The Bagel Store

There seems to be a lack of good bagels in Brooklyn. I'm not happy with any in my neighborhood of Carroll Gardens, that's for sure (if you've found a good place, please, let me know!). However, there is an amazing place in Williamsburg called The Bagel Store (754 Metropolitan Avenue, between Graham Ave. & Humboldt Ave., 718- 782-5856). There's always a line and since they do such brisk business, the bagels are usually warm and fresh.

On this particular visit, we got two, very different bagels and spreads. One was a toasted Poppy Seed bagel with Lox Cream Cheese. The cream cheese was good; nice and salty, with big chunks of lox, but it was a little on the orange side, so it makes me think that there's dye in that spread, or the lox that they use. The bagel was perfectly crusty on the outside, loaded with poppy seeds, and nicely soft on the inside. They were also well proportioned - not too big or small, and not too over-loaded with spread.



We also got a French Toast Bagel with Raisin and Walnut Cream Cheese. This is not the kind of bagel I normally get, since I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to bagels, and anything sweet that's not Cinnamon Raisin just doesn't seem right. But it's a new world in terms of bagels, and I'm ready to try new things. This bagel is nicely sweet, with sprinkled sugar on the bottom, powdered sugar on top and swirls of cinnamon throughout. There was something off with this bagel though - I think the raisins had turned which lent the whole thing a slightly alcoholic flavor. Not necessarily bad, like sour, but off. I'm willing to chalk it up to a random bad luck day, so you shouldn't necessarily stay away from this combo in the future if you're wanting a dessert bagel.



You can also get Egg Sandwiches at the Bagel Store, and lots of different spreads depending on your mood. I highly recommend this place!