Bagelberry

NAME: Bagelberry
LOCATION: 3113 30th Ave. Astoria, NY 11102
PRICE: $4.75

Dear New York,

If you are reading this, you are the bagel elite and I have waited far too long to give you another journey into the realm of bagel glory. I apologize for the wait but today I preach the good word, the word of Bagelberry.

Astoria residents tend to fall back on Brooklyn Bagel for their daily bagel consumption. They are doing themselves a great disservice by not venturing a few blocks away to Bagelberry. Today I took that walk and was rewarded with an excellent bagel.

The bagel itself is smaller than Brooklyn Bagel's massive dough mountains. Chewy and soft on top, wonderfully crispy on the bottom without being burnt at all. The everything is covered with lots of salt and garlic and just enough poppy seeds for a wonderful flavor.

The vegetable cream cheese at Bagelberry was a nice surprise. While it contains the regular finely chopped bits of carrot and bell pepper, it also has a nice little surprise: pickle! Ok, I could be wrong, the pieces are super small but it looks like a pickle, and tastes like a pickle, so it's probably a pickle. This adds the the right amount of peculiar tanginess to give this cream cheese a wonderfully unique taste. And unlike other bagel shops, they don't load it on. They put just enough to cover all sides without trying to give you a creamy heart attack before lunch time.

Added bonus: the coffee is totally good. It's not a fancy cup of coffee but it is a very tasty cup of bagel shop coffee. Nutty and flavorful.

You can bet I will be going out of my way to visit Bagelberry more often and you should too!

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