11 replies to this topic

[StMaximo]

5222 NE Sacramento

Portland OR 97213

503/327-1844

 

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It's on the south side of Sandy across from the Bike Gallery

 

From Oregonlive:

 

"We're always hearing people complain that Portland just doesn't have any good bagels. We beg to differ. Staffers here recently noshed their way through a bag of Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels, and several tasters proclaimed them as good as any from New York. They have substantial "chew" and a distinct crust, unlike the soft and bready bagels that seem so prevalent these days. Henry Higgins bagels are made in small batches with local, sustainable Shepards Grain flour, formed by hand and baked on cedar boards. They come in plain, wheat, cinnamon raisin, jalapeño, sesame, poppyseed, pumpernickel, garlic, salt and onion and "everything." Who's behind the bagels? Three former employees of Kettleman bagels.

$1 to $1.75 each (depending on location) at Alberta Co-op, People's Co-op, Brunch Box, Coffeehouse-Five, The Clearing Cafe, Flying Cat Coffee, Lyrik, Jola Cafe, Red and Black Cafe, Super Jet, Sweetpea Bakery and Yolk.

-- Katherine Miller "

 

 

 

 

[ExtraMSG]

From Oregonlive:
 
"We're always hearing people complain that Portland just doesn't have any good bagels. We beg to differ. Staffers here recently noshed their way through a bag of Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels, and several tasters proclaimed them as good as any from New York. They have substantial "chew" and a distinct crust, unlike the soft and bready bagels that seem so prevalent these days. Henry Higgins bagels are made in small batches with local, sustainable Shepards Grain flour, formed by hand and baked on cedar boards. They come in plain, wheat, cinnamon raisin, jalapeño, sesame, poppyseed, pumpernickel, garlic, salt and onion and "everything." Who's behind the bagels? Three former employees of Kettleman bagels.
$1 to $1.75 each (depending on location) at Alberta Co-op, People's Co-op, Brunch Box, Coffeehouse-Five, The Clearing Cafe, Flying Cat Coffee, Lyrik, Jola Cafe, Red and Black Cafe, Super Jet, Sweetpea Bakery and Yolk.
-- Katherine Miller "

 
It's as if their staff doesn't even read their own paper:
 
Local bagel makers are filling the Portland area's bagel vacuum
Kenny & Zuke's plans bagel shop, wholesale expansion

Has anyone tried them yet? I haven't tried them or Alice's.

[tsw51]

So glad this stretch of Sandy is getting some love! Between the Rose City Food park, Case Study Coffee, Bakeshop and now this we have way more choices closer to home.

[ExtraMSG]

Do they retail out of their space? Website and description above makes it seem like they don't.

[kjcanfield]

They say retail coming in March.....

[Trish]

They work out of the same kitchen space that I make my savory sables, and I get to try out their "imperfects" that they leave for the staff.  They have the right crunch as a good boiled bagel, and the flavors are good, but they are a little large for me, more like an Essa-bagel rather than an H&H, but good if you like the giant ones.  

[ExtraMSG]

I'd be interested to know if they're emulating Kettleman or have made an effort to improve on Kettleman (or just started over from scratch). Kettleman was only good for what came before it. It was a B- bagel. They made an industry of it here in Portland, but there are a lot better bagels in town now from several sources.

[StMaximo]

I hope they've made improvements to the formula as well. It would be nice to have something in the neighborhood that approached Spielmans or Kenny & Zukes.

 

The Bigger Bagel part doesn't sound promising. If you need one of these - they're too big

 

[Trish]

it's hard to tell how good it was, you really need to eat them fresh to be able to tell.  I'm going to reserve judgement until I get to taste a fresh one.

[EvaB]

Got some of these bagels this week. Fresh (I assume) they were very chewy, to the point of being a little hard to bite through. I like them better frozen and reheated (whole) 4 min in the toaster oven @ 200 degrees, and then cooled a bit before slicing. Then they have a decent leathery crisp crust and a less resistant texture. Could use more maltiness. And, yes, pretty big, but a least not overly puffy. I'd say they resemble the Kettlemans' of memory.

[ExtraMSG]

If they're chewy, then they're better than Kettlemans. They made a good sandwich because they weren't chewy. As a vehicle for cream cheese they were edible (unfortuantely their cream cheese barely was).

[iheartfromage]

Continuing the quest to find an appropriately chewy, non-puffy, non-doughy bagel that doesn't require me to drive across town (or make me sad) on a Sunday morning when the mood strikes, my husband stopped into Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels' this morning.  As stated at the top of this thread, they are using a shared space on NE Sacramento (a few doors down from Cabazon) just off of Sandy. The began selling retail a few weeks ago. 

 

One bite and it was apparent...their baker is from Long Island.   My memory of Kettleman's has faded but I think these differ in that they're a bit chewier, but not in the way that requires excessive jaw force to get through it  You bite...it bounces back...no gnawing necessary.  Nice crust on the outside.  Based on the description in EvaB's post, I wonder if they've been tinkering with the recipe a bit since January?  Either way, what they're doing now is working.  This is a minor thing, but I also appreciated the equal ratio of salt to seeds on the everything bagel.

 

There's a retail space available next door to the commercial kitchen that they're using. Hope they generate enough business to consider making it possible for me to enjoy their bagels seven days a week!  We have precious few truly good options for much of anything in Hollywood (though thanks to this burgeoning culinary strip of NE Sandy (!!!) there's certainly more than there was - Bakeshop, Case Study Coffee, Hogan's Goat Pizza, Cabezon, Rose City Food Park) so I'm thrilled to have them in the 'hood.