Bagel Rising ? Home of the Jackson Crook: Bagel Sandwich Perfection?

We don’t do restaurant reviews that much on TFD, but after my breakfast today I had to write about this place.  Bagel Rising in Allston is a jewel in the rough that is the student ghetto of Allston, MA – just west of Boston.  Bagel Rising isn’t your typical bagel spot that you’d find in New York or in Jewish neighborhoods across the country.  Their bagels are a little softer and fluffier than your typical Jewish bagel, but aside from the texture, the best part about this joint is the sandwiches that they’ve dreamed up.

This post features what I imagine is their most popular bagel sandwich: The Jackson Crook.  This bagel (I recommend the whole wheat everything variety, or jalapeno) includes a thin layer of their excellent scallion cream cheese on both sides of the toasted bread.  They then top the cream cheese with a couple of slices of bacon, red onion and fresh tomato.  You want to talk about savory, this thing is about as savory as it gets.

I typically go for this variety of the bagel, but Aimee has her own favorite: The Chia Bagel.  The Chia incorporates some funky vegetarian ingredients to create a truly unique bagel sandwich.  Start with a bagel of your choice and add veggie cream cheese, avocado, sprouts, lettuce, honey mustard (the good Honeycup kind) and a slice of Swiss cheese.  It’s as mellow as it is rich, but it’s really really good (I usually trade a few bites with Aimee).

Some of the best bagel joints I’ve been to are in Manhattan of course, such as Absolute Bagels on the upper west side (regarded as one of the top bagel spots in a bagel happy city).  An awesome part of the Absolute experience is the viewing of the whole bagel process – especially the boiling that is critical to the bagel making process before they get baked.  It’s the boiling and proofing process that is said to give bagels their distinctive taste and chewy texture. 

Here’s a recipe to make you’re own at home if you’re interested:

Bagel Rising features a bunch of other types of sandwiches as well, including their famous Turkey Avocado Club, and The Ike (Chicken salad with bacon, veggies and honey mustard, woah).  They also offer the traditional lox and all sorts of cream cheeses – as well as all sorts of bagels.  This place is worth the trip if you’re in Boston and need a good quick breakfast.  It’s no secret though, so make sure you can spend at least 10 minutes in line on the weekends – there’s almost always a line out the door on Saturday and Sunday.  I’m waiting and hoping they open one in Cambridge!  Someday, I’ll get around to making my own perhaps…