Best bagels with a taste explosion

HAND-HELD street food should be compact, affordable, filling and most of all, delicious.

And there’s no better place in Bree Street, in Cape Town’s CBD, to get just that than Max Bagels.

They have a small but ridiculously scrumptious menu. You can choose from one of three styles of bagels – the best option is the seeded one with all the trimmings. Then there are a few options for your fillings. There’s a BLT with a twist – the bacon is grilled under a salamander until crispy and served with avo and cream cheese; lox – smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers and pickled red onions; chicken and slaw; and two vegetarian options – the leek and fennel, and the toasted cream cheese. Be sure to also give the turkey a try – turkey breast, brie, rocket and cranberry.

But the stars of the show are the Reuben and the salt beef… The Reuben is classic: pastrami, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian sauce. It is a taste explosion.

The salt beef bagel melts in your mouth, leaving you feeling like a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s braised beef brisket, cream cheese, pickle and mustard.

The bite of the mustard, the tart of the pickle, the creamy mouth-feel of the cream cheese and the texture of the pulled braised brisket is a flavour combo close to perfection.

Both are served stacked with filling and you’d do well to get there as early in the day as possible. They close as soon as their daily stock of filling runs out.