To think it's impossible to get a decent bagel or American muffin in this country?

[rollonretirementfgs]

Supermarket bagels are crap, the ones in the polythene bags. M&S did nice fresh ones but stopped selling them. American muffins... massive light fluffy muffins, as big as your head. Had one in France recently from Columbus coffee.... rubbish over here! Please enlighten me on any hidden gems.

Many thanks,

Desperate for carbs

B something? Someone mentioned their name up thread also a branch on Tottenham Court Road.

I will unlike them then on your say so

I think.it must be something to do with the boiling. Maybe supermarket bagels aren't boiled before baking?

My Jewish SIL always says bigel with a hard I, not an A sound

That is the beigel spelling. I think both are acceptable but I'm jot Jewish. It may be like people pronouncing ' paella' as Payeya' when they arent Spanish though!

Haven't read all the thread so these have probably been mentioned but for proper bagels:

Carmellis
Daniels - also the best challah
Brick Lane
Happening Bagel Bakery
Panzers
Parkway in Finchley - also must try their Babka or 'chocolate yeast cake' which is the best I've had from anywhere
Moishe's in borough market

I'm sure some of those places must be able to send a load to where you live, and then just freeze them.

Other bagels are just bread with a hole, they make me cross.

Because they're prejudiced and too ignorant to know how ignorant they are.

There are probably like a million different muffin recipes people make in America, some are made with oil, some with butter. My family likes all of these, one made with olive oil, one with butter, one with coconut oil

https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/04/carrot-tahini-muffins/

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2868-jordan-marshs-blueberry-muffins

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/healthy-apple-muffins/

Panzers are good but I think they buy them in from somewhere else.
My dad, brought up in the Jewish East End, pronounces it bye-gl. (He doesn’t pronounce “a” as “i” in other words.)

@rollonretirementfgs

As a New Yorker living in London, I'm going to say I haven't really found a bagel here that I think is perfect. The Panzers ones are ok, The Grocer on Elgin in Notting Hill has some that are ok. I've found the brick lane ones overrated, Roni's are, imo, too spongey. I'm going to try Papo's and It's Bagels! and see what we think. To be fair, I've had some pretty nasty bagels in NY over the years - bigger does not mean better!

Re the muffins. I'm not a fan of those big commercial muffins, but if you are, I wonder if you might do best by trying a commercial white cake mix with some berries mixed in? I suspect most commercial muffins are made something along those lines.

3p of ingredients if that.

So make them yourself, do you begrudge a small business a mark up and income? Those aren’t the main overheads are they what about energy and rent etc. Also it’s Primrose Hill - of course it will be more expensive - probably one of the priciest streets in London.

OP don’t see how you can possibly think there are no decent bagels in the UK. Like everyone else has said already, they are very easily found on the streets of North London at all good Jewish bakeries and delis! Come visit!

Even if overheads meant it cost 30p per bagel to produce-Yes, I object to an almost 600% mark-up.

These are small businesses. They need to pay for premises, kitchen fitting out, licenses, ingredients, electricity, staff, taxes, pension, while presumably making a living. Should they be doing it as a public service?

Bagels get a lot cheaper if you don’t buy them in Primrose Hill or St. John’s Wood! I’ve just googled a random price list of one of my local places and a plain bagel is 70p.

@FortunataTagnips I grew up in the east end, we always said bYgel and would write Beigel too.
I live in Essex now and oddly there is now a large orthodox Jewish population in canvey island (I say oddly because canvey is grim), I've not ventured there to see if the delis are established yet though

The Canvey Island thing is so, so bizarre.

No but nor should they be making a 600% profit on every bakery item.
Bagels made at the Jewish bakery in Gateshead are 69p each and delicious.

The Brick Lane ones are something like that too. I bought 10 and for about £5 or 6.

Yes, but overheads will be lower in Gateshead. It's a bit ridiculous to take some principled moral stand over the cost of a bagel made 250 miles away from Primrose Hill. It's like ranting about the cost of a house in London vs the cost of a house in Gateshead. The bricks and mortar cost the same. The peripheral costs are higher.

@DramaLlamaBangBang

The Brick Lane ones are something like that too. I bought 10 and for about £5 or 6.

Yes, but they're a volume-based business, so they'll be able manufacture for less per item.

@FortunataTagnips cheap housing is the attraction I think. Overcrowding is a huge issue for some orthodox communites in London due to large traditionally large families and very expensive housing.

Indeed. Hence the huge, teetering, unauthorized loft conversions and extensions you see in some areas.