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BAGELS ON THE NILE
BY RASHAD MAHMOOD
With a name like mine, you’re probably thinking
to yourself, “What the heck does this guy know about bagels?”
Let me tell you. Plenty. Growing up on the west side of Los Angeles,
I developed a passion for bagels. And over the years I’ve
tried the best, sampling the most famous bagelries in New York and
Chicago, though admittedly my favorite is still the tiny bagelry
a few blocks from my old house in LA, which makes a great plate
of bagels and scrambled eggs.
So you can only imagine my delight when I heard about the recent
opening of Jared’s Bagels in Maadi. It’s about time.
Sure you can already get bagels, or, more accurately, bagel equivalents,
at some cafés in Egypt. But a place dedicated to the donut-shaped
cream cheese companion... well I had to check it out.
The restaurant itself, tucked away next to a large vegetable stand
near the Maadi metro station, is nothing particularly special. It
is set up like your typical café with a small number of tables
inside and out, wood shelving and a clean display of bagels (LE
4 to 6 each) in lined baskets. The staff is attentive and courteous.
But enough about that. What you really want to know is “how
are the bagels?” Well, that depends on how much of a bagel
purist you are. You see, Jared’s doesn’t actually make
bagels; it makes what can best be described as bread rings. Properly
made, a real bagel should be boiled then baked at a high temperature
to give it that nice, solid crust and a doughy, dense inside. It
seems Jared’s bagels are not boiled, which leads to a uniform,
bread-like feel as opposed to the sharply contrasting textures of
a great bagel.
Bagel purists may be horrified, but despite this lack of “bagelness,”
the bread rings are remarkably tasty. The savory bagels (plain,
onion, whole wheat, but alas, no poppy seed or garlic) we tried
were fine, but where Jared’s really excels is in its sweet
and fruit-flavored bagels. My personal favorite is the cinnamon
crunch, which isn’t that crunchy, but does have a tasty coating
of butter, sugar and cinnamon. The apricot bagel was surprisingly
good with bits of dried apricot mixed into the dough, while the
chocolate in the chocolate bagel proved plentiful and didn’t
burn when toasted. The only flop was the sun-dried tomato and basil
bagel, which was so chock full of tomato that it almost gave me
heartburn.
Like every true bagelry, Jared’s also lets you customize your
bagels with cream cheese and other spreads (LE 2-4). The current
choices include whipped honey butter, plain cream cheese, and blueberry,
strawberry or apricot flavored cream cheese. While the spreads that
we tried were excellent, it would be nice to see some savory spreads
on the menu such as garlic, vegetable or dill cream cheese.
And Jared’s could certainly improve its sandwiches. The herb
chicken sandwich on an onion bagel (LE 15) we tried was literally
just a bagel, cheese and a slice of deli meat. The other meat options
were about the same, inexplicably lacking any fresh tomatoes, lettuce
or cucumbers. Even more mysterious, is the complete absence of lox
(smoked salmon), the quintessential topping of all authentic cream
cheese bagels and not particularly hard to track down.
If bagels simply aren’t your thing, Jared’s also has
Belgian waffles, muffins, fresh-baked granola and a rack full of
Doritos.
According to the staff, Jared’s plans to open outlets in other
neighborhoods in the not-so-distant future. I certainly hope they
do, but think they may want to make some improvements to their menu
first. Nonetheless, their Maadi store is a welcome addition to Cairo’s
food scene.
BAGELS TO GO
Jared’s is not the first bagelry in Egypt. A few years
ago, a place set up shop in Maadi, but failed to take root
– closed we hear due to a lack of local familiarity
with the untraditional bread product. Moreover, the bagelry
was relatively expensive and didn’t deliver –
two fatal shortcomings in the Egyptian market.
Jared’s remedies both these problems with reasonably
priced bagels ranging from LE 4 to 6 and a wonderfully easy
online ordering system. To order requires registration, but
after that it is quite easy to place orders for pickup or
delivery. When Business Monthly placed an online order, a
friendly staff member called back promptly to make sure the
address was correct.
Jared’s delivers, but only in and around Maadi, which
is unfortunate for those of us that live closer to downtown
or in the burbs. Place your order a day in advance and you’ll
find the oven-fresh bagels at your door early the next morning.
Discounts for larger orders. |
Jared’s Bagels82 Road 9
Maadi
Tel: 705-8349, 012-788-8702
www.jaredsbagels.com
Open daily from 6:30am to 9pm
Delivery: 6:30am to 4pm
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