Williamsburg: Delicious Cragels at The Bagel Store

The cragel craze has only begun.  Although The Bagel Store started selling cragels in September, cragels have only been really popular for a couple of weeks, when a ton of national and local articles started to come out concerning the 50% bagel, 50% croissant hybrid.  I got up early on this Sunday morning and got to The Bagel Shop right before 8 a.m.  No line!  Perfect!  And tons of cragels on display.  The cragels are medium-sized, not at large as most bagels in NYC, but not small either.  The glaze on the cragels make them look particularly appetizing.

I bought six cragels and took them home to my wife T. Six is the maximum number a customer is allowed to purchase due to the high demand. When I got home, I put a couple of cragels in the oven to warm them up, which was such a good idea because they came out warm and still crispy on the outside.

T and I then sat down for our first taste.  It was so ridiculously delicious!  The outside maintains the crispness of a good NYC bagel and the glaze on the cragel gives it a beautiful sweetness.  The middle is soft and warm and twists apart like a croissant.  I had bought a few cream cheeses to spread on, but after the first bite, we knew we wouldn't need to use any of them.  The cragels were perfect without anything on them.  They remind me a little of an Auntie Anne pretzel.  They were sweet, not donut sweet, but sweet enough that adding something like a strawberry or blueberry cream cheese would not really add anything and sweet enough to overpower most savory cream cheeses.

Cragels ★★★★★

It is hard to describe how good these are.  I plan to go back many, many times for The Bael Store's cragels.  They are one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Park Slope: Tasty Mediterranean Brunch at Miriam

T and I were out running errands on a Saturday afternoon and decided to try Miriam, an Israeli restaurant in Park Slope that gets great reviews on Yelp.  We started off with some hummus, which came with some hot fluffy pita bread.  I really enjoyed the thickness of the hummus and the chick pea flavor really came through. Not too much extra flavoring, just pure chick pea flavor.

Hummus ★★★★☆

For my entree, I ordered the Mediterranean Crispy Dough, which came with scrambled eggs, pickles and two fantastic sauces, a really fresh tomato puree and spicy harissa sauce.  I also ordered a side of Merguez Sausage.  This dish was fantastic.  The dough reminded me of a Chinese scallion pancake, but it was the sauces that really made this dish.  The tomato puree is really simple but so light and fresh-tasting.  The spicy harissa was one of the best-tasting hot sauces I've ever had.  The two sauces combined on top of the savory scrambled eggs and the crispy dough created a perfect combination of brunch flavors.  The pickles, which were not too sour, and the extra-meaty and grisly sausage also complemented everything else really well.  I would go back for this dish again.

Mediterranean Crispy Dough ★★★★★

For her entree, T ordered the Burekas brunch platter.  Burekas are pastry-like things that are made of phyllo dough.  Miriam's version is stuffed with feta cheese and olives. The dough was excellent.  The stuffing was very creamy and full of olive flavor.  If you like feta cheese, you'd probably really like this.  The labneh cheese has the look and feel of cream cheese, so it's very rich.  The Israeli salad and eggs were okay, although the green tahini sauce didn't have that much flavor.  This dish overall was okay, a little heavy with all the chease, and not nearly as much flavor as my entree, although a side of spicy harissa sauce would have probably amped up the flavor of this and any other dish.
 

Burekas Brunch Platter ★★★★☆

Overall, Miriam has pretty good food and is a nice twist on a traditional brunch.  The Mediterranean Crispy Dough was sublime and lots of other things looked good as well.  I would definitely go back and try some of their other brunch items.