"Granville" Siegel's Bagels

Had a recent visit to Vancouver's Granville Island for a walkabout of the island including a stop off for a lunch at the famous Granville Public Market.

The first noticeable problem with dinging at Granville Island's Public Market is finding a table or bench to sit at.  There is very little seating available for all the ready made food options indoors.  Add to this a small section outdoors would seem to help alleviate the problem.  However, with large crowds, especially on weekends, all the available seating merely isn't adequate.

After touring the food options at the market and settling in our family to hard to find Saturday afternoon available seating, I returned to my first choice.

Siegel's Bagels (1689 Johnston Street, Vancouver) has a nice spread of freshly baked bagels laid out in a display case.  Siegel's makes wood fired Montreal bagels similar in nature to Ottawa's Kettleman's Bagels.  These bagels can then be prepared with your choice of cream cheese, sandwich topping choices and of course toasted.

Pack your patience at this Siegel's Bagels, as not only the Public Market crowds lead to decent lines here but also add in preparation time.  This is not merely a fast food joint!   I waited for three customers in front of me to order.  The worst had to be the last customer who couldn't figure out what she wanted while also asking questions left, right and center.  Finally, though she just stood there and let me go first.

The Order: 1 Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with plain Cream Cheese.

The order took about three minutes to put together which, along with the five minute wait to order, totaled eight minutes altogether.

I returned to my seat which had been hovered over a couple vulturous customers a couple of times asking if it was free, to enjoy my meal.

The cream cheese had melted slightly in the still warm freshly baked bagel.  This presented a nice tasty treat to go along with some coffee I picked up at another Granville Public Market stall.   The bagel was the usual soft chewy type that characterizes Montreal style bagels.  The only sad part?  I ate the bagel too fast.

Overall, Siegel's Bagels provides a fresh tasting bagel ready to be eaten right out of the wood fired oven.  Decent counter service for the size of the establishment is also there but do expect to wait a bit on busier days.  The only main issue that is really out of Siegel's Bagels control, is the lack of seating.  So be prepared on busier days to have to go elsewhere beyond the indoor seating to find a spot to eat your bagel delight.