Okay, godammit I will buy some ice cream. 
We were there yesterday and unless the 248 half has moved it was very, very small. One guy with some pumpkins, and one with soy milk and dohua. There were also people with cookies and fruit-ice popsicles, but I suppose they donāt count.
Thanks for all the responses! Iām definitely going to check out Magic Bagel and Good Choās. To those of you who have never had a bagel while visiting New York, I encourage you to do so on your next visit to the Big Apple! Also get some Brooklyn pizza and, if youāre really going for it, an Egg Cream (beverage - BTW, it has no egg in it, or cream). Thereās also the famous NY delicatessens, but IMHO they have become somewhat touristy in recent years and you have to line up to get a sandwich (āNo soup for you!ā). But if you like pastrami, itās worth the wait. BTW, Iām not Jewish but you canāt grow up in the suburbs of New York without encountering the culture, food, and Yiddish! My heritage is Norwegian, so Lox is my 1st choice on a bagel, followed by whitefish, and (if they have it), Schmeer. Oy!
You are not going to find real bagels in Taiwan. Even if you could get the right flour and water, they would be too chewy for Taiwanese tastes plus the Taiwanese prefer ābreadā that you can eat without putting anything on it.
The topic of bagels in Taiwan has interested me for a while. The decent ones that Iāve seen (such as the ones sold at Shihās Bagels, which may or may not still be around) seem to cost around NT$60 iirc. This is the price of a cheapish meal for my studentsāand it is about four times more than some really excellent northern Chinese breads (shuijianbao and the like) you can find scattered around in Taipei. While the bread scene here has improved markedly since I arrived in 2003, I suspect that NT$60 bagels just canāt catch on because there are arguably similar and better tasting options for a quarter the cost. The bagel options that have stuck around have predictably taken a cost-down approach with predictable results. Buyer beware!
Guy
Shihās Bagels is gone - or at least the branch near Gongguan MRT station is gone, and thatās the only one I knew of. They were my second choice after Magic Bagel.
I really wish I could adapt enough to enjoy what you call āexcellent northern Chinese breadsā - Iām sure theyāre good, but Iāve never come around to particularly enjoying them.
Shihās bagels are pretty good by Taiwan standards and edible by mine, but the OP is not going to think these are even close to his(?) standard.
It looks like you can still by Shihās bagels online for home delivery: shihsbagel.com.tw/aboutus.html. Sorry, nothing in English. But whatās the point? Just get used to living without real bagels. Like Mexican food, bagels are inevitably a huge disappointment in Taiwan.
Iāve never fully come around to bagels even if they are smeared with a thick layer of salmon flavored sour creamā¦ (and people stand in a line to pay 7 bucks for one)
but to my horror the Taiwanese spongy version is even worseā¦ and they charge just as much
Yes, Iām a āheā. Iāve been visiting Taiwan for about 30 years and just made the permanent move this past May. Thanks again for all the responses - Iām headed to Magic Bagel as soon as possible! BTW, I really love two coffee chains in Taipei - Cama and Julius Meinl. Cama does their own roasting, and Julius Meinl is imported from Austria, with a very rich (but not bitter) quality, almost like hot chocolate. All the others (Dante, IS, Barista, etcā¦) Iāve tried are OK but unremarkable.
Of course they are unremarkable. Other than CAMA, and a couple other of those South American style trading post shops, you need to go for a individual cafe. There are dozens around the city now serving single origin or very quality coffee.
Oh god. Now I feel bad. Donāt expect too much - theyāre my favourite bagels in Taiwan, but thatās not saying a great deal.
[quote=āHokwongweiā]Could I get a Chinese name for Good Choās? Iāve never heard of it.
Iām an LA Jew, so I like to think I know something about bagels (although it would be more impressive if I were from New York). The best bagel Iāve had in Taiwan was probably Magic Bagel ā most of the way there, if still not perfect. Thereās one on Shi-Da Rd. right in front of NTNU, and last I checked there were a couple others lying around Taipei, although Iām not sure if those are still around.[/quote]
so does that make you a Western Bagel or Samās guy? Or a place closer to the Fairfax area?
Western Bagel is like the McDonaldās of bagels. Iād eat it only if there were no other options.
My favorite bagel place is near my house in the Valley, owned by a couple from the Philippines. Go figure.
Minor update: it looks like Magic Bagel is now closed, or at least itās not where it used to be. Thereās a different bakery at that location now - as I write, that bakery is apparently closed for Shida summer vacation, but its signage doesnāt seem to promote bagels.
I have the contact of the laobanniang, if anyone wants to give her a buzz and ask. Iām kind of too lazy to do it myself.
where to find bagels in 2019?
other than costco, i donāt go there.
iāve found some in carrefor, 35nt for 3. not bad but its pretty random if they have them or not in my local one.
Wish I could help, but ā¦ Costco? Theyāre the best ānormalā bagels Iāve had here in recent years. Definitely preferable to the Carrefour ones, which arenāt disastrous, but to me seem like slightly chewy white bread in bagel shape. I havenāt seen a local place I liked as much as Magic Bagel in many years.
Thereās a bagel place in Maji Square, beside Yuanshan Station. Tasty enough bread and interesting flavors. May be worth a shot. Thereās also a small bagel stand somewhere in the Xinyi Mitsukoshis - sort of next to the Mia Cucina (far end of the same floor and building as Gordon Biersch). Like the Muji Square one, this stand has decent bread but localized flavors. Do bagels in North America have the cubes of cheese embedded in the baked bread? Maybe, but itās something Iāve only seen here.
It looks like the Good Choās place described above is still around, but I havenāt tried it.
Thatās Miopane. They have another store in Tianmu and one in the back of the Taipei Station Mitsukoshi 1F. Itās actually not so bad as bread goes, they have plain bagels.
Bagels in NA do NOT have cubes of cheese (or clusters of peanut butter or lemon grass or whatever) embedded in them.
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I think Florida Bakery is the king of bagel right now. At least it was dense and hard. They had plain and blueberry, and not 832 flavors like barkberry with rat meat pate filling or whatever the 