Best Ugly Bagels — Restaurant in North Island

There are some places you go to where you have zero expectations of anything there being nice. This was one such place.

I've never understood why 'bagels' exist, since all the ones I've tried have tasted like perished foam rubber and were inedible.

Also, this place is owned by one of those chefs who have somehow become famous.

If there was a god, we wouldn't have to have 'celebrity chefs', but there isn't so we have to which is a bloody nuisance.

So under normal circumstances I wouldn't have gone near this place, but I needed somewhere to sit while I dealt with a crisis involving crazed lascars threatening to detonate a bomb of some kind somewhere, and that's not the kind of tricky conversation you want to be dealing with on a street corner.

I needed somewhere to sit while I got the miscreants on the phone, and Best Ugly's premises was close to hand, so in I went.

Well what do you know? It was just great. The staff were friendly, the coffee was excellent and the smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel was one of the nicest things I'd eaten all week.

Plus I got the annoying middle eastern fellow and his mates squared away by phone which is why Palmerston North wasn't destroyed by a 'dirty bomb' yesterday morning, so all in all a good result.

Go there. It's really good. Even though it is owned by a...

Ugly bagels they might call it, but it really ain't. When you first come in, the first thing that hits you is the industrial vibes. The next is the friendliness and outgoing staff who props to them really help build the overall fun and cheerful atmosphere of the place. With a wide selection of bagels, ranging from the classic to interesting flavours, you will be spoilt for choice.

We got the bagel of the month, the humdinger and the P.B.J. Humdinger: a base of hummus topped with tomatoes, parsley, feta rounded off with a za'atar on top a poppy seed bagel. A middle eastern flair built on a base of well established classics, it was an innovative take on the bagel. P.B.J: Clearly built on the pb&j, the crunchy fix&fogg peanut butter with raspberry jam would satisfy your sweet tooth. However, do not fret, it is not overly cloying! Filter coffee: Nothing special to talk about. However, for a bottomless coffee at that price, it's a good way to get your coffee fix.

Overall, the bagels are done right while being innovative and will definitely be worth every limited stomach space! The staff definitely deserves a...

New Yorker here. I’ve been to plenty of bagel places outside of NYC (the epicenter of bagels) that have simply failed to meet the minimum requirements of what a bagel should taste like. Fortunately that is not the case with Ugly Bagels. These are legit.

I started with a simple, buttered and toasted sesame bagel. Delicious. Light but chewy, it has all the taste and texture and density I expect in a bagel. I’m used to walking into NYC delis and seeing baskets full of assorted bagel types, but Ugly Bagels has prepackaged packs of four arranged by type (plain, sesame, etc.). While I would have liked to have seen baskets organized by flavor (salt, cinnamon/raisin, blueberry, poppy seed, etc.) I won’t hold it against the shop.

Also, these bagels are a little thinner than the usual super-thick NY bagels, which is good because I don’t feel like I’m going to collapse in a food coma after I eat one. That’s a win.

I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while now and I am not disappointed. I know my bagel-loving kids will be relieved they can get a taste...