Good news for Tokyo bagel lovers

Bagel Standard bagel at National Azabu

Regular readers of this blog know that I’ve endorsed Bagel Standard as having the best New York-style bagel in Tokyo. Well, the good news is that –as of yesterday! — the National Azabu supermarket in Hiroo has added Bagel Standard bagels to their bread section. The other good news is that Bagel Standard is opening their Nakameguro shop earlier on weekends, opening Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 instead of 11:00. (Only in Tokyo would a bagel shop open that late.)

If you want to put my endorsement to the test, be careful: National carries several other brands of bagels. Don’t buy the wrong ones. Right now, the Bagel Standard bagels are on the bottom shelf of the end-cap of the bread racks, on the end farthest from the cash registers.

Just around the corner is a freestanding display for the mega-sized Ess-a-Bagel, which are also sold in Daimaru Department Store (B1 floor) at Tokyo Station and in Osaka at the Hankyu Department store in Umeda. You can get them at their bakery, too, which is on Meiji-dori sort of halfway between Hiroo and Azabu Juban stations. I’ve tried the Essa-a-Bagel on a few occasions but don’t like them as much.

I don’t get as excited about the Ess-a-Bagel bagels

National has been carrying the B. ricci bagels for a few years. As far as I can tell, this bagel maker doesn’t have a website. I’ve bought them at National and a few times, direct from their baking place, which is down a truly tiny alley in Yotsuya. But it’s sometimes not open during opening hours so I’ve quit trying. I once cycled for an hour to Hakusan Bagel, having heard they make good bagels, only to find the shop closed due to “staff illness.” (What, everyone at once?) I haven’t managed to get back.

Shouldn’t something called “ricci” be a pizza?

Prices on Bagel Standard bagels are slightly cheaper out of their own storefront, which is located on Yamatedori about a ten-minute walk from Nakameguro station in the direction of Meguro Station, next to the Porsche dealer. Their website is mostly in Japanese but there’s a map in English that might help you navigate. The address is 2-8-19 Nakameguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0061. Phone is 03-5721-2012. There, plains are ￥180; sesame, salt and poppy bagels are ￥200 each. They have cinnamon-raisin bagels on weekends only at ￥220 each. Everythings are ￥220 everyday. Or just get them at National. For now, Bagel Standard bagels are being delivered to National on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.