The long and the short of bagel making—taken at the Hot Bagel Bakery in Oakhurst, September 1, 2015. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Hot Bagel Bakery one Friday morning August, 2021. Paul Goldfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Two years ago I wrote a piece extolling the bagel artistry at Wegmans in Ocean. I went there most mornings where they had a custom bagel ready for me.
In the comments, some Grovers chimed in with their favorite bagel bakery in Monmouth County—the Hot Bagel Bakery in Oakhurst.
This is the custom bagel (my grand bagel) which they used to make for me at Wegmans each morning. But the Wegman brand has now declined in quality.
Paul Goldfinger, bagel maven–a revised review for 2021.
I did review the Hot Bagel Bakery back in 2014 but I didn’t think it was as good as Wegmans. There are three comments below from that article on September 4, 2014.
In the years since the 2014 article was written, I have come to know the Hot Bagel Bakery in Oakhurst (65-67 Monmouth Road) a lot better. I now believe that I under-appreciated that bagel place. It deserves its reputation as the best in the area.
You really should visit it one morning just to see the excitement as the hand rolled bagels are made in front of you. It brings back the sense of another era—-the time when kosher deli’s were all over New York City providing the equivalent of soul food in Harlem.
The New Yorker. August, 2021.
The HBB attracts a crowd each summer morning, but the line moves quickly. The attraction is called “authenticity.”
The Hot Bagel Shop is a hot bed of an old-country eating tradition: the smells, the enthusiasm of workers and customers, the multiple conversations all at once, the hurry-up of the counter help…and even an old oven. They have been in business for about 40 years.
I also discovered their onion bagel, scooped, toasted twice and then with a shmeer of cream cheese. The heat of the toasting provides additional crunch, taste, and aroma. The cream cheese begins to melt immediately, so you have to be careful to eat it without dripping cheese all over yourself. They hand over your bagel in a white bag, and inside the bag are napkins.
In 2021 that is my go-to morning place even though it takes about 10 minutes longer to reach than Wegmans. And yes, their coffee is very good (although Rook is across the street.) And take your snack outside and eat it in your car—it’s that good. (Rook coffee shops do not have seating either)
I now give it 4 /4 Blogfingers. And, is it better than Wegmans? Yes because Wegmans has made COVID-compromises including changing the authenticity of their bagels—they are now just OK
HBB bagels are oversized, but they are hand rolled, and you can watch the process. Their crust, texture and flavor are superior, so I like to order it “scooped” to reduce the volume and increase the crunch. After that I have given up toasting and cream cheese, and just get it with butter, and that is a unique treat.
They also have great muffins and challahs.
The Hot Bagel Bakery is in Oakhurst, but it only takes 15 minutes from OG. Just go up 35 and turn right onto West Park. Go to the end and turn right and a quick left into the parking lot. An alternate route is to take Monmouth Road via Asbury Park and Interlaken.
THE PARROTHEAD ALL STARS with CLINT BLACK and FRIENDS perform this Jimmy Buffett song. These country all stars may have somethin’ cookin’, but I bet none of them could tell a good bagel if they actually saw one.