Absolute Bagels (108th & Broadway)

All through the summer I've been hearing about these legendary bagels.

And today I finally tried one. Did it live up to all the raving?

Well, first off, the setting of Absolute Bagels isn't too inviting or cozy as you would expect a bagel place to be. The inside of the little shop felt very muggy, which isn't too great if you need to wait in line. Kinda gave off a dirty, old feel but maybe that's what gives its personality. Oh and it's cash only...one of the reasons why it took me so long to actually try a bagel from here :P

I ordered a pumpernickel bagel with plain cream cheese.

Mmm...who doesn't love plump-looking bagels with an almost non-existent hole in the center? It was conveniently cut in half, and when I opened it a freakin huge hunka cream cheese stared back at me.

Yeah they were pretty generous with that stuff. I had to scrape like half of it off because I prefer to have the breadiness of the bagel itself shine through. In terms of the texture, this bagel is pretty bomb. The outside is crispy, but doesn't flake off or anything. The inside is chewy, and dense. You know how some bagels have hard, crunchy edges? None of that here - the consistency was pretty uniform throughout. I just love the distinct pumpernickel taste of the bagel. The cream cheese was super thick and had a strong milky aftertaste.

While the bagel wasn't huge, it definitely filled me up super quickly. I had to take a break after eating one half because the combination of dense bread and thick cream cheese did feel pretty heavy sitting in my stomach. My taste buds were happy though!

So ultimately, I feel like my Absolute Bagels' bagel wasn't as amazing as people made it out to be. My absolute favorite bagel place is definitely Einstein's or Panera Bread back at home. The bagels there tend to be more on the fluffy side, and are to die for when toasted. Maybe it's another one of those Midwest versus East Coast thing? I think both styles are definitely great in their own way, and I'm definitely looking forward to a second trip to Absolute sometime soon to try out their more famous egg bagel and huge variety of cream cheese flavors. Maybe it takes two tries to figure out what exactly all this hype is about!