Restaurant Review: The Bagel Shop, Off Carter Road, Bandra West

There's no better way to begin the weekend than a leisurely lunch at a picturesque little cafe, with an amazing book for company. I could actually feel the worries and cares of the hectic week slip away as I entered the cosy, sun-dappled outdoor seating area of The Bagel Shop, with its profusion of hanging plants and comfortable wicker-and-cushion furniture.
 


If the outside is summery and fresh, inside, the cafe is dark and cosy. There's just enough room for a low banquette along one wall with 2 coffee tables, and a bar-like seating area with 4 high chairs along the other. The dark wooden beams crossing the ceiling and a single dark-green wall give a dark and cosy feel. A chiller stores muffins, cheesecake, cakes and the like, while the blackboard behind the chiller lists a few chosen items from the menu. The music is lovely- reminiscent of blues-  that further adds to the sombre-yet-cozy feel of the cafe.

The staff is attentive and friendly, and the menu is long and very comprehensive. Apart from the plain bagels (herb, roast garlic, sesame, poppy seed, multigrain, cinnamon-and -raisin, and sunflower seed) there's a whole lot of vegetarian and non vegetarian bagel sandwiches, pastas, salads, smoothies, shakes (soya and milk), teas and coffees, and desserts. I ordered the turkey and ham bagel, but to my disappointment, they were out of turkey, so I went along with my  friendly server's recommendation of the Goan Chorizo Bagel. 

The Goan Chorizo Bagel - chorizo, lettuce, tomato, cream cheese (Rs. 299)

The bagel sandwich arrived in record time,  2 glossy brown arcs like half-moons, stuffed with a dark red salsa-like curry made of chunks of chorizo, tomatoes, caramelised onion and spices. Squiggles of cream cheese, lettuce and tomato slices completed the sandwich. Gloriously tasty, and completely messy! A big mug of perfectly-sweetened hot chocolate to wash down the sandwich, and I was in late-lunch heaven. :)

Hot Chocolate (Rs 99)

Purely for the sake of research (and I mean it - the sandwich was filling enough!), I ordered the Elvis bagel for dessert- bagel topped with peanut butter, sliced banana and Nutella. This behemoth of a bagel arrived as 4 open quarters topped with all the aforementioned stuff of dieters' nightmares, and I just couldn't eat more than one, and had to pack the rest for later.

The Elvis Bagel - peanut butter, banana, Nutella (Rs. 149)

Wanting to take something home for Ma and Baba, I asked the guy at the counter for recommendations. Helpfully enough, The Bagel Shop packs all ingredients of any bagel sandwich separately, so that you can assemble the sandwich at home, with no danger of the sandwich going soggy. Nice! They even sell cream cheese (plain or or in a range of flavours) in little 100-gm tubs so that you can have plain bagel-and-cheese at home for a lazy breakfast. So I skipped taking home a deconstructed sandwich and instead stuck to the basics - roast garlic and sesame seed bagels, with basil-garlic-chilli cream cheese. The folks are yet to sample them, though, so no verdict on that as yet. :)
All in all, The Bagel Shop is a lovely, cosy eatery with delicious food that is not usually found on restaurant menus. For me, that is good enough to justify the slightly high prices - the very good service, and free wifi are just a bonus. So go there and check it out for yourself!

The Bagel Shop
Pali Mala Road,
Off Carter Road (Take the lane after the Asst. Commissioner of Police's office)
Bandra West
022-26050178