St. Urbain
St. Lawrence Market, 92 Front E. 416-364-8305.
895 Eglinton W. 416-787-6955.
Tucked away in the southeast corner of St. Lawrence Market is a rough diamond of a bagel establishment. On the weekend, the lineup sometimes extends past the neighbouring wine store, with patrons waiting up to 30 minutes to get their hands on fresh, Montreal-style bagels. That’s the result of owner Shabetay Lazarovitz’s 20 years of experience in bagel baking (and consuming — even he can’t resist eating at least one a day).
Made from a rich dough containing eggs, malt, sugar and vegetable oil, Lazarovitz’s bagels are hand rolled before being boiled in water and honey. The most popular poppy and sesame seed varieties are then baked in an open-fire brick oven, in true Montreal style, while the other 16 options (including pumpernickel, blueberry and chocolate chip) are cooked in a conventional oven. For bagels that are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and starting at just 65 cents straight out of the oven, it’s worth lining up.