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Ess-a-Bagel

December 7, 2009 by Jennifer Che 5 Comments

Ess-a-Bagel store front
I had heard great things about this bagel place (Midtowners hail it as the best bagel in NYC) but had never visited it, mostly because it is much further away from my aunt’s place than H&H Bagels.  My aunt lives in the Upper West Side, so we invariably pick up bagels from H&H every time we stay with her.
P1000186
This time, we were staying in Midtown, so there really was no excuse not to visit Ess-a-Bagel.

The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the amazing spread of bagel “accompaniments” that are available!  This FAR trumps H&H, which just has some refrigerators along the wall with tubs of spreads. 
Ess-a-Bagel Spreads
Here, the deli counter is full of good stuff.  Various smoked fish, different spreads, salads, cream cheese, etc.  You can really make any kind of bagel sandwich you want, including fixings such as lettuce, onions, tomatoes and the like.  This place is much more like a full service bagel sandwich shop, not just a bagelry that solely bakes bagels.
Ess-a-Bagel with Whitefish salad
Since we would be enjoying a special lunch later in the day, we saved our appetite by sharing one sesame bagel “schmeared” with smoked whitefish, a very classic spread.  Yum.  The bagel was quite good.  It was fresh, decently chewy, and the smoked whitefish was delicious. The bagels at Ess-a-Bagel are significantly smaller than the bagels at H&H, which is good for weight control but maybe not as much for your wallet.
P1000185
In the end, we both agreed that we liked H&H better, but that might just be a personal preference issue.  H&H bagels are chewier and denser, which is something we both love. 
Boiling bagels
All the bagels are freshly made right on the premises.  I snapped a picture of the huge vat in which they boil all the bagels.
Ess-a-Bagel with Whitefish salad
Over all, it’s a great place to get a bagel if you’re in the neighborhood. There’s a decent amount of seating (unlike H&H), so you can actually sit down, relax, and enjoy your bagel sandwich as you people watch.  It’s pretty fun to see the various types of people who stop by to get a bagel early in the morning.

Postlude
I must confess, right before we left NYC, we took a special subway ride to the Upper West Side just to pick up two dozen H&H bagels to take home . .like always. 

Other posts from this mini New York Series:
Daniel
Le Bernardin
Sushi Yasuda
H&H Bagels
A New York Birthday
Me Peche (Momofuku Midtown)

Ess-a-Bagel
831 3rd Ave Ste 1
New York, NY 10022
Ess-a-Bagel on Urbanspoon

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All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: New York, Restaurant, Review, World Travel

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Comments

  1. and this blog says

    December 8, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    suwe actually get bagels from them every friday in the office… i think they are a bit dense for me… but I DO LOVE their Bialys (less doughy, more chewy)… with their strawberry cream cheese… yuuuummmmm ok… maybe i’ll get one tomorrow for breakfast =)

    Reply
  2. Q. says

    December 8, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    My boyfriend brought me back a big bag of H&H bagels from his trip to NYC for Thanksgiving. Cream cheese, too. SO good. Gonna have to get up there and try some for myself. NYC bagels are classic!

    Reply
  3. Carolyn Jung says

    December 9, 2009 at 2:10 am

    I had these bagels twice when I was in NY in May. Ess-a-Bagel wasn’t too far from our hotel, so we made these beauties our morning breakfast.

    Reply
  4. denise, the prime magpie says

    December 9, 2009 at 7:15 am

    Ooh, this would definitely be worth breaking my low-carb diet. I do miss bagels, but it would be worth the dietary transgression to have a truly well-made “everything” bagel, which are always my favorites.

    Reply
  5. Upper West End says

    November 30, 2010 at 3:27 am

    yummy

    Ess-a-Bagel is tasty.

    Reply

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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