Being workaholic midtown bachelors, The Effing BroBros eat a lot of takeout. SeamlessWeb has a vested interest in keeping the EFB hungry and unwilling to cook.
And anyone who's trolled around on their lunch hour knows, there's a plethora of crap food in Manhattan's ramming-speed midsection. SeamlessWeb may offer enough midtown delivery choices to make the heartiest glutton blush, but I'd venture to say about 70% is not worth eating, much less getting gouged over.
So, when the BroBros stumble over a restaurant that delivers more than condensation-soaked lies, they're uber-loyal repeat customers. One Sunday morning fixation of theirs is Avi and David's Kosher Bagels.
(Single-subject-porkaphiles, step off now. See you soon!)
I know, I know, Avi and David aren't on the consecrated list of what's-what in bagel lingo (i.e. they're not Zabar's or Murray's). But they are marvelously consistent, with real homemade food that meets the standards of God's Chosen People!
We've been well-pleased by their standard-issue stuff--Challah French Toast with Berries, Bagels-with-a-Schmear--but on a recent lazy Sunday, an Effing BroBro and I opted to branch out and order some house specialties.
We were a little perplexed and mecha-intrigued by the description of "David's Bagel Lox Benedict" ($9.99): Toasted Bagel or Bialy, Nova-Scotia Salmon, Over Easy Egg with Scallion Cream Cheese, Garnished with Bermuda Onion.
Scallion cream cheese AND a oozy egg AND smoked salmon? It had to be kosher, but it didn't sound kosher.
I had this wrong-headed idea that because the rules of keeping kosher can be pretty intricate, that the food would somehow reflect deprivation, or temperance.
EHHH! WRONG! SO wrong! Look at this rainbow of supple indulgence:
The toasted bagel was a solid foundation for the incredibly rich marriage of cream cheese and soft yolk, salty salmon mingling with the sweet-sharp bite of the Bermuda onion and scallions.
And with all this going on, you'd figure that it'd be a bloody mess to eat, but the so-called benedict stays together reletively well for its short, short time on Earth.
We also went with an order of Rebecca’s Signature Shakshuka ($9.99), which was the ideal tomato-based foil for its dairy-bomb benedict friend.
In a nutshell, shakshuka is the Israeli answer to eggs-in-purgatory or huevos rancheros, wherein eggs are poached in a tomatoey sauce spiked with peppers, onions, garlic and spices. It's a spunky, pert, wake-up-call kind of breakfast, and we were happy to sop up the sauce once the eggs themselves were gone.
On the menu, it says it comes with challah for sopping, but I think we got standard-issue white bread of some kind--serviceable, but I felt like warmed pita would have made this spot-on.
So fear not, beleaguered Midtown Delivery Fiends! Stop gettin' pity-bagels from the wrung-out deli nearest you, and count yourself lucky if you're within the considerable reach of Avi and David's delivery zone.
They're closed for shabbos (that's sundown on Fridays until late evening on Saturday, for the non-Chosen folk), but are otherwise open 24 hours, 6 days a week.
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Avi and David's Kosher Bagel
1046 3rd Ave
@ 62nd St
Midtown East
NYC. NY 10065
Toll Free: (866) 336-7933
Phone: 212-486-6004
Fax: (212) 486-4474
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