John L.
Yelp
Did you hear the one about the Jewish baker who, upon learning that the price of smoked salmon had increased, no longer allowed his staff to have bagels with smoked salmon at lunch - some call it the advent of "anti locks (lox) breaks" ...
I had no idea that the Bagel originated in Kazimierz, Krakow more than 400 years ago...who knew...I thought that New York and Montreal were making this claim; can't argue with history I guess. Anyway, we set out specifically for Bagelmama having been told that it was a must and we were not disappointed. Eclectic is the best description for the decor and layout, but very inviting and well worth going out of the way (sort of). I say out of the way as we got lost (twice) and spent more time driving around looking for the place than actually sitting having our lunch, but it was totally worth it. We found an empty table for five at the "storefront", and made our way to the back (in another room) to place our order at a standup counter. The staff were very tolerant of our indecisiveness as we examined the bagel shaped menu, all the while they are standing waiting for your order. The "No Smoking" inside was a very pleasant accent!
The decision of the group - Two Sesame Bagels with Cream Cheese and Spicy Sambal, one Garlic Bagel with Cream Cheese and Spicy Sambal, one BLT Bagel and one Classic Bagel (smoked salmon and cream cheese). Two of us were hungry enough to also tackle the Soup of the Day: Fresh Cucumber and Basil (served cold) - and we truly were the lucky two as the soup was fantastic - fresh and flavorful - perfection in a bowl on such a hot day. The truth is that perhaps the others would also have had the soup, but they only had two portions left - and family or not...we ain't sharing soup!
I am sure that I heard the gentleman behind the counter state when asked about one of the orders, "it is a toasted bagel served open faced with a dollop of cream cheese and a spicy sambal drizzled on top". A dollop (?), I am not certain what a "dollop" of cream cheese is, but I remember as a child my father stating that he was putting a dollop of Brylcreem in his hair to make it "hold". Uh, what came on the bagel was more like a "mortarboard full" than my recollection of a dollop...not complaining here, rather complimenting. I expect the topping on an open faced sandwich (bagel) to cover the top completely (to the edges)...this was a work of art, the cheese was spread "heavenly" - yes to the very edge and thick. The spicy sambal was both adequately named and extremely tasty.
Bagelmama is not out of the way at all and easy to locate if you are not relying on a dyslexic GPS that has difficulty with Left Turn/Right Turn...just sayin... Great food, excellent price, wonderful atmosphere, wonderful staff...an absolute must when in Krakow...now if we could only get one in Belgium!