Best bagel in NYC?

[msjprincess]

I sometimes freeze bagels. We always buy them on Sunday morning and if I have any left I'll throw them in the freezer to eat the next couple of mornings. I put them in the toaster oven whole. The outside gets crispy and the inside stays soft. Of course they're not as good as fresh but not horrible.

 

[Imzadi]

And let's not forget the NYC water makes a difference, I don't care what anyone says.

Yes, I have a PUR water filter pitcher. I prefer it to the Brita filter as the filtered water doesn't taste so carbony to me. I used to have the faucet mount, but it clogged within WEEKS of use, even though it is rated to last about 3-4 months, in a regular family household, not a single person, like me, which it should, theoretically, last longer.

I attributed it to the NYC water. We have LOTS of minerals in it. (Which is probably what makes the crunchy bagels & pizza.) I decided to switch to a PUR filter pitcher, as long as it eventually drips down & filters the water. I even read an Amazon review of someone else in NYC who had the same S.L.O.W. drip problem after only a few weeks use, even with the pitcher. Instead of taking a minute and a half to drip, as with a brand new filter, it would eventually take several hours.

But, I didn't care how long it takes to drip to filter as long as I get the water filtered. I figured if I fill up the pitcher to drip every nite before I go to bed, I will have a fresh pitcher of filtered water by the time I wake up in the morning. (That's usually enough for me throughout a day.) So that's exactly what I do once it starts clogging and dripping really slowly.

The only reason I don't just pitch the filter when it starts clogging & dripping so slowly is because I'm cheap. If it's supposed to last 3 months, I want my 3 months. When it finally gets too annoying or the water does taste different, then I change out the filter.

 

[Imzadi]

Well, even if NPR doesn't believe it, I remember reading about a bunch of transplanted NYers who opened a pizzeria in Washington, DC. They joked about bringing the NYC water with them to make the crusts taste like NYC pizza.

Actually, a pizza place in Los Angeles did exactly that. They used to ship out huge pallets of bottled water from the east coast, (MA I think,) and use that for their pizza dough. I tried it. It wasn't as crispy as NYC pizza, but it wasn't floppy & flacid either. It was a big hit with the movie studios & the NY transplanted actors. They were their biggest customers.

But, I read recently that the management changed and they no longer ship out the water and they've had loads of complaints instead.

 

[mtemm]

Hi all, just a quick update, we ended up going to Best Bagel & Coffee on 35th and they were amazing! My friend and I each got a bagel sandwich with egg and bacon and it. It was so large we should have shared one. So delicious we tried to go back Sunday....so sad they were closed. Definitely will be back someday though.

 

[littleblackegg]

I'm a fan of Ess-a-bagel as well. I am old school. Fresh bagels should be sliced, schmeared, and stuffed in your waiting pie hole. No toasting. Toasting a really good fresh bagel is like putting ketchup on pasta-meshuge!

 

[Simba's Mom]

In Manhattan, DS recommends Bagels and Company near 78th-79th street.

 

[Imzadi]

Hi all, just a quick update, we ended up going to Best Bagel & Coffee on 35th and they were amazing! My friend and I each got a bagel sandwich with egg and bacon and it. It was so large we should have shared one. So delicious we tried to go back Sunday....so sad they were closed. Definitely will be back someday though.

Glad you had a FRESH bagel while you were here. As for Sunday, there are plenty more other bagel stores you could have gone to. This is bagel country. Probably another place across the street or down the road. I hope I didn't frighten you too much, that you were afraid to risk trying bagels at other places.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Hi all, just a quick update, we ended up going to Best Bagel & Coffee on 35th and they were amazing! My friend and I each got a bagel sandwich with egg and bacon and it. It was so large we should have shared one. So delicious we tried to go back Sunday....so sad they were closed. Definitely will be back someday though.

Thanks for the update! DS works in Manhattan, and he was asking me if I got any names of great Bagel shops there to pass it on.