Little Bagel Co, Queen’s Road: ‘The kind of lunch that could turn a bad day around’ – review

It’s a busy day on Queen’s Road as gaggles of Bristol University graduands proudly parade in their robes towards the Wills Memorial Building. Sadly for them, their time at university has not coincided with the opening of a hot new lunch spot on the Clifton Triangle that could rival local legends Eat A Pitta and Pinkmans.

Little Bagel Co. is primarily a takeaway joint. A bar borders the perimeter with a collection of stools, perfectly placed for people watching. It’s not somewhere to while hours away, but comfortable enough for a quick pit-stop making for a strong lunch break option if you’re in the vicinity.

It’ll no doubt be a hit with students being so close to the university, and I can imagine a queue out the door the day after those student loans hit.

Little Bagel Co. is actually not so little inside – photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

It’s safe to say that Wednesday’s launch was a resounding success; they ran out of bagels soon after midday. Now on their second day, they’re hoping to make it to lunch time. Who knows what will happen on day three, but I think it would be astute to arrive early if you want to try one of these New York inspired creations.

We order a meaty Rueben ‘five day brine pastrami, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, dill pickles and Emmental’ (£7.50) and a vegan lox ‘vegan salmon, cashew cream cheese, dill, capers, pickled red onion and tomatoes’ (£5.50).

Our bagel filled parcels arrive promptly and have helpfully been cut neatly down the middle, creating a perfect cross section – sandwich sandwich style – which will no doubt go down a treat on Instagram. A cunning marketing ploy, I like it.

The cross section on these bad boys is ideal Instagram fodder – photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

The reuben is an instant classic. The sweet Russian dressing is the first thing to hit, followed by the tang of sauerkraut. The bagel itself is perfectly crafted – chewy. salty, intensely satisfying and sealed with a slight blistered crunch. Slightly sweet and meaty pastrami is gratifying, and for the most part just the right amount of chewy – except for one vein of stubborn tendon that almost caused the whole thing to disintegrate.

This is the kind of lunch that could turn a bad day around in a few mouthfuls, a lunch that can stare down an afternoon of back-to-back meetings or lectures with confidence. You’ll get so lost in it that you’ll walk into a lamppost as you teeter down Park Street, but you won’t regret it.

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The vegan lox is a colourful concoction. The smoked ‘salmon’, which I suspect started its life as a humble carrot, is sweet and smoky and an admirable attempt at imitating fish. The cashew cream is tasty but a little on the granular side, more of a cashew cottage cheese but nice nonetheless. The capers, dill, tomato and pickled red onions bring salty, tangy and fresh pockets of flavour to each mouthful, but it does feel a little as though all the elements are fighting for attention and it’s the cashew cream that wins. I’m not sure it’s a fair fight, I’d like to see the playing field levelled a little to allow the ‘salmon’ to really shine.

The vegan lox is almost heart-shaped – photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

One helmet-wearing, bearded journalist sat next to us tucks into a ‘bec’ – bacon, egg, cheese and ketchup’ (£6) next to us, and remarks that it is not to be eaten without due care and attention, unless you want to spend the rest of the day wearing it. The egg oozes, taunting him as he speaks.

Could this be the perfect bec-fast? – photo: Martin Booth

The bagels themselves are the star of the show here, refreshingly wonky, chewy enough to make your jaw ache and beautifully bronzed. There are ten combinations on the menu, which means I will be back another eight times at least. And that’s before I even get started on the cake counter….

I’m delighted that somewhere in Bristol has acknowledged that birthday cake can and should be eaten 365 days a year – photo: Meg Houghton-Gilmour

Main photo: Martin Booth

Little Bagel Co, 80 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1QU
www.littlebagelco.co.uk

Read more: Bagels and speciality coffee coming soon from Little Bagel Co. 

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