Food/restaurant rant

I don't have a problem with the chocolate chip and pretzel and sun-dried tomato (makes a great BLT) options, but don't consider them "bagels"

 

Essa-bagel makes some quality bagels.

 

Weird that California seems to be -- by omission -- filled with only healthy food choices.

 

California and can't find a decent bagel. I hardly think so.

If you're down south, go to Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, right down the street from the horse track.

 

Bagels should be smaller and firmer and should never be fluffy. That's a bigger sin than the ridiculous flavors. People go crazy over bagels which are the size of a football. And I'd rather get what is fresh out of the oven than get the perfect flavor. All things being equal -- onion or garlic is ideal.

I am also the rare Brooklyn Jew who hates cream cheese. Whitefish salad, lox, sturgeon and herring are all great on a bagel. But cream cheese is revolting to me.

 

So if you have an onion bagel with lox, do you put butter or anything on it?

 

California is huge, 163,695 square miles. I live three-plus hours from LA and three-four hours from SF.
Not a decent bagel around here.

 

Mrs. Huggy gets sourdough bagels and jalapeno and cheddar bagels for me....love 'em both.

 

Yeah, usually just enough to make it moist.

 

For me it's a toasted poppy seed with cream cheese, nova lox and a slice of red onion. Sometimes I get scallion cream cheese and skip the red onion.

 

I don't eat bagels that often, but when I do, I generally get a plain with plain cream cheese (I'm a purist). Occasionally I'll mix it up and get chive or vegetable cream cheese or a sesame bagel. I'm going to Montreal for the first time next month and I'm looking forward to trying a Montreal-style bagel and seeing how it differs from a NY one.