The Quintessential New York Bagel
Written: May 13 '01 (Updated Apr 20 '02)
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Pros: The bagels.
Cons: Tiny seating area.
The Bottom Line: 50% of people agree that Ess-a-Bagel is the best New York bagel, 50% say its OK but definitely not the best, 1% undecided, and +/- 2% margin of error.
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| soothsayer's Full Review: Ess-a-Bagel |
Ask anyone about the best bagel in New York, and you will get many different answers, might as well ask about next week’s weather, you will get better consensus.
Tourist: “Where can I get the best bagel in Manhattan?”
Frail old guy on the street: “Whas’ that you say? I hear its gonna rain!”
For the quintessential New York bagel, Ess-a-Bagel is the place to go. There are two locations, the original on the corner of First Avenue and 21st Street, and the branch at Third Avenue and 51st Street. Ess-a-Bagel bagels are crusty and chewy on the outside, with just the right pull, texture and flavor inside. These bagels are not sweet unlike those made by H&H. Oh, did I mention the bagels are huge? They are HUGE!
And they are definitely authentic. That means they are boiled before baking. Boiling maintains the shape of the bagel, gives it its thick, chewy crust, and its shiny smooth surface that is finished a golden brown during baking. Many bagel makers do not go through the laborious boil process before baking, choosing instead a steam and bake method that mimics some of the qualities found in a boiled bagel. What results is nothing but a fake godless monster of a bagel, albeit sometimes a tasty one.
Ess-a-Bagel is tiny, able to seat a mere handful of people. Most of the time the shop is empty, but during peak hours, the store bustles with activity with a line of people out the door. It is busy in the morning when people want bagels for breakfast, busy when the nearby junior high school empties out for lunch, and busy again when school recesses. To get a bagel with toppings and sandwiches, stand and wait on the line. To just get bagels, jump ahead and inquire directly at the bagel display case.
There are many varieties to choose from such as sesame, poppy, garlic, cinnamon raisin, and pumpernickel raisin. The poppy seed, and sesame seed bagels are good, the raisin varieties are nice, but could be improved if more raisins were inside the bagel than embedded on the surface. Bagels now cost a flat 60 cents, and you can get a baker’s dozen of 13 for the price of 12.
Ess-a-Bagel’s tiny deli features a kosher smorgasbord of tasty spreads, soups, and smoked fish. The tasty lox spread is good, so are the equally tasty chives and cream cheese. There are many other flavors to choose from, a bagel with cream cheese cost $2.65. Beside cream cheeses, there is also a wide selection of smoked fish like lox, whitefish, bluefish, trout, and sturgeon. A smoked fish sandwich cost $5.95-$6.95, while regular non-kosher meat sandwiches are about $3.95-$5.95.
When it comes to ordering bagels with cream cheese, people have their preferences bordering between “Just a little”, and “Not too much”. At Ess-a-Bagel, if you do not say anything, you will get a generous dollop of cream cheese on your bagel. There is so much there that you can basically skip lunch and take a nap afterwards if you eat it all – I just hope you wake up, you never know with bagels and cream cheese. The best thing to do is to get an extra bagel and divvy up the topping between you and a friend.
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Recommended:
Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Business
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