PLANES, TRAINS, BAGELS (Bagel Oasis)

My search for the best bagels in New York continues….

If you’re familiar with the NYC Subway map, you know that there’s lots of colored lines throughout most of Manhattan and the outer boroughs signifying the subway routes. Yet there’s some empty beige space in the far reaches of Queens and Brooklyn that look almost like a desert. It feels as if these areas are not even part of New York City because no subway will run there. I noticed that dead space on the map while riding the F train out to 169th Street in Queens and realized I was heading in to very unfamiliar territory.

The F train was just the first leg of my journey. After that I had to transfer to the Q31 bus. Normally, when a bus is called for on my Iphone’s map, I usually just walk the distance. But I could tell this was quite a far ride and I didn’t want it to take an extra hour or two. And then, when I accidentally got off a little too early, I still had another 20 minutes to walk until I finally reached Bagel Oasis.

It’s truly amazing the lengths I travel just for a bagel. I had read about the wonder of these bagels, but could Bagel Oasis really be worth this trek? I think it was unfair to put all that pressure on this unassuming little bagel shop just off the Long Island Expressway.

It was late in the day at this point, which I also realize is unfair. Bagels are best when fresh out of the oven, of course, but I have a hard time getting up that early to begin with and considering the hours it would take me to get out here, there was no way I’d be able to sample them first thing in the morning. Plus Bagel Oasis is open 24 hours a day, so I imagine the baking happens throughout the day.

Alas, at 3:30pm nothing was fresh out of the oven. The guy told me the next baking would happen around 7pm. I never thought about getting bagels for dinner, but it’s something to keep in mind for next time. But he did assure me they were all baked within the last hour or two. Okay, I can handle that.

The egg bagel looked pretty great, while a cranberry one looked a little too pink – almost like an Easter egg. I didn’t take too many chances here and stuck with my usuals of late: Plain and Whole Wheat Everything.

It was a little tough to take notes and really lose myself in the bagel experience because the guy from behind the counter wanted to talk to me about my blog and his culinary experiences. He was a super nice guy, sort of like a bartender of bagel workers. But I had notes to take and photos to snap.

Through our conversation, I was able to tell that these were really good bagels. And I could only imagine they’re life changing when they first come out of the oven. The Plain was smaller than most of the monsters in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It had a delicate softness and a pleasant hint of sweetness. The chew to crunch ratio was great and really the only thing this guy needed was some heat (but not the deadly toasting heat, mind you).

I was surprised to see a modest portion of seasoning on the Whole Wheat Everything, but the flavors were evenly dispersed and while more seasoning would have been better visually, it would have most likely overwhelmed the bagel. The whole wheat was not very dark and I imagine it’s mostly white flour used here. But it prevented it from being dry and the textures were right on here too.

These are some mighty fine bagels. Are they worth the billion metro transfers necessary to make it out here? Maybe. The answer is to find somebody with a car. Isn’t that what cars were invented for? To transport us to a true bagel oasis?

Does Bagel Oasis have the best bagels in NY? Just possibly. The journey can be daunting, but the bagels earn a 9 out of 10 even without being fresh out of the oven. I can only imagine how high they’d score early in the morning (or late at night).