Shanghai’s First Bagel Shop: Egghead Bagels1

★★★☆☆

To clarify, various restaurants and diners have been offering bagels on their menus for a while (Haya’s, Kitchenette), but Egghead Bagels is the Hai’s first eatery devoted to the wondrous breakfast item.

It’s only been open a few weeks, but this eatery on Shaanxi Bei Lu (where the old Gourmet Café used to be) has created a lot of buzz.  Today, my friend Miguel and I found ourselves crammed in the corner of a long booth at a tiny table, as this place was brimming with wàiguórén.  It seemed that each passing foreigner stopped to see what Egghead’s was all about, peered into the window, and then came inside to try a bite.

We were lucky we even got a table.

The menu is typical American bagel shop – Plain, Garlic, Cinnamon & Raisin, Onion, Sesame, and Everything, each for 12元.  Add an extra 4元 and you can get a pretty stingy schmear of cream cheese.  Or, you can add 10元 to your bagel, and get a specialty variety (though, schmeared just as stingily).  These include Plain, Bacon, Strawberry, Garlic, and Lox.

For the heartier eater, they also offer Breakfast Bagelwiches (18-28元), Omellete Bagelwiches (30-38元), and lunch time Bagelwiches (45-55元).

Seizing the opportunity for some smoky salmon, I opted for the Lox Bagelwich (50元).  They advertised that it came with the choice of a side salad (mixed, pasta, mushroom, or potato).  However, I wasn’t given a choice, so it was served with a tuna and fusilli pasta salad.

What?

From what I hear, eating a bagel is like eating four to five slices of bread.  And they want to serve pasta salad with that?  I’m all for pasta, all for bread, but seriously, this was a bit carbilicious, even for me.

With that said, the pasta salad was vinegary and delicious.  Tossed with tuna, onions, and tomatoes, the tri-color fusilli was well seasoned with herbs and had really nice acidic notes.

The bagel was good.  Its outer crust was a bit soft, but the interior was both chewy and dense.  Good sized, I found it significantly better than the ones offered at Haya’s (which has been the go to spot for the item up until now), which are usually too sweet for me.  My only complaint is that they really hold back on the cream cheese.  And since I’m paying over 7 USD for the bagel, I expect some cream cheesy love.

In addition to all of their breakfast items, they also sell a small selection of treats from C’est Cupcake.  And they offer delivery (so if you want a good breakfast in bed, dial up).

When in need of some carbs, having a craving for a bagelwich, or just want a good and hearty breakfast, check this place out.  I’m not sure my ‘wich was worth 50元, but it was certainly tasty.

• ¥
• Egghead Bagels
• 455 Shaanxi Bei Lu near Beijing Xi Lu
• Jing’an District
  
• 电话: +86 5213 5601