Hello Everyone! I wanted to introduce you to my friend Pateel. Her and her mom joined my mom and me in NYC this fall. She is a foodie, like me, and we had a lot of fun picking restaurants and eating our way through the city. I unfortunately had an interview the morning that everyone else got to enjoy the amazing bagels at Russ & Daughters so I thought who better to write this post than Pateel. Enjoy!
Russ & Daughters has been on my list for as long as I can remember. Each time I've been to New York before this, I wasn't able to make it out to the smoked-fish paradise. This time, I made sure I had a taste of it, even if it meant rushing over a couple of hours before our flight. Originally opened in 1904, the company has an older deli location in the Lower East Side (which has been at the same spot since 1920!) and a trendier, more Instagram friendly cafe just around the corner.
We decided to go to the cafe, but were a little bummed to find out that there was a 40 minute wait to get seated. Luckily, a few spots opened up on the counter just for us! The bartender brought out the menu (the very same one that serves as a great background for all those trendy photos of smoked salmon you've probably seen all over social media--and here!) and we immediately started to discuss options. I definitely wanted to go with the classic bagel and lox (aptly named, The Classic), but also wanted to sample another dish. Looking around, I saw lots of people snacking on a pink-hued spread with some bagel chips. The bartender told us that was the Hot Smoke / Cold Smoke, made with a combination of baked and smoked Scottish Salmon and served with everything bagel chips.
The food did not disappoint (even after the years-long anticipation leading up to it!). The salmon spread was salty and smokey, but perfectly balanced when placed on top of the bagel chip. As for The Classic, I was in smoked salmon heaven! The dish comes as sort of a make-your-own sandwich board, with Gaspe Nova smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato, red onions, and capers, plus your choice of bagel, bialy, shissel rye, or pumpernickel (and they DO have gluten-free options!). I went with the sesame bagel, spread some cream cheese on top, and layered the salmon and the rest of the goodies on there. The smoked salmon is without a doubt the best I've had--perfectly flavored, melts in your mouth! We washed it all down with some housemade cucumber soda, with some jasmine, anise seed, dill seed, fennel seed, and lime.
To top it all off, even though we were completely stuffed, we HAD to order the halva ice cream. I'd never seen halva (which is made from sesame paste) on a menu before, but this was definitely a great way to end the meal. Surprisingly not too sweet, but some really great textures. Russ & Daughters was really a great note to end a delicious trip.
Menu
Hot Smoke/ Cold Smoke
"The Classic"
Halva Ice Cream
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