Bagel World

Bakery: Bagel World 
Address: 336 Wilson Ave, Toronto ON
Website: http://www.bagelworld.ca/
Style: Jewish
Price: $$-$$$

One brother had a soccer tournament last week, so I sent him to do some touring in the area. As luck would have it, there were still a whole bunch of unexplored bakeries to be tried. As luck would NOT have it, the vast majority of businesses were closed due to what I assume to be the ice storm (though there was electricity throughout -- maybe there had been no power in the morning?), so the list of bakeries turned into... just one. Yes, Bagel World was the only stop that day after all. :)

Actually, Bagel World could technically be considered a return visit, as I had come here last year on a long string of failed bakery stops -- I had gone in and found the entire bakery empty, with the exception of a few bagels left behind. The brother encountered a very similar picture, with there being only one chocolate buffalo left and a few of the rugullah (I'll never know how to spell this). In terms of bagels, only poppy seed were left. The sweets, however, aren't very numerous regarding selection, even from the empty slots (despite their website advertising 'pastries'). Alas, there were no poppy seed buns at this place, but they have chocolate, in addition to three or four varieties of rugullah and two varieties of loaf cake (called 'bubkas') and that's pretty much it. Yes, Bagel World might indeed be the place to go for just bagels, but that doesn't their few baked goods are bad. On the contrary. (though some may be surprisingly costly and the parking in front is absolutely insane -- don't even bother driving into the plaza if you're prone to getting frustrated)

In fact, everything he bought received quite rave reviews from everyone. The chocolate buffalo ($2) was very popular, with a softer dough resembling challah bread as opposed to the usual, denser style. It still doesn't beat Isaac's, but it was very good nonetheless.

The rugullah, coming in three (four?) varieties -- chocolate, jam, and cinnamon --were not as great a value as the chocolate buffaloes. At $17/kg, they came out to a little more than one dollar each and were the size of my thumb. Some varieties more than others had oozing filling which had then hardened and burned in the oven. Nonetheless, they were good. I loved the chewy, dense dough, although I don't think the hard, crunchy crust of brown sugar matched the rest that well. My favourite was the raspberry (?) jam, which wasn't really jam, but almost this fruity mash. Mmm.. excellent! Second was the chocolate.


Lastly, there was the cinnamon bubka [sic] cake ($8.99; also available in chocolate), a loaf cake yeast baba stuffed with a delicious thick and gooey cinnamon and raisin filling, and topped with crumble. Even days later, the dough got a little old, but the denseness and filling made it so yummy nonetheless. Not sure if the price is worth the size of it, but man, was this ever tasty!

In fact, as the brother pointed out, it's a little surprising that Bagel World's baked goods (little though there may be) turned out better than their bagels! With a few minuses (selection, a somewhat steep price), this is still definitely worth a (return) visit... even without any poppy seed. :P

Rating: ***1/2