Last week I took off to Amsterdam for 10 days. It was an amazing trip that will be relived vicariously through several blog posts over the next couple of weeks. To begin with, the most pressing issue of all from those days abroad was that I ate the most delicious bagel that was ever created. And it scared me. After all, I live in New York, famous for pizza and bagels (among other things of course; it’s the best city in the world for a reason, duh).

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But it was flawless! Toasted to perfection, the exact right amount of cream cheese to cover each side without having to waste any (since I prefer to eat it open face rather than as a sandwich), and just absolutely delectable overall. I wish I were a food critic so I’d have thought to write down just WHY it tasted so good. My unrefined explanation: I was famished from not having eaten the night before and missing breakfast at the hostel in the morning. Or maybe there was crack in the dough.

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So, this morning when I woke up ravenous having skipped dinner in favor of having a couple of beers instead, I decided to get the same exact everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from LaBagel Delight in Dumbo since the bagels here are a good representation of the best bagels in New York. And, as we already stated, bagels in New York are renowned, so this was no light task.

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Guess what? This morning’s test of New York bagels failed miserably. And now I’m upset that I did not eat breakfast at Royal Bagels and Muffins every day while I was there. If you are ever in Amsterdam, please, if you love bagels, go here and eat one. You will not be disappointed.

AMSTERDAM: 1 NEW YORK: 0