Montreal — Spring 2016: Schwartz's

Of course, a trip to Montreal wouldn't be complete without a smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz's.

Smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz's
It's a classic (it's been around for over 80 years, making it the oldest deli in Canada), and it's the best and most famous smoked meat in the city (arguably in the world). They have the flavour, the fat, and the spice. It is a pile of heaven in between two rye bread holders, and it's the backbone of the Montreal food empire. If you like meat and you like sandwiches, this is all you need. And that, my friends, marked the perfect ending to our little weekend trip to Montreal. I am actually leaving for NYC tomorrow, so I won't be posting anything until next week, but you can be sure that I'll be back with a lot more food porn.

Schwartz's 3895 Boulevard Saint-Laurent Montréal, QC H2W 1X9 (514) 842-4813

Montréal: Weekend in a Nutshell

The boys and I decided to go on a random road trip to Montréal since we all found ourselves having the same weekend free. It all started with talk about eating smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz's, and then we were determined to make it happen. So, here's what happened:

Smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz's (fat-cut, of course)

333 Rue de la Commune Ouest (Old Montréal)

Walking down Rue de la Commune Ouest (Old Montréal)

Walking down Rue Saint Paul (Old Montréal)

Les Chuchoteuses by Rose-Aimée Bélanger on Rue Saint Paul (Old Montréal)

Walking down Rue Saint Paul (Old Montréal)

Italian sausage poutine from Montréal Poutine (Old Montréal)

Smoked meat pizza from Montréal Poutine (Old Montréal)

Random horse pulling a carriage (Old Montréal)

Street performer juggling two swords and a flaming baton while standing on a ladder made of sword blades

A street mime playing an accordion (also one of the scariest things I've ever seen)

Driving down Boulevard René Lévesque

Not pictured:

• Driving to Montréal in a crazy rain storm
• Way too many cups of coffee
• Way too many cigarettes
• The 3 km walk from our hotel to Schwartz's
• The 3 km walk from Schwartz's to our hotel
• Playing Cranium until 6:00am
• Being in awe of myself for guessing the word 'congregation' during the charades portion of Cranium

Needless to say, the weekend was way too short.

Schwartz's

3895 Boulevard Saint-Laurent

Montréal, QC H2W 1X9

(514) 842-4813

Montréal Poutine

161 Rue Saint Paul Est

Montréal, QC H2Y 1G8

(514) 656-0935

Montréal: Schwartz's

With macarons in tow, we decided to look for some real food for dinner. And by "real food," I mean smoked meat. Schwartz's was one of the restaurants we were determined to try on this trip, so we walked about half an hour from Centre Eaton to the deli. And once we were there, we were met with a line-up of about 20 people outside, waiting for a seat inside the tiny restaurant. Yes, people, this deli is so popular, it can get 20 people waiting in the cold on a Monday night. After a half-hour wait, our party of six was finally seated.

A side of fries came first...

And then the famous smoked meat sandwich!

The bread is really just an afterthought...

And fatty cuts are the only way to go!

There is nothing fancy about Schwartz's. It's a cramped restaurant with a massive take-out line-up along with packed tables, waiters running around, guys behind the deli counter yelling across the restaurant, unflattering fluorescent lighting, and old pictures and paintings and newspaper clippings hanging on the wall. But I would line up for half an hour again and again and again to eat at Schwartz's. 'Cause, seriously, that was the best sandwich I've ever had in my life. It doesn't look very big, but there is so much smoked meat packed in between those two pieces of rye bread that I had to take out about half of it to eat separately with a fork. It was amazing. Real quotes from that night: "I can go outside right now, get run over by a car, and it would be okay, 'cause I got to eat that sandwich," "Easily a 10 out of 10," "I can die happy now." In my humble opinion, Schwartz's lives up to 100% of the hype. Would I say it's the best restaurant in Canada? No, probably not. Is it the best smoked meat in Canada? Well, I haven't eaten all the smoked meat in Canada, but I wager that it is.

Montréal: Day 1, Reuben's

We really wanted to get some authentic poutine and Montréal smoked meat while we were actually in Montréal, so Benton's friend recommended that we try Reuben's for dinner. We ordered the Chop-Chop Poutine to start, which is essentially poutine (fries, cheese curds, and the most awesome gravy made with actual meat drippings) topped with shaved mounds of their famous smoked meat. Guys, this is the best poutine I've ever tasted. For serious. We agreed: we'll never be able to order poutine in Toronto again, because it will always be inferior to ones from Montréal. I used to think people from Québec were just being arrogant, but, no, they're right: their poutine is far superior. (As it should be, since that's where poutine originated.) And whoever decided to add smoked meat on top of poutine is a genius.

The Original Smoked Meat Sandwich

The Signature Reuben Sandwich

Shawn and I decided to share the Original Smoked Meat Sandwich that made them famous (which is 10 ounces of delectable smoked meat in between two pieces of rye bread with mustard) and their signature Reuben Sandwich (which, of course, is smoked meat with melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing grilled between slices of dark rye bread). They're both quite different, but equally epic (I guess it depends on what you're in the mood for, since a Reuben is a "hot sandwich" and the original sandwich is technically not). I don't even know how to describe such insane deliciousness. That's when we decided that we also couldn't look at deli sandwiches in Toronto the same way again. They just won't be as good as the ones in Montréal. Do you see what they have done to us?