Second Schmears: Revisiting Sully Eats
Second Schmears: Revisiting Sully Eats
Second time's the charm for this Seattle farmers market mainstay.
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 itsashanda@substack.com.
I’ve thought a lot about Sully Eats since I reviewed them.
The day I visited was a particularly dreary February Seattle day. They were running a little late that morning and hustling to start serving the swarm of people hovering nearby. Their major focus was on sandwiches as a whole (not to mention bialys and babka), while I was there to just review the bagels. While I complained about their bagels being pre-sliced, a source later told me that this just so happened to be the one time they did that.
All of which is to say that I’ve often wondered if I just caught them on a really bad day.
I wasn’t in a major rush to return only because, at the time, they weren’t making their own bagels. However, I spied on their Instagram feed that they were now making bagels from scratch.
With that, they jumped to the top of the line.
Also, I knew this time I would try to think a bit more critically about how I do this review. At the very least, I would visit on a nice day.
And I would definitely try the babka…
WHAT I ORDERED
Plain bagel as-is ($3)
Everything bagel with onion and chive cream cheese ($5)
Egg & cheese on a sesame bagel ($10)
Slice of chocolate babka ($4)
As with all previous Second Schmear reviews, we keep things relatively simple this time. I’ll compare this visit to the first trip to determine what might have changed.
I stopped by the Fremont Sunday Market just as they were opening at 10:00 a.m. While many of the stands and food trucks were still getting settled, the Sully Eats crew was already manning the grill and knocking out orders. Sure, they serve ideal morning food, but it was notable how much steady attention they were getting.
In general, this seemed like a much more well-oiled machine than what I encountered last time. Everyone had a clear role in the three-person booth and they were cranking out orders relatively quickly, while also putting in the effort to make everything well.
I spied their bagels while waiting in line to order and thought they looked pretty solid. A mix of flavors and styles, I dug the basket presentation and felt like it fit the market vibes well. I was very curious about the berry-topped bialys but I only had so much room in my tummy.
We start with the plain bagel. It was a little cold but that was understandable given the market situation. I thought it was a good size with a medium center and a slightly oblong shape. Unlike some oblong bagels, it seemed as though the larger side was also fairly doughy and not just elongated. The coloring was light to golden brown and the top featured plenty of blisters. I loved the swirly cracks in the dough as well, which helped give the soft top some crackles.
The bottom of the plain was firm but soft. I thought the coloring was really nice and even. While I wouldn’t say it constituted a Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD) I did note a solid cornmeal application.
When I picked up the plain bagel, it felt very light. It offered a tough but soft rip which rewarded me with a classic bagel smell. That lightness was due to an interior that was very airy and fluffy, though the bagel maintained a solid integrity and had a great post-bite rebound. I detected a slight hint of salt in the dough, which gave it a little flavor boost. I found the bite to be hearty and a tough chew (in a good way) despite lacking crunch.
In all ways, this was a huge upgrade from the first experience. In fact, I would go as far as to say this was one of the better plain bagels I’ve had in Seattle recently.
Next up was the everything bagel with onion and chive cream cheese. It came pre-sliced in a paper wrapper, which you love to see. Again, this bagel was a good size, boasted a medium center, and had that same oblong shape. The coloring was a nice golden brown while the top was soft to the touch. There was a solid seed hand at work here with a good seasoning mix.
The bottom of the everything bagel was very soft and a little doughy. There was ample seasoning on this side, and I detected some cornmeal in there as well.
The schmear portions here can best be described as generous. I liked seeing all those chive chunks in there, but the bite revealed a major gloop factor. That said, the cream cheese held its shape, even as it oozed out the sides on each bite.
At first, all I was getting was cream cheese. While I enjoyed the flavor, it overwhelmed the bagel, and I initially wondered if the seasoning needed more salt (AS GOD INTENDED). However, as I ate and the schmear ratio moved into balance, I tasted a lot more of the everything seasoning (and detected that salt, too). I enjoyed each successive bite more than the one before it.
Normally I’m a big proponent of letting it ride with the cream cheese. In this instance, I think less is more.
Again, this was an improvement over the initial visit, where I got all the gloopiness without any of the flavor or enjoyment.
While the reviewable portion of this visit is over, it only felt right that I try one of these “sandos” that Sully Eats is pushing. I went with the egg and cheese on a sesame bagel (though I’ll say the meat sandwiches seemed to be hot sellers).
Admittedly, I don’t think my photo does it justice. The bagel sandwich included egg, cheese, caramelized onions, Sully’s house sauce, and avocado. I thought the ratios were spot-on. The bagel was soft in a way that made sense for the sandwich. The sesame seeds really popped. And that house sauce gave the whole thing a nice kick. A big thumbs up.
Finally, the babka. Look, I run a bagel newsletter, not a babka newsletter. So I’m not claiming to be some kind of expert. That said, I really appreciated the look and feel of the cake. I love that they give you a big hunk like you’re in an old-school Jewish deli. The cake was rich and flavorful and if I had more room in my stomach at that point I would have devoured the whole thing.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“I see what Sully Eats is doing here. They’re about the sandwich experience, featuring hand-held meals that you can’t help but snap some photos of before devouring. And it looks like they’re very good at it. The purpose of my newsletter doesn’t intersect well with that mission, so I have to give them some grace here. That said, while it seems like they put a lot of love into the bialys and babka, I hope that, as they grow, they commit more to making the bagels stand on their own and not just as a pastrami or bacon delivery system.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
Most of my Seattle bagel experiences fall into one of three categories. One, a place I think will serve good bagels serves good bagels. Two, a place I think will serve bad bagels serves bad bagels. Three, a place I expected to serve good bagels serves bad bagels.
Not that I expected Sully Eats to serve me a bad bagel, but the experience was so much better than I even thought it would be that I’m still a bit in shock. And it turns out, I was right to keep thinking about Sully Eats and whether or not I missed the boat on them.
In the time between the two reviews, it feels like they figured it out and fine-tuned the approach. And, credit due, they started making a decent bagel of their own. Not to mention the market experience was enjoyable and the booth crew was incredibly friendly. And while I didn’t count the sando or the babka in the review, they helped me to understand the full picture of what Sully Eats is doing.
While they came into this ranking at No. 16, their bagel has them rocketing up to No. 9, which I think is the biggest jump in It’s a Shanda Industries history. Go check them out at one of their market or pop-up appearances and let me know if you agree. Just maybe ask them to tone down the schmear a little bit…
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (7/29/24)
Hey Bagel - 1st visit
Bloom Bistro (Georgetown) - 1st visit
Loxsmith Bagels (West Seattle) - 1st visit
Rubinstein Bagels (Eastlake) - 1st visit
Rachel's Bagels & Burritos (Ballard) - 1st visit, 2nd visit, 3rd visit
Macrina Bakery (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Eltana (Wallingford) - 1st visit
Westman’s (U District) - 1st visit
Blazing Bagels (Ravenna) - 1st visit
Einstein Bros. Bagels (U Village) - 1st visit
Dingfelder’s (Capitol Hill) - 1st visit
Kelly’s Cannoli (Magnolia) - 1st visit
Bagelbop (Pike Place Market) - 1st visit
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS (6/3/24)
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
The Cottage Bakery (Edmonds)
Shawn’s Cafe & Bakery (Mercer Island)
Coquette Bake Shop (Bainbridge Island)
Caffe Vino Olio (Vashon Island)
Rubinstein Bagels (Redmond)
Good Bagels Cafe (Anacortes)
Mustard Seed Baking Co. (Stanwood)
Blazing Bagels (Redmond)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon)
Woodinville Bagel Bakery (Woodinville)
Big Apple Bagels (Bellevue)
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Wow, a 7 spot jump in the rankings is unheard of!
Oh wow that babka is a work of art!