HERE IN IRELAND, we have a few Christmas traditions – Midnight Mass, Christmas FM, and the 12 Pubs, to name but a few. We’d like to put forward Itsa’s Santy Bagel as one more.
Itsa Bagel (owned by Domini and Peaches Kemp) has several branches in Dublin – the bagels are very good all year round, but in November it comes into its own.
The Santy Bagel is an onion bagel with roast turkey, baked ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, lettuce, mayonnaise and butter. Yep, that’s Christmas dinner in a bagel, and it couldn’t be more delicious.
We would argue that the Santy Bagel is a yearly institution, much like Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte. Here’s why.
For some, it signals the start of the Christmas season
The Santy Bagel usually arrives in Itsa stores in mid-November, and leaves again towards the end of January.
That’s just a few precious weeks of Santy Bagel. They must be used wisely.
And people genuinely look forward to it every year
We do wish they sold them all year round, but we know that’d make them less special.
It gives you all taste of a Christmas leftovers sandwich, before you’re sick of leftovers
And minus the hassle of cooking and cleaning up after Christmas dinner.
The stuffing is divine, the cranberry sauce is the perfect mix of sweet and tangy, and the addition of mayo takes everything to the next level. As for the choice of onion bagel? PERFECTION.
People have real, intense feelings about it
The Santy Bagel is in Itsa stores from today. Your taste buds (and the part of your brain filled with Christmas cheer) will thank you for it.
