Heavy bageling

The collective knowledge of Chowhound L.A., or at least a few opinionated posters, holds that the best bagels in L.A. are to be had at the Bagel Broker on Beverly at Fairfax. I've always been partial to Brooklyn Bagel, myself. But after my recent trip to New York, where I paid pilgrimage to both Ess-a-bagel and H & H, I finally see what people mean when they say we don't have "real" bagels in L.A. It's true, they're different. New York bagels have more tooth, a finer, yeastier crumb and are chewy, yet not tough. I grew up on the bagels at Nate 'n Al's, and while I'm not sure where they get them from, they taste just like Brooklyn Bagel to me, and thus "right."

rye, everything, pumpernickel bagels from the Bagel Broker
Anyway, initial tastes of the Bagel Broker bagels find that they are no better than Brooklyn Bagel. In fact, I like the little blackened onion shreds on Brooklyn's onion bagels to be even better than the New York specimens. Bagel Broker does make a solid, traditional, L.A.-style bagel. Matt liked the cinnamon raisin quite a bit, but I'm sorry, nothing with raisins in it deserves the name bagel. Also nice for a change once in a while are the bialys from Back East Bialy, at 8562 W. Pico.