St. Urbain Bagel Bakery

I’ve never had a bagel I didn’t finish. I pitched it I. The trash after one bite. It’s the worst bagel I’ve had and this includes the chain bagel companies. If you’re thinking its a matter of taste, let me stop you right here. It’s a matter of proper baking technique and basic bagel production knowledge.
These are doughy and under baked. This keeps the flavored from being fully developed. More so, they don’t look or taste as if there’s long enough fermentation to develop flavors. Lastly, they’re not using salt so the flavor is flat. It’s not a Montréal bagel as they’re pro porting as there’s no sweetness.
You need long fermentation and proper baking to make wheat digestible. Don’t eat these.

6÷24÷15: Came here as part of a food tour. It was explained to us that bagels here are special in that they are boiled in water that is flavored with honey (as opposed to the standard ones we get in America that probably don’t have anything in particular added.) Apparently this is a «Montréal-​style bagel»:
1. Sesame Bagel with Cream Cheese: As described on wikipedia, the bagel is thinner than what I am used to. The bread is denser and chewier, with more moisture (though the later probably because they’re fresher as well.) But that honey… it does add a special something. A nice sweet sensation on the tongue. Though, personally, I think the finish could be better as these bagels are not particularly handsome, without a beautiful glistening skin. I believe I only tried a couple bagels while in Canada, so I don’t have much to compare to, but they’re certainly good, but not really blow-​your-​mind good. ⁷⁄₁₀.
⁴⁄₅
#canada #bagel

I had a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese and lox for lunch it was really good. The bagel was soft, fresh and warm. The cream cheese was also really fresh tasting and creamy and the smoked salmon was generous and tasty. The sandwich also comes with onions, tomatoes, capers and cucumber. This was fully worth the 6 $ I paid for it and I would definitely go back for this.

Great bagel selection, good quality bagels and cheap.
Did find them lacking in the variety of spreads though. If you care more about the bagel or $$, this place is where you want to go for your fix.
If however, you’re more about the spreads and are willing to make do with a (ever so slightly) inferior bagel, I would suggest nu bugel at Kensington.

Best bagels in Toronto — maybe. As good as Montréal bagels? Absolutely not.
These bagels have a harder, crispier and shiny exterior vs. a true Montréal bagel. Also, far more chewy inside. They do have a nice sweet flavour though. I spent the first 25 years of my live eating Montréal bagels and I can tell the difference immediately (as most a true Montrealer should).
Comparisons out of the way — This is probably the closest thing to a Montréal bagel in Toronto and I will return for more. Sadly, I still need to fill my car trunk with St. Viateur bagels on every trip back to Montréal (by the way, you can freeze the bagels and they still taste pretty good).
BK

GONE DOWNHILL
Ugh. I have now given up on St Urbain. I have very negatively reviewed their Eglinton/​Ave Rd location (previously loved it up until mid 2013) and said that I would only go to the St Lawrence Market location where they are much better. It seems that the St Lawrence location has also gone down hill. So very disappointed and sad about this!
LOCATION
Upstairs in the south east corner of the market.
QUALITY
The bagels are now very tough. Montréal style bagels should have a nice chew to them, but these were unpleasantly tough the way a stale day old would be. It’s like they aren’t leavened enough before they boil them.
If you don’t know, Montréal Style bagels don’t have salt in the dough and have a tiny hint of sweetness. I wish they put some salt mixed in with the seeds to compensate.
They are generous with the poppy seeds.
They run out of quite a bit by early afternoon on weekends, so they do have their fans.
I would not recommend them anymore, though.
SERVICE
I asked for a few toasted bagels. It took FOREVER. As in 10 minutes to get half a dozen bagels and 2 toasted bagels. They are using a rinky dink home toaster now. Plus it took another 10 minutes behind 2 people —- there were 3 staff behind the counter & 3 customers… No excuse for being that slow. The bagel cutting station didn’t seem very tidy or sanitary. I know poppy and sesame seeds can get everywhere, but this is beyond that.
CLEANLINESS
By afternoon on a weekend, their store area looked dirty and cluttered — especially back where they boil the bagels. They also had a tray of uncovered bagels sitting right by the cash register where anyone could sneeze or pick over during cold season. The bins that display the bagels were empty, and, instead, there was a «tub» behind the cash register where remaining bagels of every flavour were pooled together and rubbing their flavour off on one another. Anyone for onion flavour on your cinnamon raisin bagel???
The same person who handles the cash also handles the bagels. Yuck! AND hands weren’t washed in between and she kept switching back to the same pair of re-​used gloves instead of changing them.
A staff member was wearing a pretty draping scarf — you know, the kind that don’t get washed every time? I want to see staff wearing a clean apron and outfit everyday since, when they bend over into the bagel tub, they are rubbing that outer wear on food surfaces. Long hair was tied up, but I want to see a hat or hairnet, too.
They are located next to the south garbage door and across from a fish monger. Despite sub zero temperatures, wafting garbage stench kept fouling my nose when the garbage doors opened. The fish area was very fresh (no fish smell in the slightest), but it somehow bothered me to have the fish heads on ice and dried salt cod in the open a few feet away potentially splattering with wet winter boots up to the counter where the uncovered bagels were. Or that little kids can put their paws on the open fish containers and smear it all over the nearby bagel counter.
I guess with all the ultra clean, up-​to-​code stainless steel meat/​fish counters in the market, it makes it look even more grungy in comparison.
The little door that leads possibly to their tiny office, was covered with hangings which add to the cluttered look.
Very poor display of products. Old clear acrylic bins that are rather scratched. up.
PARKING
There is limited uncovered, crowded Green P parking behind the building at The Esplanade & Market St; you can access it via Lower Jarvis St. If you go further south on Market street until it dead ends at the train tracks, there is covered Green P parking tower that takes credit card tap payment.
I always see parking enforcement on Market St, so be warned.
HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE
Generally, I’d say the Market is so crowded that it’s a nightmare for anyone in a wheelchair & has too long of stretches for anyone attempting it with a walker. I know you can access the top level without stairs from Front St E and walk all the way back. If you need to go to the lower level for another store, you can enter without steps from the Market St entrance.

Awesome bagels! Looks like they make them traditionally in the big wood fire oven. I usually just get the sesame bagels and rate most bagel places on them. They also have really good cream cheese to spread on your fresh bagel.
I always scoop up fresh smoked salmon at one of the fresh fish mongers a few steps away then I grab a sesame bagel with cream cheese from here and layer it in myself. So good! This is one of my favourite things to do and eat at the market because even the great bagel shops in Montréal don’t have the fresh smoked salmon readily available under one roof.
The freshness, taste and great experience of the Market makes this my favourite bagel. You have to try it!

They have Vegan spread! Toffuti cream cheese in 2 flavors and non-​dairy butter too. I had the Toffuti plain cream cheese on a sesame bagel and it was simply divine! One of my best experiences in Toronto :)

I had bagels from St. Viateur while on a roadtrip in Montréal a few weeks ago… Since then, I’ve been jonesing for some Montréal bagels in TO. I’ve seen St. Urbain on my occasional trips to St. Lawrence, but never thought of grabbing anything there until I saw that they sold smoked salmon spread.
On my recent visit to the market, I had to buy the smoked salmon spread at under $ 6 and since it was end of day, I grabbed 2 half dozen bags of bagels (flax and sesame) on sale for $ 3 each. They weren’t fresh out of the oven, but they were made that same day and it was pretty good when the bagel was toasted with a schmear of smoked salmon spread.
It’s not quite like St. Viateur, but it’s the closest I can get to in Toronto!

St. Urbain Bagels are the best Montréal-​style bagels in Toronto. While Bagel House may come a close second, nothing beats St. Urbain.
The sesame and poppy seed bagels are fantastic, as are the everything bagels. I usually try to get 4 of each for my dozen (totally $ 7.50). The St. Lawrence Market location usually runs out of everything bagels by the late-​afternoon, but the Thornhill location is always full of all kinds if you are up in the northern part of the city.
When I lived in Los Angeles, I searched high and low for a bagel that would compare to St. Urbain. After a few months, I gave up my search. I started having friends bring three or four dozen when they would come visit, and my craving for St. Urbain was finally satisfied.

The bagels are great! My favourite is the whole wheat sesame bagels. It’s always great if you get them and they are still warm! The staff are okay, most are friendly.

I want to give St. Urbain Bagels in the St. Lawrence Market a 4.5 stars because they were the best of 3 bagel places I tasted in Toronto (the others were the Bagel House on Yonge and Gryfe’s on Bathurst) but still not quite as amazing as a Montréal style bagel.
The sesame and flax bagels here are worth the wait!

About as close as you’ll get to a real Montréal style bagel. Actually, I’m not even sure there’s a difference, other than the romance. Lines here never seem too long. Staff is fast and efficient. Great to buy a dozen poppy seed bagels, grab a bench, bunch down 2 or 3, and then go get your drug test.

For all of the people who wonder just what makes a good Montréal bagel, the key lies in the wood oven and honey glaze that is applied to the bagel before it is cooked. One element that is often overlooked is value and atmosphere, because no Montréal bagel is complete without the 75 cent price mark and the impeccably fast rate with which the bagel master produces the final gooey delicious product.
St Urbain bagel, which is undeniably well placed at the densely populated Jewish area of Bathurst and Eglington, is Toronto’s closest and really it’s only embodiment of the authentic Montréal bagel that is so loosely (and often inaccuracy) talked about in what most bagel lovers consider to be one of the most spurious bagel locations around: Toronto.
The truth is, that while Toronto may not have the same reputation or quality as New York or Montréal for bagels, it really does have some wholly unique and tasty joints scattered around the city like Gryfes at Bathurst and Wilson and the newly minted Bagel House on Avenue Road, but for my moneys worth, St. Urbain is at the top of that list.
Cooked at a cautious distance from the flames of a wood fire, each small dense bagel is brushed with a sweet concoction of honey and oil and rolled in the conventional toppings like poppy or sesame seeds or cooked with specialty ingredients like sun dried tomato’s.
I prefer the classic approach and love nothing more than their poppy seed bagel loaded with deli style cream cheese and some fresh vegetables, something which they do for you on the spot and charge you a mere fraction of what places like ‘What a bagel’ charges. It’s been a little while but from what I remember it should cost you no more than 2 dollars for a bagel and cream cheese with some veg and each individual bagel should run you about 50 cents when buying a dozen; just the way it should be!
Aside from their amazing bagels, St Urbain has a solid selection of breads (their challah is particularly good), sweets and a nice selection of cream cheeses and typical prepared spreads like Tuna and Egg.
On a final note, I have to somewhat burst the bubble of Toronto’s finest Montréal bagel, it’s not really a Montréal bagel in the truest sense, but whatever it is, it’s damn good! You’re best off seeing it more as a take on the Montréal bagel, done in a Toronto sort of way.

I’m no Canadian, so I don’t know what a Montréal bagel is, but this place has some of the best damn bagels I’ve ever had! They are fresh from the oven and soft as can be. The cream cheeses appear to be house made (or at least house mixed), and they are delicious. We bought bagels from another shop in the market before we found St. Urbain. After a few bites of St. Urbain’s bagels, we had to throw out the other ones as they were hockey pucks compared to Urbain’s deliciousness.
In short, I loved it.

Their u-​shaped sweet cheese bagels are to die for.
The attitude from the woman who served me made me want to die. I almost felt obligated to apologize for bringing my business here and disturbing her.
After receiving the weekly email from Unilocal ( Unilocal Puts a Ring On it… clever clever), I thought heck, why not try this place. I’ve heard good things about it, and know people who would trek all the way there for a bagel. They have about 10 different types of ACTUAL bagels (excluding pastries): whole wheat, sesame, all dresssed, chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin, plain, etc.
I haven’t tried their cream cheese or anything but they do offer a «Lox» spread. Not sure what it is, but I’m going to try that next time.
I still don’t know what a Montréal-​Style bagel is though, despite various attempts from friends to explain it. But the u-​shaped cheese bagel is nice and flakey, slightly savoury with a mellow sweetness in the centre.
Individually these rings are $ 0.79. I got half a dozen for $ 4.50 or so.
Headsup: Don’t get the chocolate chip bagel. I don’t know why I did. Dense carbs and chocolate chips should not ever cross, no matter how masterful one’s bagel-​making skills are.
To Try the Next time: the Spinach Fetta Bagel ($ 2.25)

Invariably I always consider St. Urbain Bagels in Montréal the standard for great tasting «Montréal style» bagels. Thankfully St. Urbain in the Leslieville market holds up to that standard. My last visit I was able to get some yummy-​delicious bagels literally hot from the oven. I actually had to separate them in my bag from the cheese I had bought earlier as they were so warm.
I believe there is another place in the Leslieville market that sells Montréal style bagels, which might be worth checking out, but for my money I was quite happy with St. Urbain.

This place makes me feel more happy than not. Despite one little thing.
Yay:
–Mmm… Their u-​shaped sweet cheese bagel;
–bagels so fresh they are still soft and warm, sometimes served right from the oven!
–decent selection of bagels;
–popular with both locals and tourists alike;
–tasty pita chips, too!
Nay:
–I’ve seen them put the same hands that they use to handle money, to reach into empty paper bags before placing our food into the same bags*.
~~~
*I used to work on a ship, where being hygienic wasn’t just a suggestion, but a definite requirement. If the crew (or passengers) were to catch something, it would be too easy for the germs or virus to spread given that the confined space that we were all staying in, at the time.
You can imagine my disgust with seeing the server handle my food item with her grimy hands. I also lost it a bit with her, but stopped myself. I had recently come back from working on the ship, so I still hand that clean-​your-​hands-​multiple-​times-​daily mentality. Anyway, they switched to using tongs now, but I find myself still carefully watching how they use their hands…
~~~
Would I go back? Heck yes. I luv their bagels, their cheese bagels on occasion, etc… Esp. when the items are right from the oven… aaahhh… Heavenly. :)

Amazing bagels. Like, the best bagels I’ve ever eaten. The cream cheeses aren’t bad either. Bagels are cheap, only $ 3.50 for half a dozen, which is really good considering they’re fresh that day. The variety is good too. My favourite is the pumpernickel.
I am not taking off a whole star for this, but don’t bother with the rest of their food — the knishes are over-​salty and greasy and a bit yuck. If you want knishes go to the Stonemill Bakehouse on the lower level (beside the wall of T-​shirts) and get their mini bourekas, which are much tastier and a bit cheaper.

Yeah, these are pretty close to Montréal bagels. Not exactly the same, but I’ll take it. Toasted with butter on it, they’re pretty delicious. Plain you can taste the difference a lot more. But I couldn’t resist buying a half dozen to take home with me.