In the United States in the early 1900’s, 300 bagel craftsmen established standards for bagel production. The bagels were prepared by hand and weighed between 57 and 85 grams. The bagels were smaller and dense, and were made with high gluten flour and mixed with malt syrup, salt, water and yeast. They were then rolled into strips, formed by hand into bagels, boiled in hot water and then placed in the oven. Quite similarly, the bagels at The Beigelry are made using the same method and are crafted daily. Bagels at The Beigelry are available in many forms from plain, with a shmear or specialty shmear (spread), or with 6 types of filling.

For lunch, I had the Pastrami Bagel with tomato, lettuce, red onion, herb cream cheese spread and mustard. A good bagel should be dense and chewy, and tender and easy to bite through. While the former was true in this case, biting into it required some effort. During the making of lunch, a contraption is used to cut the bagel in half. While it does the job, it doesn’t do it very well. The top half my bagel was wafer thin thus making the presentation rather average. The pastrami used was well seasoned with nice smokey flavours, although I thought one slice was a little conservative. The salad was fresh and crisp, and the herby cream cheese worked well with the mustard.

The staff were friendly and the service was fast and efficient. With only a handful of seats in store, the clientele are generally take away customers. Plain bagels are $3, bagels with basic shmears $4, bagels with specialty shmears $5 and bagels with fillings are $8.50.

The thick density of the bagels makes them surprisingly filling, and I was quite satisfied after lunch. I also liked the fact that everything is under $10. Sometimes the simplest concepts are the most effective, and The Beigelry is a good example of that.

WHERE: Topham Mall, Adelaide