Second Schmears: Revisiting Zylberschtein's
Second Schmears: Revisiting Zylberschtein's
We return to the place where this Seattle bagel journey started.
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. Consider a paid subscription to get special bonus content. 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 or leave a comment below.
In case you missed it, I was on KUOW’s Seattle Now recently to talk about, what else, bagels. You can listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Zylberschtein’s will always be notable to me because it was the first bagel shop I reviewed for this newsletter. A lot of people have signed up since then so you might have missed it but my initial visit was an epic disaster. I realized when I got home that I had been given the wrong order and by the time I returned to replace it, they had run out of bagels (At 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday!!).
It’s a Shanda was off to a very on-the-nose start.
I returned the following weekend and, looking back on my original review, I see that Zylberschtein’s ended up taking the brunt of many of my pet peeves and annoyances (higher prices, no salt in the everything seeding, bready interiors), not realizing that there were so many other Seattle bagel places ahead doing similar things.
A lot has happened since June 2022 when I wrote that review. Zylberschtein’s sister spot, Muriel’s, closed down in a confusing hurry. Meanwhile, owner Josh Grunig’s original bagel shop has started popping up at farmer’s markets around town as it looks to expand its reach.
One thing that hasn’t happened is a return visit to the North Seattle deli. Sitting at No. 9 in the Seattle rankings, Zylberschtein’s finds itself very much in the middle of the pack. I figured it was a good time to check back in and see if they might need to move in one direction or the other.
And if you want to know how I define a good bagel, you can find that here.
WHAT I ORDERED
Everything bagel with chive cream cheese.
Plain bagel as-is.
As with all previous Second Schmear reviews, we keep things fairly 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.
The plain bagel was an interesting experience. Getting the bag with my chosen bagels in it, it was pretty easy to deduce that the plain one was piping fresh and right out of the oven. I could barely hold it in my hand because it was so hot.
While giving it a minute to cool, I took note of the very golden brown exterior and a hand-rolled look that led to a little bit of a funky shape, though still intriguing with the bumps and crevices. The bagels on the initial visit were much more pronounced in their unevenness but I noted a bit more of a uniform look here. That said, the bagel was slightly on the smaller side. I didn’t see any blisters or bubbles either.
It was very crisp on the touch, which was something I mentioned in the previous review as well. The bottom of the bagel was also crispy though not totally firm. There was no cornmeal that I could note. I did like the crevice that was formed from the hand rolling as an intriguing bite possibility, however.
Biting into the still-hot bagel, I found it to be crispy and slightly crumbly. The fluffy interior contrasted well and led to a doughy bite which I was happy with. I definitely took note of a bready smell and flavor, which I said was “rye” last time but seemed a little more sourdough-y this time.
Because the bagel was rolled tightly and had more of a long trench instead of the traditional hole, it ended up slightly underbaked in the middle.
One shanda that I do want to note on my end is that I was so enthralled by the prospect of eating the hot and fresh bagel that I bit into it before realizing I hadn’t taken any photos. I had to make the walk of shmear shame back to the ordering window and get another plain. That’s the one in the photos above. And I think I have to note that, although my review is based on the first bagel, I did have a couple of bites of the second one and it wasn’t quite as warm or crispy as the first one. I did wonder if there were diminishing returns with these bagels the cooler they get.
The first thing I saw with the everything bagel was that the seed hand went strongly in the direction of onion. That was a contrast from last time when it was very poppy-forward. The second thing was that the coloring on this bagel was lighter than the plain (and now I can see it was lighter than the prior version, too).
That lighter bake implied that this bagel wouldn’t be crispy or crunchy and the bite definitely confirmed that. The top and bottom were both pretty soft. I also detected the sourdoughiness of the bagel as well on the bite.
As with the first time, the everything bagel didn’t include salt in the mix. That meant that all that onion became the centerpiece of the flavor show. And while I’m not opposed to an onion bagel, I would have ideally wanted more balance in the bite here.
While not as hot as the plain, this bagel was warm, and it was absolutely loaded up with cream cheese. I’m not against a big block of cream cheese on my bagel. In fact, that was the expectation when I was growing up. However, if you’re going to go big on your schmears, it has to be firm and/or cold, so that it maintains integrity and shape when you bite. Here, the soft cream cheese ended up oozing out in all directions to the point where I felt like I was just holding cream cheese seasoned with a bagel.
The flavor of the schmear was fine. I didn’t get any chive flavor but it didn’t do anything to detract from the experience, which, to be fair, is a praise of its own.
WHAT I SAID LAST TIME
“Look, I have a very strong suspicion that there are much worse bagels awaiting me on this journey. But in terms of the hype, I can’t say that Zylberschtein’s is the can’t-miss option I was hoping it would be. The bagel itself is fine. The oblong shape gives it character but makes for an awkward eating situation. The lack of salt on the everything bagel is unconscionable.
“…I thought the bagel was decent and, if I found myself in the area again, I would stop by and get one. But am I going to hop in the car every weekend just to get my bagel fix there? No, I’m not.”
WHAT I THOUGHT THIS TIME
I was right about those suspicions. There are far worse bagels lurking in Seattle (especially from a value perspective).
My experience was slightly different this time. The plain bagel was very enjoyable right out of the oven and I would highly suggest trying to time it so you get that. The bagels had a more even look, though the bake seemed to be inconsistent between the two. The everything bagel still had all of the same issues as last time, though I’ve had much more problematic ones.
My takeaway is that Zylberschtein’s is exactly where it should be in the rankings. It’s not on the level of those bagels above it but it’s a much better option than most of the ones below it. And considering it’s the only decent place to get a Seattle bagel north of 70th Street, that’s gotta count for something.
So my initial assessment stands. I’m not going to go out of my way to drive up there for the heck of it. But if I were to find myself in the area in need of a Jewish food fix, I could do much worse.
MY SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS SO FAR (7/16/23)
OUTSIDE SEATTLE BAGEL RANKINGS
The Bagelry (Bellingham)
Howdy Bagel (Tacoma)
Otherside Bagel Co. (Bellingham)
Whidbey Island Bagel Factory (Mt. Vernon, Whidbey Island)
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Would love to know about differences in the flours used here vs. in Brooklyn. The taste at Zylberschtein-s and Reubenstein's both seems quite different from NY bagels.
It's, unfortunately, a place where you order at a window and eat in your car or at a table in a parking lot. It's also open only 5 days a week. These things warrant demerits.