Most bagels in Sydney are New York-style: big, soft, fluffy, baked in a deck oven. Ours aren't. Small Talk makes Montreal-style bagels, and the difference is the whole point.

Sam — who spent time living in Montreal, where hand-rolled bagels have been a civic religion practised for over 100 years. He came back with strong opinions and a technique: roll every bagel by hand, boil it in honey-sweetened water, then bake it hot. No shortcuts, no machine rolling, no steam ovens.

What that gets you. A Montreal bagel is smaller and denser than its New York cousin, with a tighter crumb, a hint of sweetness from the honey boil, and a proper chew — the kind of bagel that holds its own under house-cured salmon rather than collapsing into bread. The everything-seed mix goes on generously: sesame, poppy, garlic, onion, salt.

The lox. We cure and smoke our own NZ Ora King salmon in-house — it takes days, and it's gone in minutes. The Everything Lox Bagel is the order that made our name: chive cream cheese, capers (too many, which is the correct amount), pickled onion, house cured-and-smoked lox.

Montreal vs New York — the short version:

• Montreal: hand-rolled, boiled in honey water, smaller, denser, slightly sweet, bigger hole, more crust.

• New York: machine- or hand-rolled, often steamed or plain-water boiled, larger, softer, fluffier, saltier.

Neither is wrong. But if you've been searching Sydney for the New York kind and wondering whether there's something else — there is, and it's in Dulwich Hill.

Fresh means limited. We bake every morning and sell until we're out, usually around 1pm. Come early, especially on weekends.

Find us at Shop 2/355 New Canterbury Road, Dulwich Hill — minutes from Marrickville, Summer Hill and Petersham. Free street parking, dogs welcome, no bookings needed (it's take-away). Coffee by Sample Coffee Roasters, because we are coffee people too.