Sunday, August 12, 2007

Bagels @ Vienna Soft Fresh Bagels, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur



We discovered something brand new at
Suria KLCC yesterday - fresh soft baked bagels! Taking over the booth where Auntie Anne's Pretzels used to be on third floor of the mall is Vienna Soft Fresh Bagels. It's hard to miss this place since it's located very near the TGV cinema on the third floor.



You'll do a double take when you walk past this place as the bagels look uncannily like doughnuts. In fact the White Oreo one looks so much like the one found at Big Apple Donuts. The similarity is definitely not a coincidence as the company even has a pamphlet explaining the different characteristics. It's kinda like a doughnut with the hole in the middle but instead of being fried, it's baked. I like how
Claudia Roden described the bagel - "a doughnut with rigor mortis". She's so right as the bagel has a chewy but dense texture versus the light as air doughnuts. It will definitely suit those who hate Big Apple Donuts that complain it's like "eating air" as it has more bite to it.



Order your bagels at the counter and select which variety you want from the glass trays (similar to the ones you find in Breadtalk and Big Apple Donuts). There's actually 25 varieties available under the label but yesterday, we only saw 9 varieties on display. From what I understand from the cashier, they rotate the varieties every day but some favourites do remain. There are savoury and sweet varieties to satisfy your tastebuds. We tried their Sparkling Cheddar Bagel which is covered with a slice of cheddar cheese. Not fantastic since the cheddar cheese is not that strong but I can imagine it will appeal to those who don't like strong tasting cheeses.


Then we had the Italiano Bagel - sliced pepperonies sprinkled with romano cheese. This was nice as the romano cheese was strong and tasty. What made these savoury bagels taste great we noticed was the sprinkling of coarse sea salt on them.


This was the best savoury one we had - the Mexitaliano Bagel. Topped with sliced jalapeno peppers and shredded romano cheese, it was very good stuff. You had the slight spiciness from the jalapenos and the strong cheese taste which made it so tasty. We had all the savoury ones heated warm at the counter so they tasted really good. We noticed if you heat up the bagels, their texture is softer and not so chewy. Again the coarse salt sprinkled on top made the bagel taste great.


Then we had the sweet ones which seem to be popular as there were more of these versus the savoury ones. This is the one which looked like a twin of Big Apple Donuts - their White Oreo Bagel. It's covered with melted white chocolate and oreo crunch. We thought this wasn't too great as the taste was quite subtle.


Something unusual, the ChocoRomano which combines sweet and savoury tastes together. The bagel is dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with romano cheese shreds. Kinda weird combination but it works somehow.


Peanut lovers will enjoy this - the White Crunch Bagel. Coated with melted white chocolate, it's generously sprinkled with chopped crunchy peanuts. What we like about this place is they're pretty generous with the toppings hence each mouthful is full of the crunchy peanuts.


Here's our favourite sweet variety - DoubleNutz Bagel. Peanut butter is spread all over the bagel and it's then coated with ground peanuts. It tastes nicer when you eat it not heated up. When you heat it up, the topping tends to melt a bit and somehow the peanut butter flavour is not as strong.


This is supposedly their best seller - the Dark Flakes Bagel. It is topped with melted dark chocolate and a generous sprinkling of almond flakes. If you heat this up, the topping will melt a bit making it kinda messy to eat though so beware especially if you're wearing white.

Other varieties they have are more traditional like with salt or the ones with cream cheese. The cream cheese varieties are given a slight twist with the sprinkling of Japanese fish flakes (Katsuo) or chopped chives (Cheez & Chivez). There is also a Green Tea version, one sprinkled with seaweed (Nori-San) or sprinkled with coffee on peanut butter frosting (CoffeNut) and etc. They also sell flavoured teas served chilled or at room temperature - Citron, Wild Raspberry (which we tried and was very nice), Aloe, Green Tea, Earl Grey and English Breakfast. Items are strictly for take away only so find a place in Suria KLCC to scoff them down. The bagels get packed in nifty boxes with strings as handles if you order 3 pieces or 6 pieces.

Pricewise, they get cheaper if you buy more so share with your friends or colleagues. If you want them warm, chuck them into the microwave and heat on high for 10 seconds. Instructions are found at the side of the boxes. One bagel costs RM3, 3 bagels for RM7.50 and 6 bagels for RM14. The flavoured tea costs RM3.80. Note that the prices are inclusive of service tax already. Tastewise, we both liked them a lot but then we're biased as we both love bagels. They're more for the adventurous who prefer something different compared to the traditional cream cheese, salmon and poppy seeds varieties.

Vienna Soft Fresh Bagels
Lot K35, Third Floor
Suria KLCC
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03- 9200 4933

(Halal. This is opposite the escalators at the Centre Court, Third Floor where American Chilis, Best and TGV Cinema is located.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.


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26 comments:

D said...

My favorite style is still a sesame seed or poppy seed bagel with heaps of cream cheese and lox. Bagels are actually boiled first before being baked, there are still heaps of stores in New York that practise that although some of them just only bake them. Hmm.. reading your post makes me want to head to the neighborhood deli for a bagel haha.

boo_licious said...

d - quick, grab one. I think in this version they don't boil it but just bake it. It's innovative but I can imagine those who love the normal styles like poppy seed screaming blue murder when they see what they did!

jasmine said...

OMG. I love bagels! And I have always wondered why they are so scarce around the city. as soon as i saw the photo of the cheddar one, i was like, get me the car to klcc! lol.

boo_licious said...

looks like you're going to be in front of there first thing in the morning? I was also excited when I spied them on Friday so I made it a pt to revisit them on Sat when we had time. Hope you enjoy them.

Cat Cat said...

That's interest to know bagels in Msia has variety type of toppings. Haven't seen one here in USA that bagel with chocolate and almonds. Bagels here are either plain, poppy seed, cinnamon crust, etc. One of the famous place to get bagels is Panera Bread.

wmw said...

Mmm...I'm definitely gonna go to Hartamas and this place for bagels. Miss them a lot! Hahaha...

boo_licious said...

Ah, Bagel Station at Hartamas is also good stuff but more sandwiches. There's also one in Avenue K.

boo_licious said...

cat cat - I suspect this is a local franchise but no idea as the people are so new here they couldn't answer my queries. Have a good weekend and reading yr book.

teckiee said...

Hmmm I didn't get mine reheated. They just packed the bagels for me.

Unknown said...

thanks for the info..u guys are real fast..would like to try a 'dense n less airy doughnut'

jesscet said...

ooooh.. sounds a bit expensive (to my standard) but definitely worth a try! i like bagels - the last one i tried was the one at Coffee Bean (savoury and not too bad la..)

boo_licious said...

teckiee - maybe it was chaotic since first day of work?

kampungboycitygal - give it a try when u're here. Pretty good stuff.

jesscet - they're nice but this one feels different. I like the savoury toppings though.

jackson - hope this managed to solve yr question abt the difference between doughnut and bagels.

Tummythoz said...

Gosh, u r fast. Gorgeous bagels

boo_licious said...

tummythoz - nah, it was just a coincidence we were at Suria KLCC when it had just opened.

Xiu Long Bao said...

dis place must be very new, i nvr notice it b4. The bagels look really interesting, though pricing is on the high side.

Rarebeet said...

Just looking at your pictures, I'd think they were doughnuts! How can they do this to bagels! Its an outrage!! On the other hand, does this mean theres finally a healthy version of the doughnut?! Muahahaha. My god, can't believe I haven't seen this before. KLCC, I miss you!

Big Boys Oven said...

This is so cool........!

Babe_KL said...

wow a whole new way with bagels!

btw, with your enquiry on Sapporo Noodle House, they have shifted over to BB Park just beside Outback but it seems like now the entire BB Park is undergoing reno. Not sure if the noodle house is going to reopen in the same place or not. i went there 2 months back and it doesn't taste as good as it used to be :(

boo_licious said...

xiu long bao - pricing is higher than normal but they're very generous with their toppings. It just opened hence u would not have seen it earlier.

paprika - yup, they're healthier since it's baked vs the fried donuts. I had a hard time registering it was bagels as my mind thot donuts too when I first saw them.

big boys oven - give them a try and see if you like.

babekl - we were at Low Yatt on Sat. No Sapporo Noodle Hse already as that place u mentioned behind Outback is also gone. Just wanted to know if they had closed down.

Lingzie said...

hey, my bro who was in KL over the weekend, just MMS-ed me a pic of the bagels on saturday! he prefered Big Apple Donuts, but i'm pretty sure i'll like the bagels. I am SO deprieved!

boo_licious said...

lingzie - can make trip down and get a few to take back. We're also deprived of good CKT, Assam Laksa and etc here!

wanderlust said...

Tried the Cheddar one the other day.. at first bite, this is one bagel that have that flour taste of US bagel has... it was good. The cheddar taste was on the weak side... overall will attempt to go down and get a big box for my office later..!!! Have to try different flavors!

boo_licious said...

wanderlust - try the romano cheese varieties. Cheddar is too weak, in fact it felt like too taste! Glad you liked the taste of the bagel!

Anonymous said...

i've been lusting for bagels for awhile now...

may i know where is this bagel station located at hartamas?

cant wait to spread creme cheese all over n have a big bite...

foodprincess said...

i tried the vienna bagel. it's just like doughnut but more chewy. doesn't taste like the bagel that i had in US and Europe. however, the bagel in hartamas is more like the original bagel. my personal favorite, the smoked salmon sandwich or just the good old cream cheese bagel. but anyway all the bagel sandwich is layered with cream cheese...yummy.for those on diet, you could ask them to use olive butter instead of cream cheese.

ChubbyNerd - If you are a bagelholic like me, you should check out the bagel at hartamas shopping centre. it just right next to starbucks. you wont miss it.

Anonymous said...

I visited this place for a couple of times, and I have to say they offer the best bagels of the world. There are too many different kinds, but them all are really delicious.
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