Take your bagel and run

DINING OUT

If you’re an early morning person in a hurry, the 5th Ave. Bagelry on

Bolsa Chica Street and Heil Avenue in Huntington Beach is for you.

You could eat there every morning and not repeat a bagel choice.

There are more than 20 flavors baked fresh daily -- anything from

spinach parmesan to the works.

In case bagels are new to you, they are doughnut-shaped yeast

rolls with a dense, chewy texture and shiny crust. Boiling them in

water before baking reduces the starch and gives them that

distinctive, chewy crust.

Owner Lena Hahn opened the 5th Ave. Bagelry in early June. He

already had one store in Cypress where his manager, Lira Han, was

trained. The place is quite simple with six inside tables and an

umbrella one outside, but you have so many bagel choices to make you

feel like a kid in a candy store.

From the 12 jaw-breaker lunch sandwiches, I chose the “Big Bird”

($4.75) which was piled high with deli-sliced turkey, Swiss cheese,

tomato, red onion and feathery sprouts. That was only the filling --

I still had to choose the bagel. For me, it was the banana nut.

Freshness and variety are the keys at 5th Ave.

Lunch bagels also include a big, juicy dill pickle and small cup

of potato salad made from Han’s grandmother’s recipe: not sweet, but

with onions and celery.

My friend chose the other salad -- a rotelli pasta -- to go with

his bagel, the “California” ($4.45) which had sliced, garlicy

pastrami, red onion, Swiss cheese, tomato and sprouts.

Where I had selected a good, strong coffee from Kenya (99 cents)

-- there are 14 varieties -- my friend decided on an ice-blended

drink in a tall glass ($2.75).

What’s special here with the drink is the “Rhino Boosts,” you can

use to add nutrients. There is one called, “Energy,” which contains

10 herbs and up to 50% of your daily vitamin and mineral

requirements. There are others that increase immunity or enhance

mental focus and mood.

How about one to boost metabolism and keep you slim?

In addition to the bagels, there are muffins ($1.25) to tempt you.

For me, again, it was the banana nut. My friend, who is watching his

weight, settled for nonfat oat bran. They’re big and very good with a

crusty outside and moist, soft inside with nuts and raisins -- not

just some sprinkled on top.

Han says the 5th Ave. Bagelry makes all its own drinks at less

than Starbuck’s prices.

I’d recommend the coffee.

He also says the Breakfast Bagel ($2.35) is very popular. You get

a choice of bagel with egg, cheese, bacon or ham. That’s a good

suggestion for anyone on the run and you might want to take a baker’s

dozen bagels ($6.49) to treat the office.

* MARY FURR is the Independent restaurant critic. If you have

comments or suggestions, call (562) 493-5062 or e-mail

[email protected].