New York Adventures: Zucker's Bagels & Smoked Fish

I went down to New York for my February break and was staying around the Upper West Side.  On my first day, I walked around and spotted this bagel/breakfast spot.  I knew that I would be visiting the place at some point.  This review is one of two restaurants that I had decided to write up while I was in New York. 

I spotted this bagel/breakfast shop a couple of times as I was walking around the Upper West Side and was immediately interested in stopping by for breakfast.  I don't know why, but smoked fish always interests me.  Ever since my first THIMUN trip to the Netherlands and was exposed to herring, I've developed a palate for smoked fish.  When I was in Germany, I remember walking through a public biergarten and making a beeline for a storefront that advertised raw herring.  Nonetheless, after spotting Zucker's on Columbus Ave, I knew I wanted to visit.

Their menu is very extensive and has many choices from both breakfast and lunch sandwiches.  They're also known for their smoked fish, and as a result had a great deal of options.  I ordered the "Leo" on a poppyseed bagel and a "Delancey" on a garlic bagel.  The "Leo" has smoked nova lox, egg and sauteed onions.  The "Delancey" came with two eggs, corned beef, latkes and sauteed onions.  I also opted for no cheese which came standard on the "Delancey".

I started off with the "Delancey" because I wanted to see the "best for last".  I'm a big fan of pungent foods and a garlic bagel in particular is always a must have.  Unfortunately, the bagel sandwich fell apart fairly quickly the moment I bit into it.  Luckily I had a fork around, but the structural integrity of the sandwich was fairly lacking.  The sandwich was really good.  The bagel had a nice toasted outside and a soft and pliable inside.  The garlic bagel provides a nice fragrant foreground for the sandwich.  The corned beef was nice and tender and the combination of the latke almost made it seem like a corned beef hash in a sandwich.  The onions had a nice crunch and imparted a subtle sweetness to the sandwich.  The eggs seemed like there as a filler, but still provided some nice subtle flavors that helped bind the sandwich flavor profile together.  Overall, I great sandwich, though as I said, the structural integrity had much to be desired.

After I finished the "Delancey", I moved onto the sandwich that I was most looking forward to: "The Leo".  The first bite highlighted the smoked lox (salmon).  The fishiness and saltiness of the lox was fantastic.  It wasn't overwhelming but well-balanced and perfectly paired with the scramble eggs and sweet onions.  The poppyseed bagel added different texture to each bite and made the sandwich that much more enjoyable.  It is understandable why Zucker's is known for their smoked fish.

My experience at Zucker's was quite pleasant and I had an amazing time enjoying breakfast there.  While I haven't experienced enough "New York bagels" to be able to differentiate a good bagel versus not, but both of the sandwiches were good and quite fulfilling.