For our first outing myself and my partner in pies, Eater, have taken a trip up Brick Lane in London's trendy London to partake in some red-hot bagel action. Hold tight. Here's Eater with a some deetz about today's establishment(s).
Eater: We went to those two beigel shops. It's interesting that they never shut and exist there, next to each other. I wonder how well they know each other and which one of them does better. I liked my beigels. I think the one from the yellowy signed shop was better. It was fresher and the filling was tastier. I got liver sausage and gherkin from there and salmon, cream cheese and cucumber from the white signed shop. Probably for a fair comparison I should have got the same thing from each shop. The cucumber from the white signed shop was a bit off and the beigel was pre prepared and a bit warm, unlike the other place where it was freshly made. Also, the yellowy signed shop was cheaper, which is better. So today, I'd say the yellowy signed shop was the best one. Did you see that man in front of me in there? He sounded like I'd imagine Ronnie and Reggie Kray would.
CD: Yeah it's quite strange that in all of east London the two 24 hour beigel shops are situated virtually next door to one another. You'd think they'd be better off being further apart and getting more trade..also, do beigel places need a special license to be constantly open? Anyway, I always end up going to the white signed shop because the salt beef beigels that do are next level, and today's was no different - completely amazing. They don't hold back on the beef (which is so moist and flavoursome), and the gerkins are crunchy and zesty. The actual beigel was a bit clammy, but I kind of ignore that as I'm shovelling the beef into my mouthhole. That said, I kind of prefer the vibe of the yellow signed place next door; it's a bit more grimy and fun, plus their range is more exotic. I supplemented my salt beefer with a chopped herring and gherkin beigel, which was a revelation. The gherkin's crunch and sharpness offset the herring perfectly, plus it was like £1.30 - recession-proof if ever I saw / ate it. So in the end it's the same old story: you're spoilt for food places in London, especially when they decide to open within 10 yards of one another. Your liver sausage beigel looked wild, I'm definitely gonna try one soon. That east end gangster fellow was great! I wonder if he accentuates his schtick so that people will think he's an old east end bad ass? Either way, it was a strong look. The ladies who work behind the counter in both places are amazing, I bet it'd be fun to hang out in ther for 6 hours drinking tea and eating beigels just to listen to their conversations. The Krays owned a pub near there (The Carpenter's Arms) because it was the only place they were safe to drink in. It's quite nice, although (inevitably) it's very trendy now. So anyway, our beigels were bookended by two very swift halves in the Pride of Spitalfields!
Eater: I was jealous of your salt beef beigel, there did seem to be a lot of beef in it. I didn't get one because of the price. My liver sausage and gherkin one was £1.40 and my salmon, cream cheese and cucmber one was £1.70. I still owe you £5. I was jealous of your herring one too really. Next time I'll get what you got. Also, I might get three as I was still a bit hungry after my two. The last time I went to those shops, which was about a year ago, a woman behind the counter was telling off a Japanese tourist for not being more vocal about his order taking ages. We need to do a more scientic comparison of the two places by getting the same thing from both.
I liked that pub we went in. It looked good in there and the choice of beers was okay and the two women working in there were quite pleasant. I noticed that they sold salt beef sandwiches for £3.50. We should go there again. Also, we'll have to go to The Carpenter's Arms next Thursday. It's your turn to choose the food venue.
I wonder what the maximum consumption of food/drink we could manage over a lunch time is. It's ridiculous that we had to frantically shovel our food/drink down to fit everything into a lunch break, gluttons don't deserve dignity though, I suppose.
