KCRag Forum

What's the best place in town to get good lox?

costco or make it yourself

Trader Joe's has the best deal on buying it (well i don't shop costco, but anyway). Classic Cup and Westport Cafe have descent lox dishes.

Ok, I'll bite. I can make passable gravlax myself, at home. Where can I get a decent bagel?

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bagels in KC are a joke. i have never had one anywhere that remotely resembled a real bagel. how hard can it be!? i'll have to check out trader joe's.

There is a good-sized Jewish community in Leawood, no? Seems like there would be a decent bagel and lox place near there.

chrizow wrote:bagels in KC are a joke. i have never had one anywhere that remotely resembled a real bagel. how hard can it be!? i'll have to check out trader joe's.

I've only seen bagels from Sasha's Bakery, but they look like the real deal. I've also heard they may have the only decent Rye bread in town. I just need to get myself down there and buy them both for verification.

Broadway Butcher Shop does an Everything Bagel(from Sasha's) with Lox every now and then that looks good.

KCMax wrote:There is a good-sized Jewish community in Leawood, no? Seems like there would be a decent bagel and lox place near there.

Based on my extensive research, they do not.

heatherkay wrote:

KCMax wrote:There is a good-sized Jewish community in Leawood, no? Seems like there would be a decent bagel and lox place near there.

Based on my extensive research, they do not.

Agreed. If it exists in kc metro, it's a deep secret. (outside of celebrations within the Jewish community, then the good stuff is overnighted)

loftguy wrote:

heatherkay wrote:

KCMax wrote:There is a good-sized Jewish community in Leawood, no? Seems like there would be a decent bagel and lox place near there.

Based on my extensive research, they do not.

Agreed. If it exists in kc metro, it's a deep secret. (outside of celebrations within the Jewish community, then the good stuff is overnighted)

It's an international Jewish banker conspiracy, with help from the media.

taxi wrote: It's an international Jewish banker conspiracy, with help from the media.

The Libral Media, or the other one?

There is NO authentic New York Delicatessen in this town and it's a damn shame!! It actually makes me downright sick. Therefore you aint gonna find a good bagel with lox anywhere.

It is disappointing there are no good bagels in KC but OTOH I haven't had many good NYC water bagels outside the E Coast. I agree that Costco is sadly the closest to a NYC water bagel and passable brined salmon. And it works with Borsin cheese instead of cream cheese - cheap at Costco.

Every major neighborhood center could use a real NYC water bagel counter, with the various on-site made cream cheeses...

During all my time spent in NYC, I have never sought out a "real deal" bagel. What is the difference between a proper bagel and something like what I might be familiar with from occasionally trying a frozen Lender's bagel or the bagel offerings at a chain place like Panera or Einstein Bros or whatever?

Yeah, I'm one of those guys that would be sitting in the "Famous Dave's of Bagels" just having a great time.

I've never had a bagel (either of the two times I've been) in NYC myself, but fortunately, Slate put up an article this morning telling you how to not do it wrong if you make them yourself.

mean wrote:During all my time spent in NYC, I have never sought out a "real deal" bagel. What is the difference between a proper bagel and something like what I might be familiar with from occasionally trying a frozen Lender's bagel or the bagel offerings at a chain place like Panera or Einstein Bros or whatever?

It is along the lines of the difference between a loaf of bread made in the Sunfresh bakery and what you can get at Fevare.

Love the Famous Dave's reference. It's true of so much. As my pop said, 'problem with discovering quality, is that everything else is inferior'.

Maybe better than those I have had in New York, is Moe's Bagels in Boulder.

Jonesing for a toasted sesame with a schmear.

A good bagel should have a shiny smooth surface and a dense chewy interior. It should be plump and not a whole lot bigger in diameter than the palm of your hand. It should be tasty and worth eating even if it is not toasted. The best bagel I've had recently (NY is a dim memory) was from Yorgo's, a place in a historic neighborhood in Norfolk, VA. They're actually not difficult to make yourself, but they are very messy and very fussy to do unless you have an actual bagel shop. You make the dough, shape it, boil the bagels in a very low boil/high simmer, drain them, then bake them. Unless you have a gigantic flat pot, you can only do a few at a time, and the draining process results in a fine film of starch that coats everything in your kitchen (at least that's my experience).

ETA -- just checked out that Slate article. They're right about the barley malt. That's the secret ingredient. Another element to the huge mess.