Is Lisbon the bagel capital of Europe?

Welcome to It’s A Shanda, one Northeastern Jew’s quest to find a decent bagel in Seattle (and beyond). Along with free bagel reviews every Sunday-ish, we also offer weekly bonus posts. If you’re already subscribed, I hope you’ll consider upgrading to a paid subscription! Thank you for reading. Follow me on IG, Bluesky, and TikTok for more bagel content, too.

In my previous post, I shared my admiration for Portugal’s cuisine and asked readers to consider sticking to what they do so well rather than their take on the bagel.

Having written that before I arrived in Lisbon, I was perhaps a little too hasty in that assessment.

My trusted producer and I have had a little tradition when we travel. If the city has one, we like to take a Culinary Backstreets food tour on the first day. We have been fortunate enough to take one in Istanbul, Tokyo, and Porto. Their tours always leave us feeling like we understand the city so much better and give us not only a sense of the local food but also a feel for the city and its people. (This isn’t an ad, I swear; we just love the tours so much.)

Naturally, we kicked off the Lisbon stop with a tour. Whereas all of our previous ones have included several other people, it turned out that we were the only people taking this one. Our guide, Kika, led us on a wonderfully curated journey through several neighborhoods. We dined on traditional foods such as toasts, soup, and pastries, including the iconic pastel de nata. A traditional tasca restaurant made me a custom vegetarian meal that showcased the kind of passion for food I rarely see in American accommodations. And along the way, we got history lessons and important context about the people who make and serve this food, where it comes from, the role Portugal played in shaping how our world looks today, and what its people did to survive a decades-long dictatorship in the 20th century.

As we devoured our pastel de natas in between sips of espresso, Kika asked what else we had in store while in Lisbon. Because my brain is broken, I explained that, among many other things, we were probably going to look for a local bagel. I said that I’d received several recommendations for Rhodo Bagels, so that seemed to be the foregone conclusion. She had another recommendation, however: Beco Bagels. She shared that the shop was incorporating traditional Portuguese bread techniques into bagels, making something that aligned with local tastes. Coming off that tour and inspired by the region’s culture and cuisine, we decided to head there first.

Beco Bagels is an offshoot of the artisanal bakery doBeco, which began in 2020 as a pandemic hobby for chef António Mello and turned into a full-fledged storefront by 2023. Along with four bakeries, the bagel shop opened in Lisbon in July 2025.

“There are very few bagel concepts in Lisbon and none that truly capture the essence of a great New York-style bagel,” Mello told Lisbon Insiders. “It’s such a versatile and satisfying food, perfect for breakfast or lunch. Introducing sourdough bagels to Lisbon feels like a trend just waiting to happen—and one that needs to be brought to life.”

Big windows beckon you into Beco’s storefront, peppered with a collection of tables along the sidewalk. The menu offers a classic collection of flavors, though they refer to an everything bagel as a “mix.” While they encouraged ordering via a QR code, the friendly staff not only took our order but were accommodating enough to let me get my usual review order even though solo bagels weren’t an option.

The plain bagel was a good size, featuring a small center and a lovely brown-to-golden-brown coloring. The top of the bagel was crackly to the touch and had an almost gritty feel from the many bumps and texture points. It was firm but soft when pressed.

The bottom had a bubbly texture and was firm to the touch. The interior was golden brown while the exterior was light brown. There was no Cornmeal Ring of Doom (CRoD).

The plain offered a tough rip and crackly bite thanks to a crinkly exterior and a light interior. A strong rebound after each bite meant successive ones maintained the same experience. The bagel was very enjoyable to eat, with light blistering and a perfectly balanced crunch against the soft, bready interior. The sourdough bagel had a somewhat bready flavor that was noticeable but not distracting.

The everything bagel with chive cream cheese featured a very messy schmear application, a real napkin-wad experience. The bagel itself was a good size, with a small center and a golden-brown to brown coloring. The top was lightly blistered and firm to the touch. There was a slight seed hand at work with a smattering of seasoning across it.

The everything’s bottom was firm to the touch and featured a dark-brown coloring in the center with beige edges. There was no CRoD and very little seasoning.

Like the plain, the bagel had a somewhat crispy bite and maintained its integrity as I ate it. The bready flavor gave it a slight flatness, but it was a small issue, though I would have loved more seasoning to get those flavors more involved. The cream cheese was very tasty and vibrant, albeit a little loose and messy. I just kept eating it, and it occurred to me that the messiness was very easy to live with because it was so good.

Coming away from Beco, I was suddenly reinvigoriated about the bagel possibilities here. And while I tried to play it cool, my trusted producer suggested that we make some time to hit Rhodo Bagels as well to complete the picture. Who was I to say no?

Share

And so, we made our way down towards the waterfront, winding through the tiny streets and alleyways of the trendy Chiado and Boavista neighborhoods to arrive at Rhodo, and not a moment too soon. It was early afternoon, and, as is the case at many trendy bagel shops these days, they were dangerously close to selling out for the day.

New Hampshire-born Lindy Reid started Rhodo Bagels in 2023 with a mission of “bringing bagel culture to Lisbon” after moving to Portugal many years before.

“I started making bagels- a tradition of my family,” she writes on the shop’s website. “It wasn't until the third year or so that I had the aha moment. I missed my family and no longer felt like the U.S. was home. But I also kinda felt like I didn't belong in the city I now called home, and I missed bagelsss!! Rhodo (short for Rhododendron) revived all of that. I started baking bagels with fiery purpose until, after months of recipe perfecting, I deemed them bagel shop-worthy. I started selling at farmers markets and popups. I started to feel a new connection with the city of Lisbon, and its people.”

Rhodo’s bagels are “old school,” though the shop's aesthetic is defintely modern chic and well-curated. I entered through the front door, noting the BagelFest medal hanging in the window (Best International, 2024), and stepped into line. Panic immediately set in as they were quite literally down to their last bagels. Only poppyseed and garlic bagels remained, and depending on how the orders went in front of me, I might be out of luck. Luckily, I benefited from Rhodo also selling a bunch of intensely decadent cookies, and some customers opted for those instead, leaving just enough bagels for my trusted producer and me.

Given my late arrival, I wasn’t able to get my usual order, so a poppyseed bagel as-is and a garlic bagel with scallion schmear had to suffice.

The poppyseed bagel was a good size, slightly on the bigger side. Oblong in shape, it featured a small center, light-brown to brown coloring. The top was festooned with ridges, texture points, blisters, and wrinkles. It was soft yet firm to the touch and felt airy inside as I handled it.

The bottom was also very craggy, with many textural lines. The coloring was light and on the beige side. It, too, was soft yet firm to the touch and featured a slight CRoD.

The bagel offered a tough rip, which revealed a bready smell inside. The chew was very dense, offering a strong integrity that seems ideal for schmears and sandwiches. There was a whisp of crispness on the chew. I struggled with the interior flavor, which almost seemed slightly rye-ish or akin to soda bread (they apparently use a fine rye flour on some bagels). While the flavor wasn’t where I’d want it, the bagel was very eatable.

The garlic bagel with scallion schmear was a good size, with a tight center and light brown to brown color. It had been slightly warmed, and the top was firm to the touch. The bagel was blistery and full of ridges and bubbles. There was a whisp of garlic seasoning across the top.

The bottom of the garlic bagel was firm and full of textural spots. The coloring ranged from light brown to beige, with a slight CRoD present.

Biting into the bagel revealed a very thin, crispy exterior that evaporated on the bite and chew, mushing into the interior, which can sometimes happen with warmed/toasted bagels coupled with soft schmear. The warm, oozy cream cheese took over the bite. The flavor was solid, and the scallion bits added some nice textural points, but I would have loved a colder, blockier schmear to elevate the overall experience. I got a little garlic flavor from the seasoning, but wanted a lot more. I wanted it to be a flavor bomb, but it ended up being too timid on that front.

Of course I couldn’t leave without trying one of those cookies. The miso chocolate cookie was decadent and gooey, delivering a flavor-bomb experience. Almost more cookie cake than cookie, I can see why they’re such big hits.

Overall, I see why Rhodo is so popular. And while I had my gripes, I must admit I was literally getting the last bagels of the day, so I have to give them a little grace and presume the hot, fresh batches earlier in the day would have hit the spot a bit more.

And as for Beco, that was the surprise of the trip. In fact, I would go as far as to say that, in my limited experience, that’s my favorite bagel I’ve had in Europe so far. Not only was it enjoyable to eat, but I could feel the way it connected to Portugal’s bready past.

When I combine my sentiments about both places, it occurs to me that, despite some flavor intensity concerns, they’re probably No. 1 and No. 2 in my stops along the continent. I have a lot more countries and shops to visit, but as it stands, Lisbon, Portugal, is the only place in Europe I’ve left impressed by their bagel game.

If another city or country wants to prove me wrong, I’m all schmears. But until then, Lisbon is my European champion. Your move, Poland.

Share

1. Beco Bagels (Lisbon)

2. Rhodo Bagels (Lisbon)

3. It’s Bagel (London)

4. Beigel Bake (London)

5. Breadwinner (Amsterdam)

6. Holy Bagels (Belgium)

7. BagelBoy (Amsterdam)

8. Pom Pom Bagels (Lagos)

9. B Bagel Bakery (London)

Thanks for actually reading this far. If you enjoyed my bagel review and want to read more of them, make sure you’re subscribed to It’s A Shanda. Know someone in the Greater Seattle Area (or beyond) who would appreciate way-too-detailed reviews of local bagels? Please forward the link their way.