Bagels & Co, New York City

This little place on busy Amsterdam Avenue seemed a great favourite with locals, and no wonder when the range of bagels is as wide as this and the prices so low. It’s fairly traditional and has no fancy touches, but is a reasonable choice for breakfast as long as it’s bagels you want, although the cappuccino was a little weak for my liking. However I enjoyed my cinnamon and raisin bagel, and at $1 per bagel you can’t argue with the prices. The food is all kosher, by the way, and at lunch-time there are salads and sandwiches I think, though we were never in the neighbourhood to try them.

Most people seemed to come for takeaway, but there are a small number of tables quite tightly arranged if you want to eat in. We settled into a corner and watched the local commuters coming in to get breakfast on the run, and also had a brief chat to a couple of mums who had taken a break on the school run to swap stories of good, and not so good, teachers!