There are certain things you develop when you move to New York City: an encyclopedic knowledge of the subway system, a preferred bodega, and a very strong opinion on bagels — both that New York bagels in general are superior, and that whatever shop you love makes the best ones in the city. Bagels have been a staple of NYC since the 19th century, when immigrants brought them from Eastern Europe. Even as bagels spread across the United States, New York bagels retained their own signature status thanks to the fact that they are boiled before they’re baked, which creates that crisp, golden crust and doughy, chewy interior — and because of the NYC water New Yorkers also love to brag about, as it apparently has just the right mineral content to make bagels really sing.
I grew up in the suburbs of NYC, and already had a few favorites from days in the city with family. I’ve now lived in different boroughs for 20 years, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that finding your favorite bagel shop whenever you move is how you really start to feel at home. In my twenties, I’d dish on the previous night out with friends over bagels on the Lower East Side; in my thirties, cozy bagel breakfasts are a weekend rite of passage with my husband. With that kind of bagel experience, you learn how to identify an above-average bagel shop, so I’m sharing my top favorites here.
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Tompkins Square Bagels
Two halves of bagel breakfast sandwich – Tompkins Square Bagels / Instagram
Tompkins Square Bagels introduced me to the phenomenon of long lines for seemingly simple food offerings. I would have turned right around at the first sight of this bagel shop’s queue and never experienced the magic, but luckily IÂ was with a more bagel-educated friend. These bagels are always worth the wait.
Tompkins Square Bagels opened in Alphabet City, in Manhattan’s East Village, in 2011. They’ve since expanded with three other locations in Manhattan. They hand-roll, kettle-boil, and bake their bagels every day. You could try something new every time you visited TSB — there are dozens of different kinds of bagels, and this shop seems to do them all, from your classics like plain, everything, and cinnamon raisin to pumpkin, chocolate chip, and pumpernickel spelt with flax.
The cream cheese flavors vary plenty: olive-pimento, jalapeño cheddar, chipotle avocado, cucumber dill, peanut butter and Nutella, espresso, carrot cake, chocolate chip cookie dough, birthday cake, and more. I’ve heard bagel purists grumble about some of the wilder flavors, but I’m confident a chocolate chip bagel with creamy, roasty, rich espresso cream cheese would change their tune. There’s also a wide selection of decadent breakfast sandwiches featuring just about every egg, protein, and cheese combo you can imagine — I’m partial to “The Kaitlyn,” egg whites with avocado and scallion cream cheese.
Murray’s Bagels
Murray’s Bagels coffee cup with two bagel halves – Murray’s Bagels
Murray’s Bagels opened in 1996, right where Manhattan’s Chelsea and Greenwich Village neighborhoods meet. It’s one of the most old-school, comfortingly familiar shops on my list of favorites. I have savored Murray’s bagels on all kinds of occasions: between auditions when I did theater as a kid, during lunch breaks when I was interning in college, and on Sunday mornings when family visits me in the city. The central location of Murray’s helps, but really the appeal simply comes down to quality. IÂ know that I will not only have a day-making breakfast or lunch, but that whoever I brought with me would be delighted, too.
IÂ can taste Murray’s bagels right now just writing about them, still warm from being freshly baked, their crust satisfying to crack into, the inside somehow both toothsome and airy at once. A classic bagel and cream cheese is always a good idea, but I would be remiss not to direct any Murray’s newbies toward a loaded lox bagel sandwich. “The Traditional” is a must:Â Eastern Nova Scotia salmon, cream cheese, onions, tomatoes, and capers; naturally best on an everything bagel. And of course, this should be paired with a cup of piping hot coffee.
Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels
Close-up of whole and halved bagels – Shelsky’s / Instagram
Moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn for the first time felt like charting new territory. One of the first orders of business was finding my new regular bagel destination. Fortunately, Shelsky’s Brooklyn Bagels opened up just a few blocks away the same year I moved, and the delicious bagels were a true escape from the monstrous task of unpacking.
Founder Peter Shelsky worked at some of the finest restaurants in NYC before opening this shop to focus on his passion for bagels. The first location debuted in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood in 2011, with the second spot where Gowanus meets Park Slope opening in 2018. Shelsky doesn’t buy the explanation that NYC water makes NYC bagels, and instead believes the alchemy centers around perfected technique in regard to texture. This is certainly on full display with Shelsky’s bagels:Â Instead of serving up the ballooned balls of dough common in other shops, this purveyor sells Goldilocks-sized bagels with an especially crackly crust and dense dough inside.
But one of my favorite things about Shelsky’s is that it’s especially welcoming to heat-seekers. If you want to spice up your breakfast or lunch, opt for horseradish cream cheese or garlic jalapeño. Most unique is the Sichuan peppercorn bagel, and the chili crisp cream cheese — both are irresistible, though I wouldn’t recommend pairing them unless your spice tolerance is through the roof.
Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe
Pile of everything bagels – Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shop / Instagram
I’ll admit it: It was aesthetics that originally drew me into Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe. I had just moved to its Prospect Heights neighborhood, where it sits on one of the entire city’s best streets for restaurants, bars, cafés, and assorted shops, Vanderbilt Avenue. From the outside, it looks less like a convenient breakfast pit stop and more like an English countryside tea shop. Of course, it is in fact convenient, quick, welcoming — and importantly, absolutely exceptional.
While you can get any of your favorite bagels here, Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe has its own specialty, a za’atar bagel. A blend of dried oregano, roasted thyme, sumac, marjoram, and sesame seeds, za’atar can be used for cooking many different things; I’m here to tell you that topping a warm, crusty bagel with it is number one. It’s dreamy with cream cheese, but you can get an even more unique variation by ordering yours with hummus that’s been freshly made from an also-amazing spot, also right on Vanderbilt Avenue, Zaytoons Middle Eastern restaurant. Alternatively, try it scooped with feta and olive oil.
Olde Brooklyn Bagel Shoppe also makes a mean sandwich. Get a real taste of Brooklyn with the Bensonhurst:Â Genoa salami, ham, pepperoni, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion; it’s best on an onion or sesame bagel.
Ess-a-Bagel
Bagel halves held in front of Ess-a-Bagel store – Ess-a-Bagel / Facebook
I’ve saved the most iconic for last. Ess-a-Bagel has been a New York institution since 1976. With a couple of Midtown Manhattan locations (plus more recent spots in the Financial District, Brooklyn, and even Newark Airport), this was the bagel shop I often ended up at with my family as a kid. It’s linked with fun memories like seeing shows or visiting museums, but Ess-a-Bagel also provides its own nostalgia. Luckily, it’s nostalgia I can still indulge in.
If someone were to visit New York for the first time and could only eat one bagel to represent the quintessential NYC iteration, I’d send them to Ess-a-Bagel. You will often find lines, but they move fast — Ess-a-Bagel employees are pros. The lines are warranted, too, for these stellar bagels. They are, in fact, pretty huge, contrary to the Shelsky’s approach. Founders Florence and Gene Wilpon and Florence’s brother Aaron Wenzelberg over-proofed their dough when starting out and accidentally created their signature bagel approach. They pull it off where others may not: Instead of just being too much sameness, Ess-a-Bagels explode with toothsome yet fluffy dough encapsulated in a golden crust.
Expect all the classic bagel varieties and cream cheese flavors, plus an above-average selection of smoked fish. You can’t go wrong with sliced Nova and avocado with scrambled eggs on an everything bagel, but there are mouthwatering options for whatever your preferred sandwich combo is.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.