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Want some good bagels?

연합뉴스 / 2023-09-19 09:02:28

▲ London Bagel Museum in Anguk (Photo by Chung Joo-won)

Want some good bagels?

By Chung Joo-won

Bagel is either "an office snack," or "a quick bite," -- in most parts of the world EXCEPT Korea, I think.

In Korea? I think people think of it more as a ... "MEAL for one," or "seated lunch among intimate people."

That's why bagels come larger and softer in Korea... hmmm.

The other day, I dropped by "London Bagel Museum" in Anguk-dong, central Seoul. LBM!!!

It says "London," but it's baked, run and served by Koreans. We Koreans are obsessed to use the expression "K-," so let us call these fluffy, puffy, insanely yummy things, "K-bagels."

It's 18 minutes by walk from my office (If not LBM, I wouldn't bother to crawl that far) and 7 minutes by car.

But the distance is not the problem. It's about the INSANE WAITING LINE...!!

If I go there in summer, it means I feel TRUELY energetic and motivated that day.

▲ London Bagel Museum in Anguk is crowded with bagel lovers. (Photo by Chung Joo-won)

There's an registration machine outside the store. It's best to waitlist yourself (sign up your cell number) at the most unpopular hour of the day (8:00-18:00) and hang around for 1-2 hours until you're up.

I had to squeeze into SWARMS of people to browse.

I already ate lunch (didn't expect to get my bagels on time). I was aiming for to-go, maybe for dinner.

It was hard to pick one. I new the "potato cheese" and "chives & cream cheese" were the most popular ones here.

One bagel suffices for 1 meal, I think.

But if I'm starving, I might finish 1.5 bagel at a time.

The chives & cream cheese bagel was about twice as pricey as the other bagels (US$3-4), but my companies said it was worth it.

All my buddies got at least one potato cheese bagel to go. But I was hungry for something sweet, so I picked cinnamon & pecan. (I did hesitate for the fig and the pretzel flavors, though.)

Check this out: the black hole of bagels...