Aside from Western Bagel, Courage Bagels is the most influential bagel destination in Southern California. Since its establishment in fall 2020, Arielle Skye and Chris Moss have sparked a city-wide renaissance with their aesthetically pleasing Montreal-style bagels topped with artisanal ingredients. Having tried this reinvention of a classic breakfast, it is not hard to taste why Courage has gone on to redefine Los Angeles’ bagel culture.
Patrons queue along the block with Courage Bagel-provided parasols and mist spray. Photographed by Finn Martin/BruinLife.
Take a glance at the menu! Photographed by Finn Martin/BruinLife.
Upon first observation of the block the shops are on, it’s LA coded from the architecture to the clientele. A cute Parisian-style corner store sits at the meeting point of Virgil Avenue and Monroe Street with a smear of white umbrellas and scattered tables with accompanying white stools. Trendy customers wait in a misted, moderate line with Courage-branded parasols — which the workers are kind enough to supply under the California sun — to spend $30 on what are touted as the most delicious and prettiest bagels in the county.
Seating can be scarce, short and scant, but once in the shade when you're seated face-to-face with your bagel concoction, the scene comes together! Photographed by Finn Martin/BruinLife.
It being impossible to start the day without a jolt from the jitter-bean, coffee came out first. An Iced Americano ($4.95) came out shockingly cold for a scorcher of a Sunday. The drink also managed to maintain its refreshing bitterness while not becoming watered down from the ice cubes. A cup of iced coffee is a cup of iced coffee.
Nothing says LA like iced coffees on a scorcher of a Sunday. Photographed by Gavin Meichelbock/BruinLife.
After roughly a 30 minute wait, the open faced sandwiches arrived and they were truly beautiful — works of art on a carbohydrate canvas. As they are Montreal-style bagels, they are all oblong in shape with a bigger center hole. Additionally this variety is notably thinner than a Western or New York-style bagel with a shatteringly crispy exterior. They also are boiled in sweetened honey water as opposed to plain water, however, the sweetness is so subtle it doesn’t cut through once the toppings are layered on.
One such topping variety was the Cream Cheese Tomato Bagel on a Sea Salt Sesame ($8.75 for a half). The outer shell was impressively seasoned with every centimeter covered in sesame seeds — making for an intense, but much welcomed punch of nutty, earthy umami flavor. This slight pop from the seeds only heightened the impressive crunch of the bready vessel. For how thin the bagel is, it managed to support the layering of toppings surprisingly well and not lose its crunch factor or become soggy from the watery vegetables.
A "carbo-lishious" canvas paints a beautiful picture of delicious bagels that somehow look as good as they taste. Photographed by Gavin Meichelbock/BruinLife.
Topped with red and orange tomatoes, they were salted just enough to enhance their acidic tang but not eat like solid ocean water. Bright and fresh, these natural sources of MSG paired magnificently with the umami-ladened roll. Also, this bagel eats surprisingly light. There is only a thin layer of cream cheese which complements the equally slender bagel. Additionally since the Cream Cheese Tomato Bagel is only crowded with the vegetal fruit, health-conscious Californians will not feel guilty if they cleaned their to-go box — all bagels are served in takeout boxes.
It wouldn’t be a bagel shop review without taking a bite out of the king of all Jewish breakfast meals — the Hand Sliced Smoked Salmon on a Burnt Everything Bagel ($13.25 for half). It came out looking like a Van Gogh portrait and tasting as good as it looked. While the prices at Courage are on the expensive end, customers can see and taste exactly where their money is going — the flavors on both this and the Tomato Bagel are that fresh, delicious and well executed.
The Hand Sliced Smoked Salmon. Photographed by Finn Martin/BruinLife.
While a thicker slab of lox is always appreciated for that meaty bite, the ones here are sliced impressively thin. They practically melt on the tongue and impart the right kind of fishy flavor. The salmon and dill are definitely the most prominent flavors on this sandwich but that is exactly the flavor profile customers should want from this bagel — pungent dill and briny lox. Enhancing the notes of dill is the brilliant inclusion of cornichons. These French baby pickles have a texturally satisfying snap as well as a much welcomed balance of acidity and sweetness that rounded out the flavor profile.
Compliments out of the way, the one complaint about the Salmon Bagel is how thin some of the red onions were sliced. Because some were paper thin — again, impressively so — they had no body and hence, imparted little of their usual crunch or funk to the dish; the red onions were just another topping patrons had to wrap their mouth around.
For those in search of a deliciously executed breakfast that will reinvent the way they see this humble roll with a hole, they will not be disappointed, however, $30 for a bagel and a coffee doesn’t go down as easy Courage’s mouthwatering and visually appealing menu items do.
4.5/5
