Roast Turkey Bagel

Smoked Turkey Bagel, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

New York Bagel Cafe (8430 Gateway Blvd.) is one of my favourite Old Strathcona cafes. However, whenever I am in the area it is so darn busy that I hardly ever get a chance to eat there. A weekday afternoon trip to the Ice On Whyte Festival brought the opportunity to get some lunch when it was not nearly as busy as on the weekend.

I have had breakfast dishes there numerous times, but never a bagel meal. I ordered the roast turkey, which came with organic veggies, cranberry sauce, potato salad, and cream cheese (which I held). The plating surprised me - everything was independent, meant to be assembled at the discretion of the diner. Personally, I love tasting each element individually and getting a feel for its flavour.

And lots of flavour there was. The bagel was a meal in itself. I chose a multigrain, and it was covered with nuts and seeds. The turkey was deli style, but it had a deep, smoky flavour and there was plenty of it. And the potato salad: it was so fresh and delicious. The only element on the plate that disappointed was the cranberry sauce. Too tart, and with some strange off smell, I did not use much of it. It needed more sugar and I think it may have been sitting for too long.

At around $17 per meal, the bagel platters at New York Bagel Cafe are not cheap, but it's such a great little place and the food is decadent (and the people who work there are really nice).