Bagel Wars...

Recently a new bagel joint opened up in my neighborhood...across the street from my usual place in my hood & one of my favorite places in the city...Daniels on 3rd Ave in Murray Hill. Daniels has some of the best bagels in the city & great old school appetising....white fish salad, belly lox, etc...The only place I think better for the appetising is Russ & Daughters (love the horseradish cream cheese)in the LES.....though I'm guessing those of you on the UWS may argue that it's Barney Greengrass. Fine with me...that's what makes NYC go round...who has the best Pizza, Chinese take-out, Dim Sum, Sushi, Steak, Red Sauce, etc...but I digress for once. How was Vic's Bagel Bar going to survive you ask..? Quite simply by following the old ice cream mix'in formula but with fresh flavored cream cheese spreads! Yes, they have scallions, & chopped tomatoes, chopped lox, blueberries etc...but they must have about 50 different choices that range from $.50(most) to $2.50(lox). Now the key here is to mix up something different to get your $$$$ worth. While they charge a fair $1.10 a bagel & the mix'ins are mostly $.50...the cream cheese plain is $2.50...so a bagel w/cream cheese here with sliced tomato ($1.00) is going to cost close to $5 bucks with tax...which is ridiculous. However if you go for a mix in that's different then you are still paying a premium but at least getting something different. I had a bagel the other day where I combined jalapenos & fresh mango ($1)...it was pricey...at $5 but different & awesome. While I will go back I will stick with my standby Daniels for the most part...I think the crowd shortly out of college & frequently hangover & stoned will be Vic's mainstays(I don't mean this as a dig...just as my belief as to their ideal market)...for instance the other day I heard this combo...avocado, lox, kosher bacon(yes you read that right) a couple of other things on....a whole wheat bagel...way to stay healthy. I would love to know what he was smoking. Since crushed potato chips & edamame are among your other choices one can get rather creative just plain hungry even without the induced munchies by natural chemical means....