St. Urbain Bagel
7077 Bathurst Street, Thornhill
905-731-8305

It started about a year ago with the mysterious arrival of some bagels on my mother’s kitchen counter. I helped myself to one, and then to another as I prayed she wasn’t saving them for someone else. That was it. I was hooked! Where did these amazing bagels come from I wondered? Somewhere from Bathurst and Steeles I was told. The shop? No one remembered. I hunted around the bagel shops in the area and was lucky enough to find the one I was looking for — St. Urbain Bagel.

I had the opportunity to speak to owner Eric Bailis about St. Urbain Bagel’s history. Around twenty years ago Eric and his partner Bernie Good started this Montreal style bagel shop. The name of the store may conjure connections to existing bagel shops in Montreal, but St. Urbain Bagel is in fact an independent store with three locations in Toronto; including one in the St. Lawrence market where bagels are also made onsite.

A key feature of the Montreal style bagel is the brick wood-burning oven in which the bagels are baked. In fact, the very first thing I noticed when entering the store was the large oven and its accompanying flames. The site alone is quite impressive, but add to that the smell of freshly cooked bagels and voila, my intended order of one dozen became two dozen. The bagels themselves are cooked on both sides during the baking process to form an even crust. There’s none of that flat and soft on one side, extra crispy on the other with these bagels. The interior of the bagel is soft and slightly chewy — just like a bagel should be. The flavour is unlike any other bagel I have ever had. It hints slightly towards sweetness; likely from the initial step in the cooking process where they’re boiled in malt sugar flavoured water. These bagels are moist, dense without being tough, and taste addictively great (one dozen for $5.25).

Another specialty of St. Urbain Bagel is their cheese bagel. When I first read the sign I assumed “bagel with cheese on top”, which they do carry, but these cheese bagels are quite different. They’re actually a U shaped pastry filled with sweetened cottage cheese (which I mistook for ricotta), lightly glazed and sprinkled with coarse sugar. When I first bit into my cheese bagel, I expected something savoury and was quite surprised by the sweetness. It has a light flaky exterior and, perfect for my taste preference, isn’t overly sweet. By the time I finished it, I wanted more. I highly recommend trying a “cheese bagel” during a visit to St. Urbain Bagel (six for $8.25).

The St. Urbain Bagel location I went to offers a small selection of bagel sandwiches ranging from your basic buttered bagel ($0.93), to your lox and cheese bagel ($4.95). It also has packaged bagel chips and flatbreads available to take home, along with knishes and at times hamantashen (a traditional Jewish pastry). There’s a small seating area near the front of the store, but it seems that this location caters more towards the quick stop and go customer. For those who want to sit down and eat, I recommend their Eglinton location instead. If you do decide to stop by at the Steeles and Bathurst location, you can buy a coffee to accompany your bagel and at times help yourself to the free pastries near the front counter. If you ask nicely Eric will let you take one for a friend as well.

St. Urbain Bagel Locations
7077 Bathurst Street, Thornhill 905-731-8305
895 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto 416-787-6955
St. Lawrence Market, 91 Front Street East, Toronto 416-364-8305