Greetings Pretzel Aficionados, I’m back.

It’s been far too long. It’s a good thing I always record and document my new pretzel experiences.

In a very unexpected turn of events, I spent a month in New York as part of a short term contract job. Never would have imagined I’d end 2017 walking the streets of Manhattan. A pleasant surprise for an otherwise banal and low wage job.

On Thursday November 16, I was returning to my hotel in Midtown. I had worked through lunch and was craving sustenance. Heading north on Broadway, I came across a street vendor at about 34th St. I saw the large sign featuring a pretzel, and decided to give it a shot. I went up to the vendor and ordered. He opens the lid to a steaming pot, and pulls out a wrinkly, salt encrusted, pretzel. Oh boy…where to begin…

Visually the pretzel resembles the type you’d likely find at a carnival. It is lighter and more yellow than a lye dipped pretzel. I assume this was a baking soda job.

The dough was warm, and soft. But the crust had lost it’s elasticity (assuming it ever had any) and was very flaky.

The taste was bland. The only alkali flavor came from the thick coating of salt on the outside, a good portion of which I had brushed off. While the pretzel was too salty as served, I do believe one should err on over-salting rather than under-salting. It’s far easier to remove salt than add salt to a finished pretzel.

The dough itself lacked the rich complex flavor you get with a true lye pretzel. I suspect if baking soda had been used, it was a very mild solution.

Upon further tasting I noticed an inconsistent dough texture. Some parts were soft and chewy, other parts stale and hard. Overall the dough was dense.

When I examined the dough between bites, I could see a discoloration. This combined with the wrinkled and flaky state of the crust led me to believe this pretzel was made days ago and had been sitting in the steaming pot ever since. I further suspect, that if the pretzel had not been warmed up it would have been hard as a rock.

In the history of this pretzel review, I’ve only ever thrown away one partially eaten pretzel. On that day I threw away my second.

When I told my experience to my New York friends, they responded with a resounding “d’uh”. But hey, it’s my job as a pretzel reviewer to sample less than stellar pretzels.

The redeeming qualities about this pretzel were the dough density and it’s price. I believe I spent no more than $5.00 for the pretzel and a soda. Sadly, I’ve spent more money for worse pretzels Review 11

Final Grade: C

Crust Color: Yellow

Crust Texture: Varies between smooth, shiny, wrinkly and flaky. Stale

Dough Density: Good and chewy

Taste: Bland, stale, and overly salted.