I grew up eating bagels in Ottawa (remember Bagel Bagel?). Infact we even had a cockapoo called “Bagel”. In my neighborhood in Toronto, bagels seem to be everywhere (I’m not complaining), so I decided to compare them. I know that I’m opening a can of worms as EVERYONE has a different opinion about their favorite bagels.
I bought bagels from Bagel World, Bagel House, What A Bagel, Gryfes, and St. Viateur (direct from Montreal – but stored in the freezer).
I put little pieces of paper under each one and then started to nibble away not knowing where the bagel was from.
Here’s my thoughts:
Bagel World: It was doughy, sweet and tasty. YUM.
Bagel House: It was yeasty, dense and chewy. A favorite – probably because I liked the chewy factor.
What a Bagel: Oily and bland.
Gryfes: I’m going to make a lot of people upset but I found this bagel to be oily and airy.
St. Viateur: very chewy, dense and very different than all the others. Hands down – my favorite.
Don’t get me wrong. I would never refuse a bagel – no matter where it’s from. A toasted bagel with butter, or jam or cream cheese IS SIMPLY DELICIOUS.
It was an interesting experiment but I was sorry that I didn’t include bagels from Harbord Bakery. Next time.
Love this experiment. I had to go back and read it again as I was amazed you ate so many bagels. So Bagel World wins! I’m still a big fan of what a bagel 🙂
Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, Abigail. I’m glad to hear you are a bagel fan too.
I love bagels so thanks for taking the time to review them for me.
My husband and I are from Montreal, but our boys were born and raised in Toronto. Except for one boy who prefers Gryfes ( we still love him though), we are staunch Montreal bagel fans (either directly from Montreal or St Urbain bagels here). In fact, on our road trips, I had to bring St Urbain bagels otherwise my youngest would refuse to eat breakfast! Important tip: When you get home, any uneaten fresh Montreal bagels must be sliced in half nd immediately frozen! Otherwise they will become, after one day, hard as a rock ( alternative use then: hockey puck!!)
I am a Gryfe bage lover and so are my boys and husband. This couldn’t have come at a better time. I love bagels and for the past three weeks have been trying my hardest to eat less of them. I have to have a bagel in the morning and now am trying to eat oatmeal inistead! Working? Sort of. I SPIN three times a week and usually eat a bagel when I’m done…although i’m sitting at my desk at work right now enjoying a gryfe with cheddar and butter! Love love love love bagels.
Bagel lover for life! Raised on the Bagel World twister when the original baker was there, before he moved to Steeles. It is still a total favourite! If you are not eating a Bagel World twister, then it’s not THE best they have to offer! I dont usually mind What a Bagel, surprised you were disappointed. I do try to eat only Twisters or marble! I don’t know much about Gryfe’s so no comment, had twister with butter once, it hit the spot. I have only had a few Montreal style in my life, so witholding there. But while we are on a Jewish Bakery/Bathurst corridor tour, I MUST say that the full sized Rasberry rogaluch at Gryfes is to die for. Epic. Second up, their chocolate bun. (we used to call them Buffalo buns too, but when they had raisins ;-)) When we moved from Wilson to Sheppard, I grew to love Bagel Plus breads..and was it Reginas? They had a Russian black with raisins that I would drive all the way back uptown for right now, if I knew they had it. Is it still there? Feeling like a Pavlovian dog right now with all this bakery talk. Soon I will be craving blueberry buns from Health Bread, lol!
I’m originally from Montreal so hands down any bagel from Mtl beats any Ontario bagel. If you can’t get to Montreal then the Bagel House on Bayview is in my opinion the best in Toronto. I’ve gone to St Viateur in the market, Bagel World but really it’s Bagel House. And eating them fresh & warm in the car on the way home is so awesome! You should store bagels in the freezer right away and defrost in the micro for 1 minute. I agree with everyone though about the fact that bagels are super yummy!
I loved Bagel Bagel!! Use to go there after church with my parents when I was younger, and then after early morning rowing practice when I was a teen. Miss that place.