Can I get a good Seattle bagel at... Old Salt in Ballard
Old Salt has a new home but did they bring their best bagels with them?
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 ensure I review any specific bagels (or want to let me know why I’m wrong), you can email me at seanmatthewkeeley@gmail.com.
Old Salt Fish & Bagels’ second location in Ballard snuck on me a few weeks ago, and when I tried to catch them before Christmas I was too late.
I figured it was ultimately a good thing as it would give them some time to settle into their new digs at 6309 24th Ave NW, next door to Rupee Bar. Both businesses are backed by Joe Sundberg, Rachel Johnson, Patrick Thalasinos, and Chef Liz Kenyon, who also own Manolin, where Old Salt originated during the pandemic.
It’s been a pretty impressive journey for Old Salt. Born out of a need to do “something fast-casual that we could run with minimal staff” during the pandemic, the folks at Manolin initially tried tacos before shifting focus to bagels and the rest is history. It would have been easy enough for the seafood restaurant to excel at lox and cod but they went and figured out how to make a really good bagel to put that fish on top of.
They were near the top of my rankings from the jump and have since jumped Oxbow, Loxsmith, and others. They even beat out the mighty Mt. Bagel in my head-to-head competition a few weeks back.
But all of that is because of what’s happening at the Old Salt location in Fremont. Can the new standalone spot in Ballard meet the high standards set by the original? Only one way to find out…
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Plain bagel as-is
Everything bagel with plain cream cheese
THE EXPERIENCE
I love the whole vibe they’ve got going on here. It’s a small space but they’ve got a minimalist decor coupled with an old-school aesthetic that feels a little bit like old Ballard, insofar as I understand what old Ballard felt like.
The first thing I noticed happened before I walked into the store. The bagels were all in baskets at the front window, giving you a close-up view of the goodies inside. At the time, I thought it was a nice touch, and probably a great way to attract passers-by. However, let’s stick a pin in this and come back to it in a little bit.
The menu is the same as the Fremont location and so are the prices ($3 for a bagel, $4 for a bagel with plain cream cheese, and $5 for a bagel with a flavored schmear). They don’t do a scallion cream cheese (because life is cruel) so I went with the plain schmear for this review.
UPON FIRST GLANCE
With that first glance from the front window, I could see that Old Salt’s bagels looked like…Old Salt bagels. Their bagels tend to have a mixture of colors and crispness depending on the bake, but you could see that they were very much in line with what you’d expect to find in Fremont. I’m always a sucker for the black sesame bagels too, I just think they look really cool and I’m surprised more places don’t do that.
Now, when I got my order, the first thing that I noticed about both bagels was that they were noticeably cold. The culprit had to be those baskets sitting in the front window while it was 40 degrees right outside. I don’t need my bagels to be piping hot when I get them, but there’s a big difference between a slightly warmed or room-temp bagel and a cold one. And that difference shows up in the eating experience.
TOP
The top of the plain bagel was a nice golden brown with plenty of blisters. It crinkled to the touch and the bagel itself was very airy, rebounding from a slight push. It looked and felt very in line with the Old Salt bagels I’d eaten from the original location.
The top of the everything bagel featured a very light brown bordering on beige coloring. It seemed a little underbaked and, unlike the plain, was very soft on top. They had a medium seed hand, which is pretty normal for Old Salt, and the seasoning was a bit haphazard across the top.
BOTTOM
Both bagel bottoms were on the burnt side, but I actually didn’t have a problem with it. To be honest, I thought it looked cool with the way it formed a pattern based on the roll of the dough, like a Rorschach bagel. The bottoms were very firm and the everything bagel bottom even met the knockable standard. There was certainly a solid Cormeal Ring of Doom (CRoD) present, but that didn’t seem to be an issue.
INSIDE/BITE
The plain bagel offered a tough, crisp rip. The bite was also tough, in a good way, and offered some crunch thanks to the bottom. The bagel itself flattened out on the first bite and didn’t rebound, leading to some very flat secondary and tertiary bites. The coldness also impacted my enjoyment as it zapped the bagel of any vibrancy.
As for the everything bagel, I didn’t get any crunch from the top but I certainly got some from the bottom. Again, the bagel collapsed on the bite and didn’t rebound, which impacted its eatability. I did enjoy the cream cheese, which offered that classic flavor and stayed firmly in place as I ate. I felt like the everything seasoning could have used a little more salt, or perhaps a different kind of salt that helped spread the flavor around.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I know who Old Salt is and I know what kind of bagels they’re capable of. I think that the Ballard location is still working out the kinks and it might just take a while before they get to the same level as the original spot. More than anything, I hope they realize that those bagel baskets need to be far away from the front windows, at least until springtime. That alone could make a big difference as they get their feet under them.
I hope everyone stops by and supports them as they get grounded. While I would never, ever tell you to ask for your bagel to be toasted, I would highly recommend that you ask if they could warm them up just a little bit.
Is It Good Enough For The Goys?
I saw someone on the Seattle subreddit comment that they thought expanding to Ballard was a bad idea because the original Old Salt was in nearby Fremont and Rachel’s isn’t too far away. I had a good chuckle, not only thinking about how Capitol Hill has, like, seven bagel places in roughly the same amount of space, but also because it underestimates the demand around Seattle for good bagels. Trust me, there’s plenty of room for Old Salt and everyone else to thrive. Have you seen how many people live a walkable distance from that block? Ballard locals will love them.
Is It Good Enough For Northeastern Jews?
On one hand, I wholeheartedly hope everyone stops by to support this shop. On the other hand, if your mother is visiting from Long Island, maybe take her to the Fremont location for the time being. We’ll check back in on these guys in a few months to reassess.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (1/7/24)
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS (1/2/24)
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)
Good Bagels Cafe (Anacortes)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon, Whidbey Island)
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Why not (horror!) ask them to lightly toast when in Ballard?