Keen's Bagelry

A lighter, creamier and wholesome sandwich made with avocado slices, sauteed mushrooms, sunny side-up, tomatoes, gouda and garlic aioli. The mushrooms were tasty and earthy, and added a "meaty" texture. It was satisfying enough and not heavy on the stomach and tastebuds.

so yums!! bagel was soft with a slight crisp on the outer layer. opted to add on bacon for a more complete meal. the eggs, hashbrown and truffle sauce also went v well together

You can never go wrong with a bright and fresh 𝐋𝐎𝐗𝐔 ($𝟏𝟔), or the perfect breakfast bagel 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 ($𝟏𝟑) - stuffed with hashbrown, hokkaido milk scrambled eggs with cheese🧀 and truffle mayo! We also tried the new 𝐊𝐀𝐈𝐉𝐔 ($𝟏𝟓.𝟓𝟎), but found the fried chicken and egg mayo too dry.

For those whom have been following the happenings around the local F&B scene here, Keen’s Bagelry was one of those names that had been consistently mentioned in the last year — whilst being quite a new entrant to the F&B scene thus far, Keen’s Bagelry is one of those spots that one would find mentioned quite often when mentioning about the various establishments serving up bagel sandwiches in Singapore. Keen’s Bagelry had previous been within Curbside Crafters — a curated lifestyle marketplace serving pretty much as a launchpad for creatives that is situated along North Bridge Road, but had since moved out of the said location by end 2023. These folks are finally back in operations — this time occupying a space within the Food Garden food court located at Asia Square; the stall that it occupies is a newly-carved out space where one can also find an upcoming outlet of Hundred Grains 百米香(their very first location being in Alexandra Retail Centre), as well as an outlet of Hong Kong Flaky Lotus that is located right across from Okasa and the outlet of Starbucks Coffee there. Said to be both Japanese and New York City-inspired, the menu at Keen’s Bagelry at Food Garden is categorised into Bagelwiches, Schmears and Bagels, with the Bagelwiches section further divided into Scrambled Eggs, Meat Galore, All Blue, Keen’s Favourite and Vegetarian.

Skimming through the menu that Keen’s Bagelry has to offer, the Bekki is was the item that we found to appeal to us the most considering how it is an item that sounded very much like a comforting, breakfast-y affair — the ideal type of bagel sandwich that we would like to have. The Bekki is listed under the Scrambled Eggs subcategory of the Bagelwiches section of the menu, and the menu describes the Bekki to come with elements such as Streaky Pork Bacon, Hokkaido Milk Scrambled Eggs with Cheese, Double American Cheese and House-Made Spicy Garlic Aioli. All Bagelwiches are prepared upon order here (including elements like the scrambled egg and streaky pork bacon for our order), so a little waiting time is required especially if one were to drop by Keen’s Bagelry during lunch peak hours. Sinking our teeth into the bagel sandwich, it is noted that the plain bagels themselves were actually pretty well-executed on their own; it was most certainly crusty on the exterior and provided a firm bite without feeling particularly tough or dense. Both the top half and the bottom half of the bagel were lined with cheese; this helps to add a savoury note to the bagel — while the scrambled egg does come with cheese as well, it is noted that the cheese added here seems to be more for the cheese pull in terms of texture rather than that of actually adding a further savouriness to the bagel sandwich.

The scrambled eggs were soft and fluffy; a little runny, and was a good balance of egginess and creaminess that came together perfectly — all that with a little seasoning of salt and pepper for a slight contrast and the spicy garlic aioli carrying an umami touch and just a slight hint of spiciness that should work well even for those whom have lower tolerance to spiciness in general. The bacon here is done on the chewier side of things; it does help to add on to the variety of textures coming from the bagel and scrambled eggs here — the bacon carrying the usual notes that one would associate with cured meat to give the entire bagel sandwich an element of meatiness. Bagel sandwiches can tend to get a little messy considering all the runny scrambled eggs and sauce that it usually comes with and the Bekki does come with the same challenges when consumed by hand; that being said, the Bekki does present itself as a satisfying, breakfast-y bagel sandwich to have. With their bagel sandwiches priced from $13 to $19 (the lowest-priced one being the Hashstack, and the most expensive being the Loxury), Keen’s Bagelry does seem priced a little more steep than conventional lunch choices in the already pricey Food Garden food court, though definitely one that serves up really comforting bagel sandwiches at an acceptable price point when compared to other established bagel-centric establishments located all across the island.