Bagels in New York City

 

So, after a long hiatus, some really inedible suppers, and lots of grocery store chicken, I am going to try to get back at my blog. And the first post for the new year isn't even a recipe of my own, it's a review of a bagel. I've included a recipe for Herb and Garlic cream cheese at the end of the review, just to keep on topic. My first trip ever to New York City was fantastic, and since I travel for food, I absolutely had to try a New York style bagel. That quest led me to Absolute Bagel on Broadway St. It's a little tiny shop on the edge of Harlem, and it served up some excellent bagels.

It was a beautiful morning in New York when we headed up Broadway St. to get some breakfast. 

My traveling companions and I had decided before the trip that we would have a bagel for breakfast on New Year's eve. I checked the guide books and Chowhound, and both listed Absolute Bagels as one of the best. We almost missed the storefront. It's a very small little shop, with a huge steaming kitchen and space for about 4 tables. Most people I saw seemed to be catching a bagel to go, so the store was a good size for that purpose. I chose a sesame seed bagel with Herbs cream cheese, one friend chose a pumpernickel bagel with plain cream cheese, and one chose a plain bagel with Strawberry cream cheese. The lone guy in our group went for the biggest thing he could order, which was a ham and cheese BLT on an everything bagel. It was huge, and it actually almost filled him up. 

The bagels were GOOD. Two of us went with toasted bagels, two went with plain. My toasted bagel was just the right combination of chewy and soft, and the cream cheese was excellent. There was a lot of cream cheese on all of our bagels, but it didn't seem overwhelming. I preferred toasted over plain, but any way you eat, Absolute Bagels had really great bagels. I've included a recipe here for Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese, just so I could include a recipe. I do have a recipe for bagels, and if I get ambitious I will do them up and post them here. The recipe comes from Recipezaar. 

Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese Spread 

1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (or 1/2 to 3/4 tsp. garlic powder) 

3/4 teaspoon italian seasoning 

1/4 teaspoon salt (plus a little more, if needed) 

1/8 teaspoon onion powder 

1 (12 ounce) container philadelphia whipped cream cheese OR 1 block cream cheese blended with 2 tsp. milk 

Mix the seasonings together in a bowl. Add the cream cheese, and carefully fold together so as not to lose the 'fluff' of the spreadable cream cheese. Store in an airtight container in the fridge - it should keep for a couple of weeks. This is best if allowed to meld in the fridge for an hour before using it. Enjoy!

Comments

[Cedar]

Sounds delicious....I love putting things in cream cheese....it is so versatile!

[Megan]

Hi Cedar

I love flavoured cream cheeses too. There was a little bagel chain in our area that had the most amazing veggie cream cheese - I've never found it anywhere else, and haven't been able to recreate it. That's what got me started on 'not plain' cream cheese.

Thanks for visiting!

[Megan]

Hi Cedar

I love flavoured cream cheeses too. There was a little bagel chain in our area that had the most amazing veggie cream cheese - I've never found it anywhere else, and haven't been able to recreate it. That's what got me started on 'not plain' cream cheese.

Thanks for visiting!