Review: Al's Deli

Not to be confused with Al Brown's Federal Delicatessen, which I have wanted to blog about since the day it opened (but somehow never got around to), Al's Deli is an independent eatery founded by Canadian chef Aleks Lazic. Born in Montreal to a family of European immigrants, Aleks has travelled the world cooking at prestigious venues, before settling in New Zealand and deciding to reconnect with his home town through serving its most famous foods at his own restaurant, from handmade Montreal-style bagels to the calorie-laden poutine, which many consider to be the national dish of Canada.

Al's Deli is larger than you might think.

Although the deli only opened in late November, the food there has already been requested by Leonard Cohen, and a Montrealer apparently claimed the smoked brisket was as good as that of Schwartz's deli in Montreal. Most of the ingredients are made in-house, from cronuts to cheese curds, to maple and cherry smoked bacon, smoked brisket, and Sicilian sausages, to of course, the handmade bagels, baked fresh daily, including gluten-free ones.

Selection of bagels.

Situated on a steep road off Queen Street, the entrance to the deli is actually at ground level on City Road, although most of the restaurant lies above a Korean BBQ buffet restaurant. There is a good view towards the city centre from the little balcony, and the owner has also done a great job of fitting out the place, with naked lightbulbs here, round lampshades there, mismatched retro chairs, authentic deli style sauce bottles, and even a set of what looks like airline chairs.

Retro chairs, sauce bottles and more complete the picture. 

Most of the menu items contain bagels, even if they are not explicitly mentioned. Want a sandwich? It's in a bagel. How about a salad? Bagel chips. If the chef's special is "Fresh panko-crumbed tarakihi, home made tartare sauce, watercress", then guess what, it comes in a bagel. The exceptions to this seem to be the poutine and BBQ Ribs.

Now, I don't have anything against bagels—in fact I like them a lot—but I am not really a connoisseur of them. So I can't give any commentary as to whether the ones at Al's Deli are better than those at Best Ugly. They do look and taste pretty similar, though they might be a bit firmer, and are also around the same size—one bagel seems too small for lunch, while two is too much. I know I shouldn't be judging on the packaging, but I love the paper wrapper emblazoned with the Al's Deli logo when you get your bagel sandwich to take away.

Takeaway bagel wrapped in custom-designed paper.

While one bagel isn't quite enough for a meal, the brunch options at the deli are large enough to sustain you through a Canadian winter. We were basically forced to take the accompanying bagel away when we ordered the brisket hash. The smoky beef, beautifully browned potatoes and perfectly poached eggs were more than enough to fill up on.

Brisket hash, poached eggs, hollandaise and watercress.

Likewise, I am not sure if our order of a small poutine can really be classified as small. This came with soft cheese curds and a beefy gravy. Although we have never eaten poutine in Canada, we have no doubt this is a fine example of the dish (even though it is not something we would eat often).

Poutine with hand-cut fries, homemade cheese curds and gravy.

All in all, Al's Deli is a great place to visit. Convenient location, great atmosphere, tasty food prepared by a passionate chef, open 7 days, and not too expensive... what else could you ask for? Plus they seem to be the only eatery around with "moose ears" and a selection of Canadian beers. Already a favourite of ours!

Panda Recommends

If you are not that hungry, then bagels are the obvious choice.
Anything with their smoked brisket is great, and their poached eggs are just right. And though I hesitate to recommend poutine except as a novelty, you can't really go to a Canadian restaurant without ordering one at least once.

Vegie pandas
You actually have a bunch of options here, from bagels filled with avocado and/or cream cheese, to eggs benedict, to haloumi salad. And desserts are vegetarian too of course, including the moose ears, cronuts and any specials such as the salted apple pie fries currently on offer.

Bagels, poutine, salads, sides and drinks menu.

Brunch menu

Restaurant Details

Al's Deli
1/492 Queen Street, Auckland Central (entrance off City Road)
(09) 373 2961

Opening hours:
Mondays to Wednesdays 7am - 8pm
Thursdays to Fridays 7am - late
Saturdays 9am - late
Sundays 9am - 3pm

The entrance to Al's Deli is on City Road.

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Review: Best Ugly Bagels

The secret to success is clearly not in giving your customers what they want, or think they need. I never needed a smartphone until I got one, and now I can't live without one.  Similarly, Auckland never knew it needed an oyster bar until Al Brown's Depot came along, and his latest venture, Best Ugly Bagels, fits into the same category.

"King" bagel (lox, capers, red onion and cream cheese).

In a way, you could see it coming.  The trend these days is towards simple, well-executed food in an informal setting, where you can feel at ease and just drop in for a bite of something delicious.  It's not really surprising that Best Ugly Bagels has a queue going out the door of its open kitchen.

Fortunately, I first turned up on Tuesday, on the morning of the bagelry's official opening day, before the hordes of customers arrived.  I was warmly invited to step into the kitchen area, and the head baker took me through the bagel-making process, even getting their consultant from Montreal, Steve, to demonstrate how they hand-roll the dough into rings.

The team in action.

Naturally, the first question that came to my lips was "So how are Montreal bagels different from any other bagels?"  Apparently, these are different from American bagels because they are rolled thinner, and contain no salt.  Best Ugly's hand-shaped  bagels—so called because of their rustic, uneven look—are then cooked in a pot of water with honey, before being baked in their wood-fired oven. I was handed a sesame-coated one, just pulled from the heat, and it was softer and sweeter than other bagels I have eaten, with a beautiful shiny and golden crust.  It tasted and smelt fantastic.

The team didn't let me leave without making me a completely new bagel for free.  Yes, with whatever filling I wanted!  How's that for a pleasant surprise?  Of course I honoured my promise to return with others for lunch.

"Yodi" bagel (pastrami, Swiss cheese, and pickle), and "PB&J" (Pics Peanut Butter and Te Horo jam).

Although a fresh bagel is amazing on its own, the highlights of the menu are the non-vegetarian fillings.  The pastrami and cured salmon are both made using a secret recipe unique to the bagelry, though they are happy to share the fact that the salmon comes from The Salmon Man (farmed in Stewart Island) and the pastrami is produced by Karl Campbell in Wellington.

I wish there were a few more filling choices, maybe the offer of a side salad, and also more seating, but this converted warehouse is well worth visiting just the way it is.

Panda Recommends

Best Ugly only has three kinds of filled bagels—quality over quantity! Don't be tempted to cheap out and just get one with spreads. They are good too, but you would be missing out. You can also get some bagels to take away to eat with your own favourite toppings.

Mains: "King" bagel with lox (cured salmon), capers, red onion and cream cheese ($12.00), "Yodi" bagel with pastrami, Swiss cheese and pickle ($10.00)

Vegie Pandas
There is one filled bagel you can eat, the "TAB" with tomato, avocado and basil ($8.00).

Menu

Note

If you don't specify which type of bagel you want (sesame, plain ugly, poppy seed, or cinnamon and raisin), you will get the sesame one by default.  They won't ask you.

Although it looks like there is nowhere to sit, the tables outside Shed Five are shared.  You will still need to wait for your bagel to be made before sitting down though.  This is not a table service kind of place.

Oh, and you really need to eat these on the day they are made, unless you have kept the bagels in the freezer.  Just like baguettes, they will go hard and dry if left out.

Restaurant Details

Best Ugly Bagels
Shed 3, City Works Depot, 90 Wellesley Street West, Auckland
(09) 366 3926

Opening hours:
Mondays to Sundays 7am - 3pm

The queue moves quicker than it looks at Best Ugly, but be prepared to wait and/or  take your bagel away.

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