Wendy and I were looking for a quick snack around Broadway and Cambie, and Solly’s Bagelry looked like it fit the bill.
Once inside things got a bit more interesting, as we could see that Solly’s wasn’t just a bagel place, but a full Jewish bakery. As the sign says, they carry babka but we didn’t check to see if they have the debatably “lesser” cinnamon variety from the Seinfeld episode. I love that show!
Side note – I had the pleasure of being served (and denied, of course) soup from Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi a few years back at Greens and Beans. He makes regular charity fundraising trips to Vancouver so keep an eye out for local appearances if you’re interested. Or you could try our homegrown hero The Sandwich Nazi, who we’ve blogged about before.
They also carry lavash, but the version we saw on sale at Solly’s Bagelry was a crisp version which looks much different from the fresh Turkish lavash we tried at Anatolia’s Gate.
Knish is something I had heard of before (probably on Seinfeld again) but never tried. My Potato and Onion Knish ($1.75) had a samosa-like filling surrounded by light, flaky crust. It reminded me of Sweet Cherubim‘s baked samosas; both in the crust and the mild, pleasant filling.
Wendy tried their “Knish of the Month”, the Yam and Ginger Knish ($1.95). It was different and interesting; not as sweet as she expected. We’re curious as to what other monthly creations they come up with.
Wendy hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so she also got a Rusty Eggel ($5.25). The crisply toasted whole grain bagel she chose sandwiched a filling of scrambled egg and pastrami smothered with melted Edam cheese. I guess the “rusty” part of the title comes from the sprinkle of paprika on top. I wasn’t able to try this one (damn you gum graft, DAMN YOU!) but it looked incredible. Wendy confirmed that it was hot, moist, and delicious!
Hitman Edit: This post was written a few weeks ago. I returned the other day to try the Rusty Eggel and the sandwich was pretty delicious, however the service was confused, disorganized, delayed, and slightly rude.
I have one big grievance, although it’s hard to complain given the price. Frozen bagels were on sale for $2.50 per half-dozen, so we grabbed a bag of whole wheat sesame. However, upon thawing they turned out to be hard and heavy as rocks, and even a steak knife had a tough time sawing through them. Once toasted they were edible, otherwise they would not be. I definitely wouldn’t pay the regular $4 price for these. And definitely not the whopping $8.95 for a 6 pack of spelt bagels!
Now I swear I’m not a foodist (although I don’t believe all food is created equally), but I can’t say Solly’s converted me with their brand of Foodaism. That honour would go to Siegel’s Bagels, but it’s a bit of apples and oranges since they are different sects: Solly’s is from the New York movement and Siegel’s is of the Montreal denomination.
Regardless of all that though, next time I will skip the bagels-to-go and try the babka instead. After all, you can’t beat a babka!
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