The Bagel Stop

The Bagel Stop is the small daytime bagel cafe and takeaway on Westwood Lane, the residential street that runs out of the centre of Blackfen towards Sidcup railway station. The shop has been registered with Companies House as The Bagel Stop Ltd since 2016 and works the daytime end of the local food trade — breakfast and lunch — rather than the evening takeaway shift that dominates the surrounding parade.

The menu is built around hand-filled bagels — smoked salmon and cream cheese, salt beef with mustard and pickle, tuna melt, chicken Caesar, halloumi and pesto, the standard egg-and-bacon breakfast bagel — alongside a milkshake counter running the full range of sweet flavoured shakes that has become the second house speciality, and a small spread of cakes, brownies, cookies and sweet treats at the counter. Coffee comes from a small espresso machine on the back wall. Trade splits between the morning commuter pickup walking down to Sidcup railway station and the lunchtime trade out of the surrounding residential streets and the nearby schools. The shop is collection-led with a small number of seats at the front for sitting in with a coffee. Card and cash accepted; the kitchen does not trade in the evenings.