#theonebagelnj

[theonebagelnj]

Bagel Hole – Princeton, NJ 9/20/14 11:45am

  In September, Katelyn, Jenny, Lauren, and I visited Bagel Hole in Princeton on our way to go apple picking. Given the journey, we didn’t arrive until 11:45am, and there was limited selection when we arrived. Regardless of the hour, however, Bagel Hole has very few cream cheese options, which I found to be underwhelming.

      Katelyn and I both ordered a spinach bagel with scallion cream cheese. Lauren ordered a sesame bagel with scallion cream cheese, and Jenny ordered an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.

      Katelyn and I both found the outside of the spinach bagel to be a bit tough. Otherwise, Katelyn “really liked” her bagel and thought it had a good consistency. I was pleased to find the bagel actually tasted like spinach, but found it to be a bit bread-like and have a sticky texture. Katelyn wished there was more cream cheese on her bagel and I thought the cream cheese needed more scallions. Katelyn and I both rated our bagels a 7. I gave the cream cheese a 7 and Katelyn gave it a 6.

      Despite anticipating disappointment, Lauren really liked her bagel. She thought it felt light and was “easy to bite in to.” Jenny and Lauren agreed that the bagels were on the small side, and Lauren was still hungry after she finished her bagel. Lauren rated both bagel and cream cheese a 7.

    Jenny’s everything bagel had no toppings on the bottom of the bagel and was disappointed in the overall lack of toppings on the top of the bagel, too. She found the bagel to have good overall flavor and really liked the cream cheese. She rated her bagel a 7 and the cream cheese an 8.

    Despite their small size and a general lack of cream cheese options, the bagels of Bagel Hole fared quite well. I recommend visiting early in the morning before they run out of bagels!

   At a wine tasting later in the day.

  Ratings:

Location: 8

Service: 8

Cleanliness: 8

Overall Store Ratings: 8

    Bagel Quality: 7

Cream Cheese Quality: 7

Overall Bagel Experience: 7

Price: bagel with specialty CC – $3.00; baker’s dozen - $10.50

SAMPLE: n= 4

Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Bagel-Hole/111724962198089

[theonebagelnj]

Somerset Bagel Cafe & Grill 9/10/14 9:20am

  Extremely enthusiastic for the first bagel adventure of the new school year, Mary, Rachel, Rita and I headed to Somerset Bagel Cafe & Grill located in an inconspicuous strip mall, offset from the main road. When we arrived, the strip mall and parking lot appeared to be quite empty. We were pleasantly surprised to walk into the establishment and find an agreeable interior design and strong coffee selection. 

To our horror, the Garlic, Salt, and French Toast bagels were all kept in the same bagel bin! Yikes!

  After much deliberation (Mary, in fact, changed her order at the last second) here is what we decided on: Rita – whole wheat everything with scallion cream cheese; Rachel and Mary – cinnamon raison with strawberry cream cheese; Ariel – everything with scallion. We were not asked to pay and were told we could have a seat and our bagels would be brought out to us (a touch that I always appreciate). Although they got slightly confused with our order and ended up bringing out a duplicate of one of our bagels, the service was prompt.

    We all found our bagels to be dry and on the stale side. Mary found her bagel to be too chewy, exerting a “lot of effort” to consume it. Mary found the texture of the cream cheese to be very good, but overall the cream cheese to be slightly too sweet. She rated the cream cheese a 6.5, citing that it had potential, and rated the bagel a 6.

  Rachel, with the same bagel selection, also found the cream cheese to bet sweet, but enjoyed it, nonetheless. The top part of her bagel was singed from the toaster, so the cream cheese was the highlight of the sandwich. Rachel rated her bagel a 5 and the cream cheese a 7.

  You can really see the pure joy in Rita's eyes. 

  Rita’s whole wheat everything bagel was scarce on toppings and heavy on salt. Rita stated matter-of-factly that Dunkin Donuts had more toppings on an everything bagels than the bagel in front of her.

  My everything bagel was likewise sparse on toppings and heavy on salt. My bagel was extremely over toasted and was completely burnt on the bottom. In the end, I decided that the bagel tasted like dry bread with a hard outside. Rita and I were slightly harsher with our bagel ratings. Rita rated her bagel a 3.5, and I rated mine a 4. Rita was pleased with the scallion flavor of the cream cheese and rated it a 7. I found the cream cheese texture to be too runny and rated it a 5.

  Despite our pleasant service, the lack of appropriate bagel selection, the bagel stale-ness, and location of Somerset Bagel Cafe & Grill would likely deter me from returning.

  Ratings:

Location:  5

Service: 8

Cleanliness: 9

Overall Store Ratings: 7.3

  Bagel Quality: 4.6

Cream Cheese Quality: 6.4

Overall Bagel Experience: 5.5

Price: bagel – $0.95; bagel with specialty CC – $3.40; baker’s dozen – $11.40

SAMPLE: n= 4

[theonebagelnj]

The One Bagel NJ 1-Year Anniversary

Well, loyal fans, we have hit the one year mark. And what a year it has been! The One Bagel NJ has reviewed approximately 50 bagel establishments in the last year in two countries (plus Mary’s excellent international guest post about her bagel quest in India). The posts have spanned six US states, most of the posts reviewing bagels in New Jersey.

  After 1 year, the blog has been visited almost 2,000 times by people in 37 countries and 38 US states. People everywhere love reading about bagels!

  Despite the recent slow in posts given my occupation with my non-bagel research, I promise you that The One Bagel NJ is still reviewing bagel establishments and serving the world-wide bagel community. The One Bagel NJ is committed to finding the best bagel in New Jersey, no matter the cost!

  To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the blog, Mary and I threw a Bagel Blogiversary extravaganza at our home this past weekend. We were joined by friends and loved ones for a day that celebrated our favorite round chewy bread. Our two local favorite bagel establishments, Bagel Market & Deli in Somerset and Bagel Boys in North Brunswick, catered the event. We had over 10 bagel varieties and 7 cream cheese offerings. While both bagel platters were equally demolished by the end of the day, my personal opinion was that the Bagel Boys bagels held up the rigor of sitting out all day better than those from Bagel Market & Deli. While we will continue our search, we are very fortunate to have such great bagels so close to our home!

The Bagel Blogiversary party was a huge success! In addition to the bagels, my mom made two different kinds of kugel and a coffee cake. We also had fruit salad, beverages, and lox. Here are some of the highlights from our special day. Thanks to all who came out to celebrate!

Amanda having first dibs on the bagel platters

Ross, Dori, and Jeff

The One Bagel NJ Proud Mom 

Ross, one of the most voracious bagel consumers to grace the blog

Mary, Nick, me, Rita, and John - Rutgers bagel-lovers

Laura-Lynn, Jeff, and Ross basking in post-bagel eating glory

Ross face-coaster art

Nidia, Erika, and Gabriel 

Didik, Birru, and Mike

Rita, me, and Jennifer

The Before and After

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the bagel cause and supported our bagel endeavors in the past year. Here’s to another year, more bagel-filled than the last!

[theonebagelnj]

Paul’s hometown favorite – Bagel Masters, Shrewbury, NJ

I was fortunate to try out Bagel Masters in Shrewsbury last week with a splendid crowd – Paul, Brandon, Jessica, and Phil. Paul and Phil grew up in the area and were enthusiastic about the bagels that Bagel Masters had to offer.

We headed over to Bagel Masters around lunchtime. I was immediately struck by the awesome happy bagel decorations. Despite it being late in the day on a Monday, Bagel Masters was full of people! We decided to order our bagels and eat them at a nearby park.

Paul and Brandon both got sundried tomato bagel egg sandwiches. Paul said his sandwich was “insanely awesome.” It was the first sundried tomato bagel he had consumed and said it was “amazing.” Although Paul said the bagel itself was not too flavorful, he wanted to rate it a 10. Since a rating of 10 is unattainable and only applies for a non-existent perfect bagel, he settled for rating his bagel a 9.6. Brandon found his sandwich to be “phenomenal” and said it had a “smooth mouth-feel.” The Long Island native found his bagel to be a little doughy, but proclaimed that he could “really taste the sun.” In the end, Branny rated his bagel a solid 8.

Phil and Jess both had everything bagel egg sandwiches. Phil said that he “enjoyed it a lot” and was pleased that the everything bagel was not super salty. Phil, having had many experiences at Bagel Masters, was proud to say that the bagels stand on their own without being part of a sandwich. He rated his bagel an 8.5. Jess also really enjoyed her everything bagel sandwich and found it to be “really good.” A Massachusetts native, Jess rated her bagel a high 9.5, adding that she had never had a really good bagel before. It makes me so happy when people from non-bagel friendly places experience great bagels!  

  I ordered a jalapeño cheddar bagel with spinach cream cheese. While I was very pleased with the soft, doughy bagel interior, the bagel lacked the slight crispy exterior that I enjoy. The bagel itself contained real jalapenos and was very tasty. The combination of jalapeño cheddar bagel and spinach cream cheese was really superb. Unfortunately, I found that the cheddar flavor did not come out in the bagel. This was the first time I encountered spinach cream cheese, and I enjoyed it very much. The cream cheese structure, however, was on the grainy side and not quite thick enough. In the end, I rated my bagel a strong 8 and the cream cheese a 7.5.

  Special thanks to Jessica, Phil, Brandon, and Paul for their input on Bagel Masters. Phil and Paul assured me that the quality of the bagels at Bagel Masters is consistent, making it a worthy place to stop for bagels if you are in the area!

  Ratings:

Location: 8

Service: 6

Cleanliness: 8

Overall Store Ratings: 7.3

  Bagel Quality: 8.7

Cream Cheese Quality: 7.5

Overall Bagel Experience: 8.1

Price: bagel – $0.95; bagel with specialty CC – $3.15; Dozen – $11.40

SAMPLE: n= 5

Website: http://bagelmasters.com

[theonebagelnj]

The current standings - contenders for The One Bagel. The first spreadsheet contains just rankings for establishments in NJ, the second contains all the reviews I have done thus far. 

Note: The spreadsheets are sorted by highest to lowest score in the category of OVERALL BAGEL & CC.

Bagel Barn in Princeton is in the lead!