IT’S NOT THE SIZE THAT COUNTS (Hot Jumbo Bagels)

My search for the best bagels in New York continues….

Back in the early to mid 1900’s, bagels in New York were all made by one union: the Bagel Bakers Local 331. And their bagels were small and dense weighing in at a mere 3 ounces. To put things in perspective, the average New York bagel today is about 7 ounces, more than twice the size of the original New York bagels.

People seem to think bigger is better. And I’m sure that’s the reason behind the name Hot Jumbo Bagels. But interestingly enough, in addition to the normal bagels at this no-frills shop, they also offer mini-versions of their bagels. And the funny thing is, they’re not a whole lot smaller. Once you go big, you just can’t go back.

Hot Jumbo Bagels sits in the residental area of Midtown East, across from a school on Second Avenue. I’ve walked by this shop so many times before and I never paid attention assuming they were nothing more than a neighborhood deli. And upon entering I saw the usual bags of potato chips, signs for falafel, and then the bins full of bagel options. I also noticed quite a diverse crowd hanging out from middle aged neighborhood women, to kids just out of school, to people like me taking photos of themselves eating the bagels.

In truth, I was the only one snapping any photos. But I was able to document some of my bagel findings. Since they offered mini versions I chose a full size plain and a mini everything bagel – both with cream cheese. I thought about it a little more and realized I should vary it up and requested the Walnut Raisin cream cheese for the smaller specimen. Since I already paid and the special cream cheese cost extra, I decided to forgo the whole cream cheese situation and asked for the bagel dry.

There was a lot of neuroses and confusion involved but I was happy to save the calories. The guy behind the counter however showed some true hospitality (maybe the first at any bagel shop ever) and smuggled me a small complimentary sample of that flavored cream cheese.

The mini bagel was barely smaller than the full size plain and I decided pretty quickly that there was no way I could allow myself to finish these dough bombs. The everything bagel was toasted and I could quickly taste why you shouldn’t toast your bagels. It was warm and crispy but paled in comparison to the soft, chewy texture of the untoasted Jumbo. The bagels both had a little sweetness, but I much preferred the freshness of the plain bagel. The everything had just a light dusting of seeds and the like so it didn’t hit home like it should have in the flavor department.

The cream cheeses were fine – nothing special. The raisin walnut was a little too sweet and didn’t have any noticeable nutty crunch or squishy raisin textures.

I focused more on the untoasted plain bagel because it came much closer to displaying the characteristics of a great bagel. The middle was wonderfully chewy, but the big problem was the lack of a crisp outside. The toasted version showcased that crunch I hoped for, but lacked the fresh, soft doughy center. If only I could have combined the two bagels into one. Then I really would have had a Jumbo Bagel!

Does Hot Jumbo Bagels have the best bagels in NY? It was a very good bagel, but just missed one important crunchy aspect. Perhaps when they are truly hot and just out of the oven everything would work and they would get a higher grade than a 7 out of 10.