Who's Your Bagel??

A recent trip out for bagels turned into quite the journey, but one well worth the effort. Street scenes like this one below were all that greeted ABF & me one weekend in Long Island. I'd taken the train in Sunday morning to Rockville Centre, and after picking me up at the station, ABF set a course for his favorite bagel place, Bagels Plus in East Rockaway (they don't seem to have a website, so here's some basic info). I'd never been, but had long heard about how great they were. It took us almost 30 minutes to make an otherwise 5-minute drive, because old, beautiful trees had been torn up overnight due to the insane hurricane-like storm.

We finally arrived to Bagels Plus (their slogan on the sign outside: "Who's Your Bagel??") and saw a line winding around the entire store. Apparently a lot of folks were eating out for breakfast that day. ABF & I waited in the quickly-moving line and discussed what we wanted.

I saw my favorite cream cheese (scallion) and was a little surprised to see it was completely green. I don't know if this was just for St. Patrick's Day or if it's always that green, but as long as it tasted good I'd figure I'd work past the jarring sheen.

We filed past case after case of nicely presented food, from smoked fish to green-hued goodies (as I mentioned, it was almost Saint Patrick's Day, and they were ready to go in the bakery!)

I, however, had a one-track mind; I was there for bagels. Salty, soft, savory bagels.

And, maybe, rugelach. Yeah, I saw the raspberry rugelach and decided to get two pieces as well as our bagels.

ABF tried a bite, but he's not even half the raspberry fan I am. I thought this was good, but I didn't finish it all. I have had some amazing rugelach here in NYC, but I never seem to be able to remember where! Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments. ;)

Back to the bagels: we brought home half a dozen: 2 poppyseed, 2 garlic (they were out of onion) and 2 everything. Yum. Look how soft they are! It took no effort to squish them, and they bounce right back to their puffy size!

We tried toasting the first bagel in the toaster, but it turned into a charred, smoky mess, so ABF decided to take it up a notch: he put a thin layer of olive oil on each half and then toasted it in his Calphalon pans. They came out a beautiful brown hue, had a satisfying crunch, and did not set off any smoke alarms! Holy COW was this genius! ABF also made a sort of kitchen-sink omelet, tossing in bits and pieces of food from the fridge: fresh chives, 2 mushrooms, scallions, etc, and seared up some sausage patties. It was super delicious and a fun, enjoyable way to welcome a rainy Sunday morning.

I've eaten many a bagel in my years on this delicious planet, and these are definitely top contenders. I would say it was definitely one of the best, freshest, most flavorful bagels I've ever eaten, and I hope ABF and I go back there on the next rainy weekend morning.