Second Schmears: Revisiting Bagel Oasis
A year later, is this still the best bagel in Seattle?
Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). If you’re interested in taking this journey with me, make sure you subscribe so you never miss a review. If you want to make sure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at seanmatthewkeeley@gmail.com.
“The Doughboys cannot be bought!” is a common refrain from Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell on The Doughboys podcast. The duo’s whole conceit is that they offer up way-too-serious reviews about fast food chains (check out their episode on Einstein Bagels). They utter that catchphrase whenever the hosts are offered free swag or sent food from appreciative companies, though the truth is that they often do feel a little compromised by the knowledge that their thoughts will be seen by those they’re reviewing.
I might have to start co-opting that phrase in the coming weeks as I’ve started to make some inroads in the Seattle bagel community. Access is great but impartiality and integrity must be maintained.
It’s a Shanda cannot be bought!
All of this is to say that I recently spent a morning at Bagel Oasis getting to know owner Peter Ryan and his staff as they prepared what I have so far considered the best bagels in Seattle. Look for some thoughts on that experience in Eater Seattle soon (as well as in an upcoming Wednesday paid subscriber post).
While I was there, I also got a chance to sample their wares and it only made sense that I should use that as the basis for a Second Schmear review. I have to come clean and say all the bagels eaten for this review were complimentary, but I remain steadfast in my mission to write about bagels with a critical eye and ensure I’m serving my readers honestly.
Now that we’ve re-established that I take bagel reviewing way too seriously, let’s dig into these best-in-class bagels and find out if they still deserve to be No. 1 in all the land.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.
Everything bagel as-is.
As with all previous Second Schmear reviews, we keep things relatively simple this time around. I’ll review this version of the visit and compare it to the first trip to find out what might have changed.
When I say the everything bagel with scallion cream cheese was fresh, I mean I watched it get taken out of the oven, dropped in the basket, taken right back out of the basket, prepared, and delivered my way. The bagel had a light golden brown color. The seed hand was strong but there wasn’t any burning on the top. As noted last time, they don’t use salt in their everything mix and when I asked Ryan about it, he said he doesn’t put it on them “because I felt I wanted a beer” after eating them. Fair enough.
The bagel’s bite had great texture, with a crunchy-but-not-too-crunchy exterior and a doughy interior that maintained integrity. I enjoyed the crackly feeling in my mouth as I ate it. The cream cheese was very scallion-y, which we know isn’t always a given. It also maintained firmness instead of spilling out everywhere as I ate, which I always appreciate.
Much of this matches what I said the first time around, though now I feel like I have a little more context for how this bagel came to be.
I ended up taking a few more everything bagels home with me so I subbed one of those in for the usual plain bagel review. Last time, I got what felt like an underbaked as-is bagel that didn’t measure up to the other one.
This time, the as-is bagel was a lovely light golden brown full of blister and a crispy feel on the top and bottom. While not as browned as last time, it still seemed to eat the same. It offered a lovely rip and a crunchy bite with a fluffy interior. I got some strong onion and garlic flavor from the toppings, which is impressive given the lack of salt.
As I continued to eat the bagel it maintained its structural integrity and doughy interior. It didn’t collapse between bites, leading to any mushiness. In fact, I watched the bagel “re-inflate” between bites, which was really impressive. The bottom was perfectly crisped and offered a firm textural base for the rest of the bite. This was a much better as-is bagel than the one from the initial review.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“I’m just gonna level with you. Between all of the bagels I’ve reviewed for this newsletter and the other bagels that I’ve eaten around town, this is the best bagel in Seattle until someone proves otherwise. You can take all your lists of the best bagels in Seattle that don’t include Bagel Oasis on them and shove’m. Because if you’re going to tell me any of those previous spots offer a better bagel than this, I would say you’re either a liar or you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
First of all, I sound really combative in this initial Bagel Oasis review. Chill out, Sean from September 2022.
Second of all, this remains the best bagel in Seattle until someone proves otherwise. I think a lot of the other bagels in the top five have a lot to offer and succeed in their own ways. However, no bagel place puts it all together in the same way Bagel Oasis does. The crispness, the crunch, the fluffy interior, the flavorful bite, and the eatability. It’s all there.
It’s a Shanda cannot be bought, but, man, feel free to buy me more Bagel Oasis bagels anytime. The king stays king.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (9/3/23)
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon, Whidbey Island)
Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my Seattle bagel review and want to read more of them, make sure you’re subscribed to It’s A Shanda. Know someone in the Greater Seattle Area (or beyond) who would appreciate way-too-detailed reviews of local bagels? Forward the link their way.
My wife and I feel like we finally have a sports team we're invested in rooting for, and it's Bagel Oasis.
I was super excited to find someone ranking bagels out here(your bagel ratings on the uws are spot on as well) but Bagel Oasis was pretty tragic. Maybe a cut above supermarket or Dunkin but pretty disappointing for where it's ranked. Definitely not in the same league as Mt Bagel. Might be time for a third visit.