When I was there, I didn’t see anyone ordering from the counter at all. It seems everyone (at least those who could get a seat) were seated, presented menus, had their orders taken and served by a waiter. We paid from our table as well.
But you know… they advertise that they don’t charge for service from some hours during the day till 6pm or so (can’t remember the exact time slot). Maybe it’s during those hours when they don’t charge for service that you have to place orders yourself at the counter? Just taking a wild guess here though…[/quote]
Ah, that could be it. I’ve usually gone in in the morning or for an early lunch. Never been there for dinner.
It seems there is another western-style restaurant casualty. I walked by the NY Bagels on Yitong St (I think, the one near the park off of Nakjing) and it appears to be closed down. The sign is still outside but the interior has been changed into something completely different. Unless they are remodeling or something I think this place is gone.
I think back in July there was a sign up saying that the NY Bagel branch there was closing down. Something about higher rents or problems with the lease, or something.
Too bad, because that was a nice location near Yitong Park.
Oh, well. There’s still the branch on Renai and the one on Xinyi, near 101.
Some of the shops used to be open 24 hours. Think that has changed. Not even open early morning anymore. Renai and Xinyi locations open at 9am during the week.
The bagels here are so bad that I searched a bagel recipe online and made my own at home… which turned out 500% better despite being my first try. Though it was just a plain bagel… couldn’t figure out how to get the toppings to stick lol
Seriously, they need to rename the place NY Scone. It’s really sort of ironic since it seems like every other form of baked, bread-like good here is super soft, except of course, the one that is supposed to be soft. Ok, not exactly soft, but more “Q”… which is what locals love right?
Or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by real NY bagels and refuse to call anything not reasonably similar, a bagel… which could be the case. I used to think that Noah’s Bagels in the SF Bay Area was good… I now know that it’s not.
NY bagels suck!!! It’s disgusting and it doesn’t taste anything like bagels from NY which are delicious. It’s just horrible, I’ve tried many times and it’s not like ok. It’s bad. Everything is bad.
I have yet to get anything remotely approaching a good bagel here. The little old Chinese lady who makes some kind of small Chinese breads is probably the best
Haha. Yeah, it’s what they always say. I wonder if there is any truth to it.
I know example, many Italians complain the dough can’t get the right kind of density in Taiwan. Perhaps it has more to do with the flour. Also a possible theory is the humidity.
Yes, and they’re quite good! Not a fan of all the odd flavors, like pumpkin, taro, etc… at least they didn’t make a pineapple bagel LOL… it’s the closest to a NY bagel I’ve found here (or almost anywhere actually), but the texture/consistency/Q-chewiness is good.
There’s this Brooklyn Bagel shop in Palo Alto that I found which is also very good/similar… which sort of made me realize that it’s not really about Taiwan, but it’s really more about the process and business model. There is a very high demand for bagels in NY (and that whole general area actually), so most shops have put in place a production process because while the process is actually not that complicated, it is sort of labor and time intensive. Yes, you could buy a machine to do the work (and I’m sure that many shops do), but you need to have the volume to justify the cost of the machine.
And another key I think is that the bagel cannot sit for very long before getting too hard… and to be fair to NY Bagel, I have to admit that the one and only time I bought from them was mid or late afternoon, so perhaps it was sitting for a while. Maybe I should try again at opening time?
When I made my own, I was pleasantly surprised how close it was in terms of texture/consistency/Q-chewiness. But it was a lot of work (kneading the dough) and time (boil it first, put it in the fridge overnight, then bake it in the morning)
So I sort of wonder, could this be a good business here? NY Bagel sucks… Good Cho’s is decent. What we need is a good location nearby all the other breakfast shops. Have a low cost production process in place and boom!
I guess the key to having a good bagel here (or most places anyway)… is to just use a reasonably ok store bought brand.
Butter it and then fry it in a pan. Prepare your preferred fillings (I like a pile of pastrami [but ham will do here in Taiwan because I’ve yet to find really good pastrami here], Swiss or Gruyere cheese, red onions) first though and keep them warm while frying the bagel.