Food Review: Two Men Bagel House at ICON Village, 16 Enggor Street, Singapore 079717

I don't know about you, but I love bagels. I fell in love when I first tried it in San Francisco at Peets -- It was toasty warm on the outside, cut in half and smeared with cream cheese, and when you bite into it it was chewy, soft and slightly sweet. It's like tasting heaven. Since then I've also tried bagels in New York and loved it. But I've never found any good, proper bagels in Singapore. The ones you get at the grocery store are the worst, and coffeehouses like Starbucks was a semblance of a bagel. That's why when I heard that Two Men Bagels are in town to offer up some freshly made bagels I had to go check it out. 

Located in the ICON Village extension along a stretch of eateries catering to the office lunch crowd, Two Men Bagels is a small 20-people shop that probably does quite a lot of take aways. They are open on weekends, and offer savoury and sweet bagels. Prices range from $2.60 for a plain to $13.50 for the Moo.

So among the three of us that visited we tried 3 savoury bagels and 1 sweet bagel! I think it was the Hog ($12.90) which has pork cheek, and Porky ($8.90) that my companions had.

I had the Lox ($11.90), a classic rendition of smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, capers and red onions and pickled beets. In this photo it's the one that looked really pink, in the foreground.

Verdict? Very good attempt - just a couple of cm short of the gold standard. I liked how the ingredients are very much generous and fresh, but the bagels themselves still lack a bit of oomph, even if it is already a notch above the rest in Singapore (if any). They are definitely on track though - I found them to be decent in terms of taste but the texture could be a bit more chewy and 'alkaline' instead of hard.

Just to be sure, we ordered a plain bagel ($2.60) with cream cheese and berries ($4.5) to try so we do not get distracted by the ingredients. Again, I wished it was softer overall, and more chewy. Perhaps if it was piping hot it might achieve that, but then again, I don't like my food to be hot! Still this makes for a really good breakfast or brunch -- if only I worked around ICON village that I can swing by for some in the mornings.

Despite not reaching the gold standard in my books, I still found Two Men Bagel House to be of decent quality, and will warrant repeat visits from me. I'll love to go back and try more of their other savoury bagels and flavours. It's definitely commendable for the owners to try and bring freshly baked bagels to Singapore and I hope more people will know how to eat them!

Two Men Bagel House
16 Enggor Street, #01-12 Icon Village Altez (new extension), Singapore 079717
+65 65094125
8am-8pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-6pm (Sat-Sun)