Maison Bagel doesn't look like much has changed. Spoiler: That’s true.

Babak Assadollahi took over the Plaza Côte-des-Neiges shop in 1994, spending months training with the previous owners before they handed over the keys. The red sign stayed. The school-trip photos stayed. Baker Raja, nearing retirement, stayed.

What emerged from that continuity is a neighbourhood institution that draws regulars from across the city, though Assadollahi will tell you the bagels have probably traveled further than he has. The wood-fired oven inside a mall is its own kind of Montreal absurdity, producing sesame, all-dressed, cheese, and spicy varieties that hold up against anything on St-Viateur or Fairmount.