Besides the thin slice, New York is also known for her bagels. Bagels are so common here that if you take a stone and throw it in some random direction, chances are you'll hit a store or a stand that sells bagels. Bagels are aplenty no doubt, but good bagels don't come by too often. Fortunately, Ess-a-Bagel has been around for more than 30 years and serves a really wicked bagel.
They have heaps of bagel varieties to choose from here but I normally go for the sesame or poppy seed one as shown here. The bagels are still made the traditional way where they are boiled first before baking, which ensures a really nice doughy chew without being too dry or crusty.
I don't know about you but the sides for the bagels are pretty traditional, which is the way I like it. Thinly sliced lox (cured salmon which isn't smoked), smoked sturgeon, tomatoes, pickles, onions and some amusing lettuce leaves. The lox and sturgeon here is extremely tasty without being too salty.
The platter comes with a side of potato salad as well and your choice of cream cheese. That massive dallop there is some scallion cream cheese which I personally find goes very well with cured fish. Some fresh lemon wedges were also provided which added a nice citrus tang to the overall flavors.
And this is how I love to indulge in my bagel. A huge smear of cream cheese, smoked sturgeon, lox, onions, lettuce and the tomatoes all stacked onto each other before a little squeeze of lemon juice; delicious!
They don't have Dr Pepper's here but they do have Dr Brown's! This soda was pretty good actually, not too sweet nor overly carbonated.
Despite some of the reports I've heard on the attitude of the staff here and the extremely poor service, I had excellent service. I'm not really that fussed about service to begin with but the staff preparing my platter took time, care and effort to make sure it was made well. I'll be back for more bagels, that's for sure.D
9 comments:
Aiyoh yoh! That looks so good. I can taste that creamy cheese already.
I have to ask - do you eat out almost everyday??? You don't cook anymore or don't need to? I heard the food in the States is not only cheap, but portions are HUGE and there's some good value to be found out on the streets.
oh wow..look at the spreads! What makes a good or bad bagel d? I can't tell the difference except whether for its freshness.
Oh my lord - how I'd love to eat all that - lox, sturgeon and bagel!
niceee!! do try white castle slider!
wow!! u are in manhattan!!
have fun!
the pictures are great.. hmm can tell u have a huge appetite. haha.
take care of yr health too! :)
haha u seems to enjoy gd food a lot..but anywae the food which u post in ur blog seems to be rich in calories , has it caused any harm to ur health anywae?
i think i would have become severely obese if i ever eaten this much like u haha
boo_licious: Hehe, thanks, like I said I'm a big fan of traditional bagels but I'll still want to try those unique ones with chocolate, nuts etc...
jas: I do cook actually, contrary to what most people think, it's still cheaper to eat in than out in NYC. I guess you could survive on $1 hotdogs from a street-stand but I wouldn't want to eat that for every meal. NYC food is comparable or slightly more expensive to Singapore and Australia, throw in the exchange rate and it'll be even more noticeable. Other states tend to be cheaper, when I was in Michigan for awhile years ago, food was relatively cheaper (both in the supermarkets and in the restaurants).
daphne: I like my bagels chewy, not too dry and definitely not crumbly. The exterior has to be slightly crisp but not too hard. The interior texture is slightly dense, it can't be too fluffy. That's how I like my bagel =D and ess-a-bagel does it like that.
camemberu: the sturgeon in particular was superb! See, they're more useful than just for caviar =)
meepoker: It's on my hit list baby!
lav: Heya!! A pity we didn't get to meet up in SG, read on for more of my foodventures in NYC. All the best for your studies!
anon: Oh well, life is only that long =P
I liked your blog, thanks for sharing this
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