As promised, my review of the newest, most cutting edge
franchise in Framingham…”Brooklyn Water Bagel”...a name as obnoxious as its
homeland…
With apologies to my New York City-bred friends, why is it
that nowhere else has anything as good as in New York City? Why are we always being force-fed the idea
that you can only get the “best” in NYC?
Just ask any person from NYC, and they’ll tell you that they have the
best “X”…the best pizza, the best bagels, the best Chinese food…apparently NYC
is the best of everything…I’ve been there, and have to agree…it has the best
terrible traffic, the best homeless panhandlers, the best filth on the streets,
and the best worst smelling areas. And
you have Donald Trump. Ok, I’ll give you
your due…I love my New York friends, but you can have the rest of it…
Brooklyn Water Bagel (“BWB”) is the most recent outpost of a
small franchise system, touting that boiling the bagels in Brooklyn water is
what makes New York bagels taste great.
Its sub-slogan is “it’s all about the water”. They
claim to have a patented system that replicates the chemical make-up of
Brooklyn water (let me guess, New York invented H20…) and the pH balance of
water (recently, as a result of a lawsuit, the franchisor changed to only
claiming that is has a trade secret relating to the water). I’ll tell you, they’re full of “water”…
Walking in to the new Framingham location, you can tell that
a lot of money has been dumped in to the location. With a sort of “brick house” feel, with real
and faux brick inside, as well as a viewing area where you might occasionally
find the staff mixing bagel dough, this was a costly build-out. There is a large beverage station to the far
right, including a variety of different syrups and flavorings to add to
beverages, but the bulk of the area is seating.
Let’s get right to it…how do the bagels taste? Let me tell you…like bagels. I have tried salt, everything, pumpernickel,
sesame, egg and plain bagels, and you know, they taste like salt, everything,
pumpernickel, sesame, egg and plain bagels, just like I would buy at Finagle a
Bagel, Stop & Shop, Roche Brothers, BJ’s and Costco. And let me also tell you, for the premium
price, you should be getting premium taste.
I’ll get to the bagel sandwich in a minute, but a dozen of the bland bad
boys will set you back 12 dollars. To
their credit, they give you premium freezer bags. But, go to BJ’s, and you can get 27 fresh baked
bagels for the same 12 dollars…just “food” for thought.
Obviously, BWB’s money is made on their breakfast and lunch
bagel sandwiches, and for you, dear readers, I’ve sampled a few. I’ve had a reuben, a tuna melt, turkey and
egg and cheese. I’ve attached a few
pictures…
 |
| Nice packaging! I always like a nice package. |
 |
| Turkey, lettuce and tomato on Sesame |
 |
| Giant, bladder busting ice coffee, with ice coffee cubes! |
 |
| Tuna melt-inside of bagel scooped out, appropriately melty but missing some of the carb-goodness. Decent quality tuna. |
They have great take-out packaging. The wrap the sandwich tightly, then put it in
a box that is reminiscent of a McDonald’s Big Mac box. If the sandwich was supposed to be warm, it
was still warm by the time I got back to the office. I give them points on the packaging, which
must cost them a small fortune in franchise fees…
One peeve I have at any chain…inconsistency. The very nature of a chain and a franchise is
consistency…what you order at a Subway in California should be exactly the same
at a Subway in Massachusetts. So, too,
for BWB, but this place can’t even be consistent from visit to visit. One day we went for lunch and my bagel
sandwich came with a pickle. The next
time, no pickle but a small container of potato salad, but my dining companion
that day got nothing…so on and so on, each time we went. It doesn’t make sense…For an average of $7.95
for a sandwich on a bagel, it should come with a side, and someone to feed it
to you. Instead, sometimes you get a
pickle, other times not. I wish I could
give it a more fabulous review, but when your featured item (the bagel!) is the
most-bland part of the sandwich, there’s some work to be done.
It’s not all bad, and I really do hope they thrive…I know
that it’s become a bit of a meeting place around town, which is good, and
there’s really only one other traditional bagel shop in town, and I wouldn’t go
there on a bet. Also, it does have an
interesting spin on iced coffee. BWB
features a drink called the “Cubsta” (pronounced “cube-stah”). This is regular iced coffee served over ice
cubes made from ice coffee, so no watered down back-wash at the end. An interesting idea, but its iced coffee
isn’t even as good as DD, and you all know how I feel about double D…
For now, I’ll give it a qualified fork up. I think they need to tweak their recipes, but
more importantly, their prices. The got
the texture thing down, so let’s work on consistency…
Until next time America…have a bagel and a schmear.
