first few bites, but by the end, my jaw was literally sore from the effort of chewing.

If you like your bagels really hard on the outside, it's worth checking out, but I prefer the more consistent texture of a Roni's bagel.

Also, I should correct my earlier post. I had somehow got it in my head that there were more bakeries on the right-hand side of Golder's Green Road, and indeed that's where Carmelli's is. But there were a few other bakeries on the opposite side of the road as well.

Finally: two doors past Carmelli's is a kosher butcher with very good potato kugel and chopped liver.
posted by yankeefog at 3:58 AM on May 17, 2011

If anybody is still following this thread... there's an article in yesterday's Guardian about bagels in London; check the comment thread for lots of debate and suggestions regarding bagel places in London.

Also, I have to report that on two recent occasions, I stopped by Roni's in West Hampstead late in the afternoon, and was disappointed to buy bagels that were way too hard. I'm guessing they were baked in the morning and sat out too long.

This made me realize that, when I had my disappointing bagel experience at Carmelli, it was also late afternoon. Perhaps that's just the wrong time to buy bagels.
posted by yankeefog at 2:59 AM on July 6, 2011