I'm from Connecticut, home of Lender's Bagels. My grandfather and Harry Lender (the founder) used to play golf together. Lender's is no longer family owned, but I grew up eating the fresh ones still warm from the bakery where we'd pick up half a dozen every week. They aren't the same recipe now, and aren't fresh anymore, and aren't delicious like they were. We also used to go to New York frequently and usually picked up a bagel with belly lox in the lower east side. There was also the kosher market, M&T, in New Haven, which sold fresh-made bagels. I'm not sure if they made them themselves or got them from one of the kosher bakeries in the area. My grandfather's family also owned a kosher bakery and made bagels. That's a brief summary of my "expertise" with bagels.
Brooklyn Bagels are good. They're yeasty, crusty, soft inside, crunchy outside. They toast well, and have enough bubbles inside to catch and hold the cream cheese so it doesn't all melt off the sides right away.
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