Those are the two combatants....Murray's on the left and Brooklyn Bagel & Coffee Company on the right. Ok first off Murray's has the early edge because their name is shorter and easier to remember, maybe I should call the other one BB&CC to make this whole writing thing a bit easier on my brain. I am still a bit confused however that there are actually two Murray's bagels and not too far from each other either, one on 8th Ave and one on 6th Ave, but I have yet to confirm their relation (Both are owned by guys named Pomerantz, Matt and Adam and it would be easy to assume they are brothers, however they have separate websites and don't mention the other...very strange). The one I refer to is the one on 8th between 22nd and 23rd because that's the one I have been to. BB&CC, on the other hand, is just up the street on 8th between 24th and 25th making this the perfect comparison due to closeness of proximity. Both places offer traditional style bagels which are hand-rolled making the bagels less uniform. The biggest difference between the two places? Size. BB&CC's are over-sized and bulbous, so much so that the hole is pretty much not a hole. How do they accomplish this? They add a bit more yeast into the bagel so it plumps up extra high, and I know this because I worked in a bagel shop back in my high school days many moons ago...that's what we did, so it's nothing new. Ultimately it all comes down to the flavor and both places are right on par with each other. However in my book BB&CC's were just a bit tastier, but that is no slight on Murray's because they are a fine example of a great NYC bagel.
On top is a Murray's Whole Wheat Sesame with Vegetable Cream Cheese and on the bottom is BB&CC's non-Whole Wheat version, just a regular Sesame. Of course when you add Cream Cheese it changes the flavor of the bagel, so just comparing the two this way wouldn't be a true test. Just like Pizza, you gotta eat a plain one...no butter, no nothing (referring to a plain slice of Pizza not a slice with butter...duh). I will say that the Coffee at BB&CC was also very delicious but we're not comparing Coffee here. Anyway I would be quick to recommend both of these Bagel joints because they were highly satisfactory and wonderfully uphold the high standards that we New Yorkers have when it comes to good Bagels. I believe it's something in the water...
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