Everybody has their own opinion of what makes a great bagel, and it’s certainly not my job to convince you that round white bread with a hole in the middle is not even close. If I may opine, however, a great bagel has a doughy inside with a slightly crunchy, crackly crust, indicative of boiling. The bagel need not (and really, should not) be toasted when purchased fresh from the bakery. Now if you have a bad bagel, then by all means toast it to create a fake crust and flavor that it currently lacks.
For this week, I chose four of the more popular bagel places in Hoboken: JP’s Bagel Express, located down by the PATH, Bagels on the Hudson, Hoboken Hot Bagels, and one of Washington Street’s newest additions, the popular Jersey chain O’Bagel. At each place, I ordered an everything bagel and a specialty bagel, one with a spread (though the spread should not make the bagel), and one with egg and cheese.
First up was JP’s. They had blueberry bagels, a rare find for Hoboken, which actually tasted like blueberries. The everything bagel looked as though it was accidentally dropped into a bag with other random bagels and that’s how the toppings came to be – barely anything on top. The flavor of the bagel itself did nothing to compensate either. Sadly, neither of the bagels had that lovely crispiness which I was seeking.
From there I went to Hoboken Hot Bagels, and finally got a crisp crust. The bagels themselves were not overly large and had the texture and flavor of having been boiled. The everything bagel had a good amount of toppings, and even their plain bagels had flavor. However, it seems as though good bagels are all they have, as my order, the egg sandwich was microwaved leaving a rubbery egg taste, and the strawberry cream cheese was pulled out of a store-bought container.
Onto the new guy on the block. Both times I’ve gone, I felt like I was thrown into the middle of chaos, with customers everywhere, and no one really quite sure where to wait — and wait they will — for their order. Their everything bagel had even fewer toppings than JP’s, and neither the cinnamon raisin nor the everything bagel had much in the way of crust or flavor. On the bright side, their eggs are cooked on a grille, but I really don’t understand why this place has become so popular.
Lastly, the Stevens students’ staple – Bagels on the Hudson. The largest of the store fronts and with the largest selection, Bagels has the whole crazy weekend morning breakfast thing organized with a constantly moving line and short wait time. The everything bagel had the most amount of toppings of all of the places, their eggs had the best flavor, and they are generous with their homemade spreads. All of these do nothing to cover up the fact that the bagels aren’t that great. Maybe I haven’t had enough store-bought bagels in my youth, but they taste a small step above what you can get in a supermarket.
Despite the quantity of bagel shops, Hoboken is lacking in all-around quality. With that being said, the best bagel in my opinion came from Hot Bagels (my partner is more of the white bread-type and preferred Bagels on the Hudson, though I think their chocolate chip bagel may have had something to do with that), but the best sandwich came from Bagels on the Hudson. JP’s isn’t a bad option if you’re down by the PATH, and their bagels are slightly better than Bagels on the Hudson. Both my partner and I agree to skip on O’Bagel.
