‘Eggs on a Roll’ Part II
After my post from a few mornings ago, I went to a bodega near the office yesterday to get a bacon, egg and cheese on a roll, and it was good, but I have to agree with Josh Fruhlinger, who mentioned in the comments that what really made it good was the bacon part of it, because: bacon! It’s also good because the eggs are cracked and cooked fresh, instead of the weird circular patties of eggs you’d find at a fast food restaurant.
The bacon appeared to double the price from $2 to $4, which is still cheap for breakfast, but I’d rather spend my few dollars on coffee in the morning, and grab a banana, or make an egg white on a brioche like I did today (carton of egg whites: $4, and six brioche rolls: $3).
I think the most attractive thing about the bodega eggs on a roll is that it’s available everywhere, it’s cheap, and it appears to be something that’s inherently New York. Other things I’d put in this category: The $0.50 cup of coffee from a street cart, the $5 container of chicken and rice from the halal cart, the $1 slice of pizza, the $3 everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.
I’d also mention the hot dog, but I’ve actually never had one from a street cart, and apparently, they’ve been on the decline for a while.
Every city has that thing that’s theirs in this way. Back where my folks live in Orange County, Calif., what’s cheap and prevalent is the $5 carne asada burrito, the $2 Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, and the cheeseburger and fries that you can get at In-N-Out burger for a mind-blowingly low (to me, at least) $3.50.
What’s the cheap, prevalent thing where you live?
Photo: Flickr/Dyobmit
Why do you want to hurt me, Mike Dang? Now I will spend the rest of my morning weeping over lack of eggs on roll.
To answer your question: there is nothing cheap here, and the only prevalent breakfast offerings are from Au Bon Pain and other chain places that are significantly less exciting than eggs on a roll.
I have to say my favorite thing about egg and cheese on a roll is the whole experience of being there. Most delis are full of regulars who order the same thing every day, know the guys making the eggs and the energy is a great boost to a drowsy morning. These guys just go go go pumping out great eggs and bagels in a somewhat friendly but at the same time all business like manner. This is quintessential New York to me.
I find that when you have whiskey for dinner, you don’t have much appetite for breakfast in the morning. Best deal going.
@DON WHAT? When I drink whiskey for dinner, I have an enormous and very specific appetite for bodega egg on a roll the next morning.
@thematt Look at me. Now look at you. I think it’s clear who’s doing it right here.
I… can’t stop thinking about eggs on a roll. If I lived in New York, I’d be in trouble.
What’s prevalent around here (Atlanta)? Chik-Fil-A. It’s not cheap, but I do have several co-workers who eat it for breakfast AND lunch nearly every day. Of course, the fried-chicken-on-a-biscuit and the southern style chicken sandwich have been co-opted by McDonald’s. I think we can still claim grits as a distinctly prevalent southern thing, though. One of my favorite restaurants serves pimiento cheese grits at brunch. Mmm.
I’d say New York’s Chinatown is also pretty beastly. The feast you can get for 20 bucks, tax and tip included? Unreal. (For those who haven’t experienced this joy, I’m talking sharing a soup dumplings, a meat dish (mmmm crispy shredded beef) a noodle entree, and a veggie (or, you know, another pork dish) between two people. (~40 total.)…Definitely one of my favorite ‘New York’ things. You can also do it on the very cheap (and far less gluttonous) end with soup dumplings and an entree between two people, which ends up being like 8-10 dollars a person!
@Jane Timm@twitter Can you suggest a specific place for this feast? I have yet to try soup dumplings but I get so overwhelmed trying to pick a place!
@pretzels! Joe’s Shanghai! 9 Pell Street. Don’t be fooled by the other restaurants of similar name (they are tourist traps) on that block. Look for the one with the line. (There’s usually a wait. It’s worth it.) And order allllll the soup dumplings.
@janestreet ALSO Joe’s Shanghai has a space on the same side of the street maybe 4 stores down that for some reason is never crowded. But it’s the same people.
@pretzels! I would highly suggest Nice/New Green Bo restaurant http://www.yelp.com/biz/nice-green-bo-restaurant-new-york
Joe’s Shanghai can get a little crowded and the soup dumplings at green bo are amazing
Also: New York Noodle Town for non-soup dumpling chinese feast
@janestreet I’ve been to Joe’s dozens of times and it’s true, get the dumplings (I can eat 8 myself!) and a couple other dishes and you will have a reasonably priced feast. There is always a crowd and it’s true, the place further down on Pell has equally delicious soup dumplings and it’s not as crowded. Good luck finding Pell, it’s an obscure little street. My cabbie took me to Pearl Street!
Baltimore’s keepin-it-real culinary claim to fame is lake trout, which is fried, breaded whitefish that isn’t trout and doesn’t come from a lake. It does come with western fries, though.
@jfruh Haha, I’ve never had it but man it is plentiful around here.
Onigiri (rice balls) at any convenience store for around 100 yen, inari-zushi (sweet fried tofu skin stuffed with sushi rice) for around 2-300 yen for a package of 3-6, bowls of noodles at the train station for around 300 yen.
DC has nothing like this, as far as I can tell. The best deal going is a getting salad full of lightweight things (mixed greens, shredded carrots, a lil parmesan, craisins, and sunflower seeds) at the pay-by-the-ounce salad bar and hoping they don’t make you weigh the dressing. I usually pay $1.50-$2 for a side salad.
@cuminafterall I would say a comparable item (not for breakfast) would be chicken wings with mambo sauce, in that it’s particular to the DMV, is cheap, hot, and not especially fancy while also being satisfying.
@cuminafterall Ethiopian food! I just left DC about two weeks ago, and I already miss the Ethiopian. The takeout veggie combo at the place across the street from me was $12 but provided dinner for two, or three meals for a single person.
Here in Austin, you can find amazing breakfast tacos for $1.25, but you need at least two (or three or four…) to eat at a time.
@Gretchen Alice You beat me! But yeah, breakfast tacos are awesome, plentiful and cheap here. I’ve moved onto getting chilaquiles and eggs when I have taqueria brunches recently though. I learned that you can use the tortillas they give you with them to make chilaquile tacos which is probably the most efficient to get carbs in my body that I’ve found yet.
In Houston it’s $2 banh mi, $.99-$1.50 breakfast tacos, and $6 for 3 sliders and a huge basket of fries. Also we have some killer cheap sushi ($20 total bill for two and it’s good quality!) and $5 top-shelf margaritas at happy hour.
And just outside of town we have like, $5 giant curry plates.
Best city for food. ever.
Reading these comments is making me hungry, and it’s also making the pb&j I brought for lunch today sound pretty pathetic.
Where on earth did they charge you $4 for adding bacon? It’s $2 near me, $2.50 at most for a bacon, egg, cheddar cheese roll and oh my god have they made Saturday mornings when I can’t afford brunch (i.e. all of them) way more tolerable.
Chicago is all about the hot dogs. Wieners Circle, Hot Doug’s, etc. My favorite are the ones you get in the bleachers at Wrigley Field though. Mustard, pickle, poppyseed bun. No ketchup, gross.
Vancouver is overrun with sushi & pizza. You can’t go more than a few blocks without finding one or the other.
@Robin Toronto’s the same, though it depends on the neighbourhood sometimes. There’s also a lot of really good, cheap vietnamese. In Ottawa Pho places are definitely the cheapest ones, but Ottawa is a lot pricier for restaurants than Toronto.
@Robin Also Pho in Vancouver! Its not always good, but its generally going to be a whole lot of food for under $10.
Silicon Valley’s offering? The $1.25 taco. Or your VC’s expense account.
In Gainesville, nearly every storefront has been, is, or will be a yogurt/smoothie place at some point. I think this might be a national epidemic, though.
The more region-specific thing every place has is sweet tea (which I don’t think I’ve ever had, as I dislike both tea and sugary drinks). This is different from iced tea with sugar in it.
Also: fancy local pizza shops are a big thing here. I can think of seven, and I think there are a few I’ve never been to, too. I’m not talking run-of-the-mill college town pizza, I’m talking unique fancy pizzas with weird names and local produce and at least one or two gluten free and/or vegan options. It’s pretty much heaven, especially as it’s a relatively small city in the south.
So the variable pricing of the egg & cheese at my new bodega continues. Yesterday, it was $1.75. Down from the $2 on Tuesday, up from the $1.50 the previous time. (My egg & cheese came from a location close to work, not home, this morning.) I can’t wait to find out how much it will be tomorrow!
New Yorker stuck in Boston here. Mike, as long as street carts are on your radar, wait till the weather is cooler and have a knish! With mustard, which the vendor will put INSIDE the knish, yummmm.
Boston is having Chowderfest on Sunday, when the high temperature is forecast to be 91 degrees. Hot shellfish and dairy — I want to puke just thinking about it.
In Philly you will find soft pretzels and falafel on every corner. And cheesesteak, of course, but as a vegan they don’t really register as food to me.
In southern Germany, it’s baked goods and döner kebab. There is a bakery on every corner selling tasty sandwiches, and you can get a döner for less than a fiver.
Ottawa is fairly awesome at being cheap if you know where to go… Govindas near Ottawa U Campus has pay what you can vegetarian/vegan food (select hours as it is also a prayer center), most places offer some sort of blue plate 5 dollar breakfast, pho is about 5 dollars for a small, which is like a liter of soup plus meat and veg, Zak’s diner has Nachos Calvin (omnomnom bacon cheese sour cream and table onions with guac)for like 10 bucks and it lasts for like 2 or three meals (get the pickles on the side young paduan… cheap and delicious). Not to mention the fab Manx which when I too my mum out for breakfast came up to 30 dollar for two plates plus juice plus scones plus coffee and amazing service, which I will always pay a little more for.
NY resident. My problem is that I strongly dislike eggs. I’ve ordered sausage and cheese or bacon and cheese NO EGG on a bagel hundreds of times in the five years I’ve lived here, and they’ve gotten it right maybe 60% of the time. Still nice to be able to get a decent bagel almost anywhere here, with the exception of Inwood, where I’ve lived for two years. I miss Brooklyn.