WA-BAGEL by ABURI — Restaurant in Vancouver

I saw the sign. Or rather, the signs. And not in an M. Night Shyamalan way. But in a Blue's Clues leading you to some yummy treasure kind of way. Suffice to say, if you know, you know. And if you don't, that's what the gigantic signs are for.

Buried in Corporate Wonderland aka Park Place, a home to high powered lawyers and financial advisors, is this unheard of novelty: A Japanese Bagel Shop. Let that sink in. You've probably never considered this combination before. It's about as unlikely as With Love Meghan winning an Emmy or Meghan Markle finding any semblance of success. But I digress.

Where the Sussex Duchess is in the midst of a free falling failure, Wa Bagel is ascending in the world of niche cafés. It boasts the title of being Vancouver's first Japanese Bagel and Sandwich Shop. And I'd also like to throw in that Wa Bagel is under the Aburi Umbrella of which Miku (the extravagant Waterfront Restaurant) is also a part of. No doubt, Aburi knows how to sell Japanese Culinary Luxury.

So it's no wonder this flagship store lives in the heart of Vancouver's financial district. It's a place where people have money to burn and won't bat an eye at the $16 savory bagels. And in fact, will probably smirk at the $4.75 regular bagels.

Wa Bagel usually boasts a lineup that leads out the front doors, has amazingly efficient and super friendly staff, and carries an eclectic, albeit limited, collection of goods such as imported drinks, shredded cheese, fruit gummies, pre-made oshi salmon sushi and cream cheeses.

The Japanese influence manifests in the form of exotic bagels like Ume Bacon, Sweet Potato and Black Sesame, Mochi Matcha, and Red Bean and Cream Cheese, just to name a few.

For you less adventurous connoisseurs, don't fret. Universally familiar bagels like Apple Cinnamon (sweet as pie), Garlic Butter and Cream Cheese (to die for), and Pacific (salmon with a Japanese Twist) also share this small exclusively curated menu.

For a quiet gem of a café where Tokyo meets New York, walk the plush carpeted floors and head down the shiny steps to your...

Are these good bagels? Not even close because I wouldn't even call them bagels. Are they a good eating experience, whatever they are? Ummm... hard no. Here's part of the problem. They sealed them up in plastic bags. That means "bagels" that have stuff like kinako on it, well, you just end up with a soggy paste. The one with miso? Umm... that ended up being just a wet, soggy, chewy bread with a funky taste. Not fun. Most of the other half dozen flavours we tried were not inspiring. The other part of the problem are the texture & flavours. It was just chewy "stuff" with not a particularly good flavour profile. This is coming from people who love bread with a good chew. We even tried re-toasting them in oven, which made it slightly better. The only passable (maybe even good?) was the one with cream cheese inside. I guess it moistened up the inner enough while letting the outside retain a slight crust from the toasting. There are places in town which serve up the most awesome Montreal style bagels. They are so dang good, especially when fresh, that you can eat them plain. They don't keep 'em in plastic bags. Wabagel is not in this league. I've had a wide assortment of Japanese, and other east-Asian, style baked goodies both here and in Asia. This is also not in that league. This is exceedingly very un-Japanese like to miss little details like realizing that stuffing things in a sealed plastic bag would retain moisture and make things soggy. That and the flavours just don't do it. Maybe I didn't get the best ones, but 1/6 is not a good hit rate. Add to it the cost of these things...well, it's gonna take a lot of changes to make me come back for them. Definitely not...

I love their specialty bagels! The texture and flavour is really unique, tender and malty, and they have lots of interesting flavours. I want to keep coming back until I work through everything. Awesome veggie aburi bagel sandwich. I loved the tofu "hummus" which basically tasted similar to cream cheese with a little more texture. It's a nice change-up from the usual veggie bagel sandwiches because it has a characteristic Japanese flair from the sauce and the choice of veggies. The brown sugar matcha latte is pretty good and the decaf coffee is also a-okay. The area for improvement with the drinks is that they have oat milk but will only use it in cold drinks. I still feel that the sandwich is a little expensive, but the price of the individual bagels is really reasonable. They have a consistent artisanal quality to them. Very good service - I often see their head baker working and she's so friendly, as is the rest of the staff! The price of the individual bagels is really reasonable. They have a consistent artisanal quality to them. I feel that the sandwich is a bit expensive, though. It's $6 for bagel with shmear and $16.5 for the sandwich - does adding the veggies really need to up the price by $10? The shop itself isn't visible from the street, but they do have some sandwich boards set up at the entrance to the building to let you know you're in the right place. You have to enter Park Place (from Hornby or Burrard St) and then go downstairs. There's a spacious and relaxed seating area, which even has a small arcade. Nice to hang out here in the summer and get away...