beigel bake
March 30th, 2011
On Wednesday I went to Dorian’s birthday party in Shoreditch. A good time was had by all, but it was a drinking affair and on the way home I was starving. I got 5 minutes up the road before I remembered Beigel Bake.
Beigel Bake is a Brick Lane institution, it’s open 7 days a week, day and night. The bagels are baked on the premises, which you’ll see at certain times of the day, through an open door at the back. These are the genuine article, filled with a huge amount of smoked salmon and cream cheese or excellent salt beef, if you prefer, for less than £2. I bought two smoked salmon and cream cheese, a salt beef and a large loaf of rye bread and it cost me £7. It’s not for nothing that you always see a few taxis parked out side for their night time food break.
late night queue
The beigel/bagel is a Jewish bread product, very much like a bread roll, but with a hole in the middle. Bagels date back to the Jewish community of 16th or 17th century Poland and Jewish migrants have taken them all over Europe and in particular to New York. I first discovered Beigel Bake and bagels in the mid 80’s – they weren’t common then in Britain and liking them a lot, I found the bakery to be a treat to go to, along with an older Brick Lane Market, which is sadly long gone. Beigel Bake, however, remains exactly the same, apart from the fact that the filled bagels no longer cost 75p. If you don’t like bagels, try a salt beef sandwich – it’s cheap and you get about 1/2 lb salt beef!
Beigel Bake is at 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB.
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
Next time you go ask them to make you a smoked salmon and cream cheese onion platzel. They are delicious…
Thanks – I’ve been going there for more than 25 years and never tried anything but the bagels with salt beef or smoked salmon and cream cheese – I’ll definitely try the onion platzel!
It is so good to know that this mecca is still serving … it would be a travesty if it were to disappear… a synagogue even!
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