Ess-a-Bagel

New York City, NY

Is there anything more classic than a New York everything bagel with lox and schmear? Amazingly on our last visit to New York city, we missed out, so we made it a priority to grab a bagel. The question was where to get the best bagel in NY. Turns out there are a ton of famous bagel places, so we simply picked out the closest one to our hotel, which happened to be Ess-a-Bagel. On a Saturday morning, the place was packed by locals and tourists. We waited patiently in a twenty person line trying to decided what to get. We opted for the classic everything bagel with lox, plain cream cheese, red onions and tomatoes, pricey at $11. 

Everything Bagel with lox, plain schmear, red onions, tomatoes

The large, stuffed bagel was really good. The lox was silky and not overly salty, while being tasty and delicious, the red onions were crisp and tomatoes juicy, a great combination of flavor and texture.

Sesame Bagel with scallion schmear

We also ordered a sesame bagel with scallion schmear, a different flavor cream cheese that I've never had before. It was also tasty, and filled us up to start our day trekking through the Upper East side.

To-go bagel counter

Rating 7/10

March 5, 2011