Second Schmears: Revisiting Eltana
Is second time the charm for these tiny Seattle bagels?
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.
I think it was pretty obvious heading into my initial review of Eltana that I was a bit skeptical. While they were on just about every list of the best bagels in Seattle when I started this, I was pretty underwhelmed by their size, flavor, lack of texture, and need to be toasted (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln…).
I haven’t been in much of a hurry to return, especially as the Seattle bagel scene has grown in that time. As I said in my original review, I remain flummoxed by the Montreal-style bagel (though they would say they are not Montreal-style, merely inspired by it) and have yet to have one that made me interested to eat more.
Eltana finds itself in an interesting position. Mt. Bagel, Old Salt, Oxbow, and others have elevated the Seattle bagel scene way beyond what it was when they opened their doors in 2011. You’ve also got farmers’ market stalls, pop-ups, and a post-pandemic bagel excitement that has upped the anticipation and the expectations of local schmear connoisseurs.
Eltana once had plans for Seattle bagel domination but they seem to have stalled out with the Capitol Hill joint and Wallingford location. Now, they’re part of the old guard when it comes to Seattle bagels. While they continue to have a loyal following, you have to wonder if they’re willing to innovate or evolve to keep up with what’s coming.
It’s been a solid year since the first review. Let’s check back in and see if time can heal all bagel wounds.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Everything bagel with plain cream cheese.
Plain 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.
Eltana bagels are still pretty small. Obviously, I knew that, but seeing and holding them in my hand reminds me just how tiny they are. Honestly, I feel like they remind me more of the Coquette Bake Shop “bagel” than the other bagels in Seattle.
I’m also reminded how their bagels have these really unique “wrinkles” that I presume comes from boiling them with honey. It’s not the most appetizing look, to be honest. I will say that the plain bagel did have a nice golden brown color. The top was also extremely hard in a way I don’t think I’ve seen with any other bagel in town. The bottom of the bagel is actually softer than the top, presumably from the wood-fired oven baking.
There was a little bit of crispness on the top of the bagel and it had a very sweet smell, which I remembered from the first time as well. As I said in that review, I don’t quite understand the appeal of the honey water boil of Montreal-style bagels. I’m not here for sweetness.
Biting into the bagel, I detected a little bit of crispiness. I found the interior of the bagel to be more roll-like than anything. Almost pretzel-y. Like last time, I found the dense interior to be a little on the dry side and taste like a slightly stale bagel, which isn’t great considering I got there at 7:00 a.m.
I think the first time I reviewed Eltana, I got my bagels to go. This time, however, they were served in the restaurant and that means any bagel with a schmear gets served open-face. That’s certainly unique and I wasn’t put off by the option, though for the sake of the review process, I did smush those two halves together, creating quite the cream cheese block.
I got the plain cream cheese this time because I didn’t see scallion as an option and panicked. I guess I just missed the za’atar scallion cream cheese option. I missed the flavor of the za’atar because this cream cheese had a bit of a strange tang and left a weird taste in my mouth.
As for the bagel itself, it was a golden-ish brown. There was a decent seed hand and I did detect some salt, but some of the onions and garlic on the top were burnt. I got a slight whisp of crunchiness on the bite but the overall eating experience again felt a little stale and flavorless. This was pretty similar to the previous visit.
The orange slice was a nice palette cleanser, at least.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“If you’re going to serve me a Lilliputian bagel, and it’s also not giving me crunch or flavor or a fluffy interior, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. You’re creating a challenge for yourself that’s already hard to overcome without giving me many reasons to consider spending $2 on a tiny bagel when I can get a better, and larger, one elsewhere for the same price.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
I didn’t plan on returning to this Eltana location, but I ended up meeting Emily Alhadeff of The Cholent here for a Capitol Hill bagel tour and interview (Keep an eye out for that soon). I figured while I was here it would make sense to do a Second Schmear review, but I think I’ve probably made my last visit. I still plan on reviewing the Wallingford location at some point. That said, I think it would be fair to say I don’t have high expectations for that review.
Coming into this, I had Eltana down at No. 16 in my Seattle rankings. While my initial inclination was to drop them a little bit, I honestly don’t think there is a bagel below them I’d feel good elevating. So I’ll keep them where they are, if only because there’s really no place left to go.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (8/13/23)
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)
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Looking forward to the Cholent interview.
As to this review, one comment: I, for one, appreciate a smaller bagel. Less bread, more fixin's...schmear, lox, tomato...
Note: Eltana has expanded its offerings and some of those are worth checking out. In a future life?