Ever since I saw the sign for this place opening soon I've been excited for it to open. As a rabid fan of Fairmount Bagels in Montreal, I've been hoping for a legit wood oven bagel shop to open in this area and finally it has arrived. My girlfriend bought some coming home from work the other day but I wanted to experience it myself so we went back again this morning.
The place:
It's a small shop and most of the area is eaten up by the baking area & counters. There is four or five small tables for two as a seating area but this is not that comfortable given the amount of people waiting for service (the shop was plenty busy when we arrived at around 10am on a Saturday during the Jazz festival). Thankfully they also have a few tables outside so you can enjoy the beautiful streets of Port Credit. The back wall is full of drink coolers which even contain items like jars of pickles & cheeses to take home. There are a couple display areas showing off their custom flavored cream cheeses & desserts and of course the main containers for their bagel selection.
The service:
Despite a lot of foot traffic they were able to move customers along fast as you would expect. The bagel sandwich production was snappy and customers were taken care of quickly. The bagels we wanted (onion) were not available so the manager offered us some free coffee while we waited for the next batch and managed to up-sell us on some breakfast sandwiches for the wait.
The food:
The breakfast sandwiches came first. My selection was a sesame seed bagel with egg/cheese & bacon (at a 3.99 tag). The egg is cooked in a microwave with a dish that shapes it to the bagel and despite being nuked the egg was quite nice. Topped with some fresh ground pepper this is one of the best options I can think of for a good breakfast sandwich. They have other offerings of standard lunch sandwiches including ham, roast beef and of course Montreal style smoked meat. After the sandwiches were finished I was called up to select my mixed bagels. So far we have sampled the pumpernickel, onion & everything bagels. There are perfectly textured, not too hard or doughy and the flavors are lovely. The onion is a must-try and there is no wonder this one is constantly sold out!
I will most certainly be back here often. Excellent bagel shop.