NOT IN BROOKLYN (Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company)

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

I can not figure out why Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company has claimed the borough of Brooklyn in their name. The bagel shop is located in the heart of Chelsea, quite a subway ride away from Kings County. What’s even stranger is when they expanded, they did not open a second location in Brooklyn, but rather in Queens (in Astoria, one just a few blocks away from my apartment). Which is slightly closer to Brooklyn, I suppose. They’re getting there.

So why is it called Brooklyn Bagels? Honestly, I have no idea. I can pretty much guarantee they don’t import the water from Brooklyn, as other bagel shops further away from New York claim. Perhaps the owners are originally from Brooklyn? Or the ultimate goal is to open a bagel shop in that borough one day. That doesn’t make sense, of course, because anybody who knows anything about New York knows rent anywhere in Brooklyn is cheaper than in Chelsea.

The first time I passed their one of their locations in Astoria, it looked like the generic bagel shops you’d find in middle America that were trying to legitimize their product by tying it back to the source – New York (or more specifically, in this case, Brooklyn). It’s a lot more impressive and seductive in Des Moines to get a bagel from a shop called Brooklyn Bagel Company. But in New York, not so much.

The first time I walked in to one of their bagel shops was one weekday morning in Astoria when we were filming the bagel episode of the web series. I needed a stunt bagel (yes, you read that right) and I wanted to get some samples for the cast and crew. I thought these guys would do. Now I can’t comment too much on the quality of those because the bagel was thrown around a bit, but I do remember the gigantic size and from what I tasted, they were slightly stale and hard. However, my recent visit to their flagship Chelsea location proved my memory wrong.

These guys make some seriously good bagels. I arrived early on a busy Saturday afternoon and the yeasty, malty smells seduced me the minute I walked in the door. If they could some how pipe that smell on to the street, I think they’d double their business. The shop was clean and suburban feeling and I think it made most of the tourists noshing feel very comfortable in a shopping mall type of way. I could also tell that many of the people in line were neighborhood folk as well.

The only two bagels that were warm were the Plain and the Cinnamon Raisin, so I settled on one of each. The cream cheese options were varied and I was interested in the Cucumber Dill. In all fairness, I have not really explored the cream cheese options at other bagel shops. I’ve heard about the amazing Jalapeño Cream Cheese at Murray’s and the fresh chopped garlic cream cheese at Absolute, but I’ve concentrated more on the bagels themselves and added some plain cream cheese just to liven things up a bit.

When I asked about the dill cucumber cream cheese, the most amazing thing happened. I got good customer service at a bagel shop. The guy offered me a taste of the specialty cream cheese. I suppose this is standard practice at places like this, but I’ve never had that happen yet. And the cream cheese was quite delicious. The herbal cucumbers and bright dill mellowed out the sourness from the cream cheese and gave it a surprising lightness. But I refrained from gussying up the bagels too much. I settled for regular cream cheese on my Plain bagel and left my Cinnamon Raisin (which was a mini-size) naked.

The bagels here are quite large. The Plain bagel was not overly hot, but was crunchy and warm and fresh. The bottom had a nice brown crust which imparted a beautiful crunching sensation. And then the inside was soft and chewy. The warm bready flavors came through immediately and gave way to a slight sweetness. The textures were right on and the flavors were as clean and yeasty as you expect from a New York (or Brooklyn) bagel.

The mini-size was sort of a joke. It was barely smaller than the monstrous Plain bagel. I don’t see why anybody would order the regular size when the mini is more than enough. Maybe this place is named Brooklyn Bagels due to the size of the specimens? Brooklyn tends to go bigger rather than denser with bagels (Bagel Hole being the exception, of course).

But it was still a good bagel. It was a little dryer and sweeter (cinnamon raisin tends to do that), but it was quite chewy and had a nice soft texture. Since it was so big, I saved most of this for later. And I found myself eating it way before I was hungry again. That’s always a good sign.

This place doesn’t get quite as much attention as the big boys, but their bagels are just as good. They’re a little large for my tastes, but they hand roll and boil them with confidence and there’s a reason why both tourists and locals line up here. I wonder if the masses would still come if it was called “Des Moines Bagel & Coffee Company”. I’m guessing probably not.

Does Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company have the best bagels in NY? Even though they’re not located in Brooklyn, the Chelsea location does the borough proud earning an 8 out of 10 for their plump, toothsome oversized bagels.