Bagel Street

www.bagelstreet.co.uk

Brent Cross has lots of eating places. You'll notice Starbucks at the bottom of the escalator on the ground floor.

John Lewis department store has The Place To Eat, where I indulged myself on a previous visit when I was on a shopping trip lasting several hours. I've reviewed it.

Picking up the Centre Guide from the Information Desk on the upper level, the second floor, I discovered that Fenwicks has the Terrace Restaurant, Krispy Creme and Carluccio's. W H Smith has Costa.

This time I was in a hurry to get home. I'd passed Burger King, McDonald's and Pizza Hut. Now that my child has flown the nest I have done my time in fast food places and can have a change. I asked the girl on the information desk where I could get a healthy salad.

She suggested Vallorini on the third floor - which I never realized existed. I suppose I'd seen the escalator and assumed it was just offices up there.

The third floor is a small circle of half a dozen restaurants around the top of the escalator, just steps away. Coming face to face with the Bagel Street I nipped in there first, just for a look. I immediately decided to stay. I made my choice of bagels.

A bagel. It had to be the classic - smoked salmon and cream cheese.

I was offered a choice of plain of sesame or poppyseed. Poppyseed is my favourite.
But I reckon poppyseeds which are not chewed properly will scrape and irritate your rectum. (Don't ask.) So I selected sesame seeds.

Now, looking back on my late afternoon visit, with the hindsight of the evening, I ask myself, why don't they offer to toast the bagels? Where have I had toasted bagels? I think it must have been somewhere in Watford. Maybe a Starbucks. But this afternoon I didn't notice that the delight of a toasted bagel with melting butter was missing. Maybe hot food is more in demand and welcome in winter.

What I did like was the fact that the woman who made up my bagel put on plastic gloves before preparing it for me. (Better than the service in John Lewis where the server had no gloves and a plaster on her finger! Yuk.)

I asked if they took credit cards. For over five pounds. Well, a bagel cost less, but if I had a juice as well as a bagel, and ate in, which was dearer than take way, no trouble reaching the minimum spend.

The juices were freshly squeezed orange, made daily it said. Or apple. I chose apple for a change.

The wrapped chocolate cake looked yummy. Moist. Dark. But I was on a diet.

When I got to the till, I decided to have a double espresso. Good strong coffee. Brand I hadn't heard of. Sea something? I just checked it on their website. Segafredo. Zanetti.

I thought the service was quite delightful. The man on the till who seemed to be in charge collected my plate and asked if I wanted anything else. I said more milk. He asked did I want hot? I said yes. He took my cup and filled it with milk and brought it back.

(Another customer had a different view. Her toddler impatient to eat whilst she paid attention to the baby. The two staff members both disappeared - I think the assistant went to find something and the manager went to show or help her for a moment. I was not in a hurry. I reckoned I was served fast and I was very happy.)

Everything was clean.

Then I walked around the other eating places. Several appealed to me. The third level is quite a nice nook, a little food court with half a dozen other choices for afternoon high tea or early supper.

The centre closes at 8 pm Monday to Friday, at 7 pm on Saturday and at six on Sunday and bank holidays. I go there for a weekly one to one lesson learning how to get the most out of MacBook laptop. I've paid for a year's lesson and you get one hour a week, so I expect to be in Brent Cross every week of the year.

Up on the third level there's Wagamama, (See Wagamama.com). Japanese. A nice smiley girl gave me a take-away menuand a free postcard advertising the restaurant. After a few hours I was able to find a magnifying glass to read the extensive menu and discovered they served carrot juice, apple and lime and a mixed raw juice.

Caffe Alba looked good. So did Tootsies.

So will I go back to Bagel Street? I'll probably try some other places for a change. Unless I'm on a budget. Or in a hurry. And feel like a bagel. Or just can't resist that chocolate cake.

Getting There & Back Home
Last time I tried to leave Brent Cross a Marks & Spencer pantechnion the length of a small train decided to back into the exit from the right so I shot left and got lost, drove through a housing estate, wound up in Cricklewood where the only person who was not racing along the pavement was a wino. Half an hour later I was back at Brent Cross.

So this time I wanted to eat before I left the shopping centre. Firstly, I wouldn't have to wait so long for supper. Secondly, with food inside me, I might be more alert. Thirdly, I'd be more cheerful facing what lay ahead on the journey home.

This time I discovered that the information counter has a handy leaflet called
'Your guide to exiting Brent Cross Shopping Centre'. (Without getting cross.)

Long ago I got stuck inside Brent Cross, locked in a department store after closing time, with the escalators off, my baby in a buggy, and all the exterior doors locked. How did I get out? I'll tell you all about it if you ask. The moral of the story is, take the 'guide to exiting' leaflet! You never know when you might need it. And buy yourself a bagel before you leave. It could be a long drive home.