Beigel Bake
Bagel shop · Bethnal Green ·
24hr bakery: salt beef, salmon, cream cheese bagels
24hr bakery: salt beef, salmon, cream cheese bagels
"The best nights end with a few of you standing around a bollard on the street, eating cream cheese bagels or salt beef sarnies, and ripping into your mate’s online dating profile. Beigel Bake on Brick Lane has set the scene for this countless times. It’s open 24/7, and the bagels and salt beef are brilliant. It’s a classic go-to if you’ve been drinking in Shoreditch and just want something cheap and delicious." - jake missing, sinead cranna
"Beigel Bake is a 24-hour London landmark. A bit like Brixton McDonald’s, but without the sense of peril. On weekends the Spitalfields bakery is one big snaking queue of locals and tourists alike, all after a chewy Jewish-style beigel. If you leave here without gripping a brown paper bag of salt beef, then you’re doing it wrong (sorry, vegetarians). Get a pickle and ask them not to hold back on the English mustard." - jake missing, heidi lauth beasley, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, daisy meager
"Tuna mayo, fried chicken, houmous. There are plenty of fillings you could order from Beigel Bake, but absolutely shouldn’t. There’s a reason the majority of the crowd outside the institutional Brick Lane bakery are unlocking their jaws taking a bite of salt beef. Because it's a knockout. The meat is tender, the gherkin essential, the beigel chewy, and the wallop of English mustard has been clearing sinuses since the ‘70s." - daisy meager, jake missing, rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, heidi lauth beasley
"Delivery Status: Huge delivery radius from Brick Lane. When all hell breaks loose and three generations of family are talking about their preferred methods to silence each other - from the medieval mace, to an opium-equipped drone, to a good old-fashioned orange in a sock - then you’re likely looking at a very hangry household. Which is where the app from Brick Lane’s legendary Beigel Bake comes in. A solid order of salt beef, pickle, and English mustard beigels will placate all. Or, if that doesn’t work, get a load of smoked salmon ones, plus an array of chocolate brownies, shortbread, cheesecake, and strudel, to get those sugar levels back up." - heidi lauth beasley, jake missing
"Beigel Bake is a 24-hour London landmark. A bit like Brixton McDonald’s, but without the sense of peril. The Spitalfields bakery has been here since the 1970s and has watched a lot of change occur around it, for better and worse, all while still serving the same, chewy, dependable, Jewish-style beigels. On weekends it’s one, big, snaking, u-shaped queue that never seems to subside, but always moves quickly. In the back kitchen you’ll see rows and rows of beigels boiled and arranged on wooden planks ready for baking. There’s moisture and bready-ness in the air, as well as the sound of a clueless tourist being gruffly ordered to move up the queue. Move fast but don’t ignore the sweet treats under the counter. The chocolate slice is a delight. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pause Unmute You’re best off keeping things classic here. Smoked salmon and cream cheese, made better with a squeeze of fake lemon juice and a dash of dusty white pepper. Bring a New Yorker here and they’ll likely be appalled. But this is a London beigel. And these golden-crusted, chewy bagels are immense. Most people come for the salt beef and mustard and, over the years, the portion has evened out and the English mustard has got less fiery. Still the meat pulls away in soft pink strands and a gherkin never goes amiss. There’s a reason this place is always worth a pilgrimage, for Londoners and visitors alike. Food Rundown Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Beigel Every beigel shop order should always have a cold starter. Some people opt for tuna mayo but we’ve always been smoked salmon people. Is this the best smoked salmon and cream cheese in the world? Certainly not. But the chew of these beigels is irresistible and it’s a cheap and cheerful bite that’s never let us down. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Salt Beef Beigel The amount of salt beef in this beigel has shapeshifted over the years, as has the sinus-clearing potency of the mustard. But it’s still an icon of London’s food history. The beef comes in soft hunks, part of it best eaten with your hand, and the other part best smothered over your face. Always get a gherkin and, if you fancy sharing, get another plain beigel with mustard on the side to split. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch" - Jake Missing
