I’m from the Boston area and have never heard of a “Buttered Roll”.
I have heard of a Buttered Bun, though!
Hey, we’re sixty posts in and somebody had to bring it up!
That’s about my distance, and I agree with the difficulty in finding a decent hard roll. In fact, I didn’t think such a thing existed - hard rolls here are the least interesting form of bread I can think of. The ubiquity of hard rolls is one of the more annoying things I had to get used to when I moved to Connecticut.
Up here, excepting chain restaurants, they put everything they can on the damn things. Order a philly steak – don’t forget to specify hoagie roll, or it will come on a damn hard roll. BLT? Better say “on toast,” or it’s coming on a hard roll. May I please have my hamburger on a hamburger bun? Thanks so much. Bacon & egg sandwich? That’s one egg and a couple of strips of bacon on a hunk of soft white bread the size of a small cake. What’s the point?
The “regular coffee” thing got me too, but only once. Having ordered my coffee, the coffee dude asked me, “regular?” “As opposed to what, hazelnut?” I wondered when I answered yes. Wrong – as opposed to a normal black coffee, like they’d serve you anywhere else in the world, of course.
It’s a true fact. When I have reason to be back in the NY Metro area I’ve been known to detour in search of a respectable hard roll. I’m going to a family event in November. I may have to stop by Rockland Bakery.
Speaking to the OP. Buttered hard rolls abounded in the NYC suburb I grew up in but were unheard of in the Capitol Region (I lived and searched in Albany and Schenectady).
I can’t believe anyone who has lived in this area for more than 5 minutes hasn’t heard of regular coffee and a buttered roll for breakfast. From a cart, from a bodega, from a deli, from a bakery … it’s the official breakfast of NYC and northern NJ.
http://www.sweetblogomine.com/sweet_blog_o_mine/2012/09/ode-to-a-buttered-roll.html
Only on Wednesdays, after shopping…
A handy tip for dealing with anyone from that part of the world is to be well informed in advance of their regional tastes, customs, lingo and traditions. Natives assume their ways are so obviously superior that even asking after them is an affront to your intelligence as well as their own.
So now I have to ask…what the heck is a bialy?
A bialy is a bagel-like breadform flavored with onions and native to Bialystok, Poland. Unlike a bagel, the hole doesn’t go all the way through, and it’s not as dense as a bagel, and it doesn’t have a crust.
I’m from Western NY nad never heard of it, beyond a buttered dinner roll. Now that I’ve moved to NYC metro ill take a look.
Those linked rolls look much like the rolls you get for breakfast in Germany and Holland - served with slices of ham, cheese or jam. I’ve never heard about them served with just butter. Nothing like that around Australia or NZ for breakfast, usually a quick takeaway breakie would be a muffin, a toastie (toasted filled sandwich) or a pie.
And for the record, here a regular coffee is the one smaller than a large (you’d have to specify latte, flat white or cappuccino if you want it white), and a slice is something like this.
Well, you learn something new every day. I always thought “buttered roll” was a universal thing. I’m amazed that it’s only NYC & its suburbs (i.e., Bergen County where I am) that have it.
I’ve lived in the Midwest, in Georgia, California and now Texas. If you order regular coffee anywhere I’ve ever been it comes black. Whoever thought that “most people” drink cream and sugar in their coffee? Not where I come from. If someone gives me cream I’m kinda ok with that but if there’s sugar in there I’m giving it back!
What I find really surprising is that some of you NYC folks thought these things were universal and some of you never heard of them. Guess there’s more variety in NYC than some of us thought.
WTF? Bagels are NOT bread. Bread may be bagel-shaped, but a true bagel is an entity unto itself.
I live and grew up in Texas, but my father had family in New England that we visited every year. I got used to the idea that people in New England talked and did things differently than “normal” people (that is, Texans 
). I was quite puzzled by their references to dungarees and cardigans, when they clearly meant blue jeans and sweaters. And coffee was usually served with the cream and sugar already in it. However, here in Texas, all right thinking people know that iced tea is properly served already sweetened. Most of the old time places used to serve sweetened iced tea by default, unless you specified nonsweet tea. And if you did, they’d look at you funny.
The thing that I find surprising is that something so simple as bread with butter could be so localized. I understand about the coffee and bagels and bialys.
Another thing that’s surprising me is how many people don’t know what a kaiser roll is. Didn’t Roy Roger’s used to use them?
Next thing you’ll be telling us is they aren’t a baked good at all, but a spontaneous manifestation of God in carbohydrate form.
So can we all agree that a buttered roll is a roll with butter on it?:rolleyes:
Hey, Mister Rollieyes, that’s exactly how my co-worker in the OP described it to the guy in Georgia. Except, you know, New York style.
Corcaigh writes:
> . . . fish and chips (or fries as the Americans call them) . . .
Actually, fish and chips is a common enough item in cafeterias and restaurants in the U.S. That’s what the item is called - fish and chips. Not fish and French fries. I presume that there’s an understanding that they’re deliberately using the British term for just this dish.
I’ve never heard of such a thing (grew up in the Midwest, been in CT for the last 14 years). But then, even if I had, I wouldn’t be buying one. Cold butter is disgusting - I only put it on food that’s hot enough to melt it.