Bagels by the Park

Like I mentioned last week, I'm really disappointed by the lack of a good bagel place in my neighborhood. I discovered in the process that whenever bagels are mentioned, people have strong opinions. I got so many comments (La Bagel Delight seems to be a favorite, but none are near me, and FIPS even did a thorough Bagel Comparison Experiment and declared The Bagel Hole as their Prospect Park winner, but again, it's too far for me). There's a place on my corner that I absolutely hate. I've never had a good experience there, even though the bagels are fine. The service is horrible, inept and ridiculous and I refuse to go back there. My only other option is Bagels by the Park (323 Smith St., at President St., 718-246-1321), which I went to last weekend to assess their bagels.

I got an Everything bagel with Lox spread. The spread was great. It wasn't dyed an unnatural color and tasted fresh and slightly salty. I would've liked more seeds, but was happy with the proportions, AND it had salt. I hate it when Everythings don't have salt.



I also got a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Plain Cream Cheese. This was also good. Nice and glossy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, with a good amount of raisins and cinnamon swirled throughout.



I liked that these bagels were not drowning in cream cheese. That's just gross and unnecessary, so it's good that there's just enough spread for both sides and that you don't have to take off a bunch in order to eat it. It's a bit slow here though, and there are lots of opportunities for mixed up orders. It's also not just a bagel place so some of their attention is taken elsewhere into baked items and deli items. It's convenient though, being right by the Carroll St. F & G trains, so they get a lot of business in the mornings.