The Bagelry, Liverpool

In the heart of Chinatown, nestled among the restaurants on Nelson Street, you’ll find Liverpool’s brand-new bagel shop and cafe, The Bagelry.

While the eatery may be new, the duo behind it are old hands at the bagel game and have been producing their wares for local cafes and restaurants since 2013. What began as home-made bagels delivered by bicycle evolved into a Kickstarter campaign, and thus The Bagelry was born.

When we visit on a rainy Saturday afternoon there are six different options on offer, covering both sweet and savoury. Alongside these there's an impressive range of cream cheeses, peanut butter and jams, as well as a small specials board with salads, soups and French toast. Cakes, too?! All in all, it's a carb lover’s dream.

We eventually decide on one of the jalapeño bagels with eggs, a poppy-seed version with onion and chive cream cheese, and two kranzkuchen for that sugar hit. A gentle prod with the fork is enough to send the yolk running across my companion’s jalapeño bagel, and makes the perfect match for the crushed rock salt sprinkled on top. My poppy-seed bagel is toasted to perfection and comes with a generous serving of cream cheese. All pretty simple stuff, but when it's done as well as this, it’s hard to beat.

Sheer gluttony makes us order one of the giant pretzels. If you think kale has had its day, then try it smothered in cheese atop a chewy, salty pretzel and get back to me. The kranzkuchen is a perfect ending to the meal: something sweet with hint of spice after all that salted loveliness.

When you specialise in just one thing, you have to be very, very good at it. Fortunately, the folks at Bagelry are; they use locally sourced ingredients, like peanuts from Funky Nuts, and aren't afraid to experiment with flavours (the Black Forest bagels are a big seller). In short, it's a great spot for a lazy weekend breakfast and if you're in a rush (to get back to bed) you can get one of those carb halos to takeaway, too.

If you liked The Bagelry, try:

Cow & Co, Liverpool
East Avenue Bakehouse, Liverpool
Fallow, Manchester