The Bagel Station
I'm back in Jersey and scarfing bagels like it's my job.
After 14 days on the road, I finally made it to the mother land, the place where it all began, the beautiful Garden State: New Jersey. Obviously the first thing I did was select a bagel shop at random and order an absolute classic that you truly cannot get anywhere else, a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich.
For the uninitiated, Taylor ham is a salty breakfast meat you can only find in New Jersey. South Jersey claims it’s called “pork roll” (a topic of fierce debate). Regardless of where you live, we all agree that it’s one of the most famous and culturally important foods in the state. It’s salty, savory, thin-sliced and packed with flavor (in addition to being highly processed and probably not very good for you).
The same company has been making this stuff since 1856. And the best thing about Taylor ham is that it’s ubiquitous. You can find it at literally any bagel shop and most delis in the state. But there must be some sort of embargo in place, because across the Hudson River in New York City, you’ll be very hard pressed to find it.
Back in California, people often ask me what my favorite bagel place is in New Jersey, and they’re often surprised when I don’t have a specific answer. That’s because there are so many phenomenal bagel shops that I never really stopped to think about it. Sure, some are better than others, but for the most part, you can get a decent bagel damn near anywhere in the Garden State.
That’s why for this review, I deliberately chose a bagel shop completely at random to illustrate just easy it is to find a decent breakfast sandwich. The shop I chose is called The Bagel Station in the town of Clifton, which coincidentally is the first place my ancestors lived in New Jersey after moving out of Brooklyn in the 50s.
The Bagel Station is also around the corner from City Green, a non-profit organization and 5-acre urban farm run by my mama, Jennifer Papa. City Green does incredible food access and environmental justice work in the cities of North Jersey, providing local organic produce for hundreds of urban families in places like Paterson and Passaic.
Here I am blogging about bagels while my mom is literally changing the world - I really can’t shout her out enough. Anyway, I was heading to City Green the other day to help out my mom by slinging organic vegetables at one of their farmer’s markets, so I stopped by the Bagel Station to grab a quick egg sammy to get me through the afternoon.
The first thing you’ll notice when walking into the Bagel Station is the abundance.
That’s no less than 17 wire baskets practically overflowing with fresh bagels. And you can bet your ass all of them were baked this morning. This is the kind of abundance that I’m looking for when I walk into a bagel place. Back in the Bay, I’m perpetually disappointed by places like Poppy Bagels, for instance, who have the saddest most pathetic displays in the world (see my previous review).
This is how it’s done, people.
I ordered a Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on a salt bagel (bold choice, I know) and was immediately asked a question that I’ve heard close to a thousand times in my life: “saltpepperketchup?” The answer is yes to all three.
There were at least four other customers in the shop, but I shit you not this sandwich came flying out of the kitchen at mach 1 speeds. In 3 minutes flat, the sandwich was in my hand. The sheer velocity of their sandwich-slinging skills are mind-blowing. Living in a “chill” state like California, you best bring a good novel and settle in because wait times of 10-20 minutes are the norm for a breakfast sandwich. “Hustle” is just not a word in their vocabulary.
“Anything else?” the counterman barked, before ringing me up for a whopping $6.15. Seriously, this is how much it costs for a bagel sandwich with 2 eggs, 2 slices of Taylor ham, plus cheese.
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I’M ALWAYS COMPLAINING ABOUT PRICES! Just look at this menu.
This is how much egg sandwiches are supposed to cost, so thank you, Bagel Station, for keeping it real.
Since there was nowhere to sit inside the Bagel Station, I took this one back to my mom’s office for the unboxing ceremony.
Now for our review. The first thing you’ll notice is how gooey and cheesy this baby is. American cheese ain’t good for much, but oozing out the side of an egg sandwich is one of its absolute best applications.
The eggs were fried over easy with the yolks broken, which is a very important step, because no one likes hot yolk squirting them in the face. I will say the eggs were a bit underdone, which may be the tradeoff for having your sandwich arrive at supersonic speeds.
The bagel itself was not the most incredible bagel I’ve ever tasted, but it certainly stands above anything I’ve had in weeks. It was fresh and had a nice chew. Along with the crispy Taylor ham and a smattering of black pepper, you’ve got an incredibly satisfying combination.
Final Thoughts
I’ll be honest, this isn’t the number one greatest egg sandwich I’ve ever tasted, but it is leaps and bounds ahead of anything you can find in the Golden State. That combined with a price point of $6.15 and a wait time of 3 minutes make for an extraordinarily satisfying breakfast sandwich experience. Considering the fact that I chose this place at complete random from over a dozen options in the town of Clifton alone, I think the point has been made that you really can’t go wrong ordering bagel sandwiches in the Garden State.
West Coast: 9
East Coast 7.5
