"If we had to pick one bagel to reign supreme, it would be the untoasted everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from Absolute Bagels. Tiny and round like a softball, each springy dough globe you’ll find here has a blistered bottom. The dough itself tastes malty and sweet, like it had a daydream years ago about being a dessert. Absolute Bagels also makes fantastic Thai iced tea. (The place was founded by Sam Thongkrieng, who moved from Bangkok to NYC in the ’80s and worked at Ess-A-Bagel for years)." - bryan kim, willa moore, neha talreja, hannah albertine, will hartman