Brick Lane Beigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane, London E1 6SB

Brick Lane, huh? The stuff of novels, mediocre curries, and 24-hour bagels. You heard right - 24 hours, 7 days a week, bagels on tap.

Where do I get this tap, you ask. Why at the Brick Lane Beigel Bake, of course. Don't you use Google?

Famed for being one of those places in London loved both by the locals and also tourists who come from afar just to say they've been to this legendary bagel-producing takeaway, it remains to this day, one of the places we'd never quite made our way to.

Until now, that is. Veni vidi vici.

It also seems to be one of those places untouched by the Disgusting Claws of Inflation. These prices look acceptable in the eighties. How much for a piece of cheesecake?!? I almost was afraid to ask if the prices were actually valid - fearing my complete lack of self control but even after I'd ordered about half the board, it only came out to about £8 so I can safely say that yes, those prices are in fact, real and valid.

By the way, for those of you reading this who're not British, and not too familiar with the way things are priced here, the numbers on the board represent the amount of pennies you'd have to shell out for the item. For example, to avoid any doubt, 70 means 70p, or £0.70.

That amount buys you about half a piece of toast in a normal establishment. Here, it gets you a slice of cheesecake, or chocolate fudge, or even a carrot cake.

It's not just the prices that're stuck in the decades gone by - the interior is, too. Not necessarily a bad thing though as it does create a nice, comforting sense of nostalgia as you walk into the shop from the (sometimes) bleak Brick Lane vibe outside.

By the window is a huge slab of hot salt beef - just tantalising those tastebuds and anyone who walks by (scroll to last picture below for a quick smile). Guarding these meaty treasures are 2 As-East-End-As-You'll-Get ladies who exude the personalities of dinner ladies with attitude. Brisk, brief and bustling - they ask for your order, hand it to you, and off you go. None of that pansy "How're you today, love" nonsense.

For £3.50, you get this doorstop of a beefy, boffy bagel. What I liked about it was the fact that these bagels were oh so darn chewy! Chewy chewy chewy. Each chewy bite was such a pleasure to bite into - cheeeeeeewy. Then, as I sank my teeth further into the meaty treasure, I bit into MORE chewy - in the form of the hot salt beef. Chewy in a good way though. It was moist, it was meaty, it was flavourful, and it was oh so chewmazing.

A little zingy zing from the English mustard so generously slathered on and we were set to want more.

And because this chicken bagel cost £1.50, I couldn't resist. While the chicken was literally just that - chicken - it was kinda enjoyable in its own way, too. The taste was clean, uninterrupted, and if you like chicken, you're in for a good bagel.



This was the pastry (1 of 2) that I somehow managed to order in the time between deciding which bagel to have, and actually saying those words out loud. Nothing amazing, but for that price (under £1), what more could you ask for.

How could you walk by and not bagel?

This lil guy looked hungry outside the shop.