viande fumee

Can you imagine my delight to find an entire city that is equally passionate about sandwiches as I am? Everywhere we went you could enjoy smoked meat!!! Terribly cliche, but it is with good reason this sandwich is as notorious as it is. 

There is a famous deli, Schwartz's, that is impossible not to hear about since they are cited with putting this sandwich on the Montreal map. So famed, there was actually a foodie musical playing at the theater down the street from our hotel all about their story. 

It was always our intent to stop there for a sandwich, however we found ourselves spending most of our time in the Plateau and the Mile End neighbourhoods. This is where, while strolling down Bernard Street Ouest at noon, we found Lester's Deli. This area was populated by Hasidic Jews so I figured eating our sandwich here was a great choice.

Ah, it was the most rich, melt-in-your-mouth smoked meat sandwich you could dream. Even though it was just noon we washed our sandwiches down with Boreale beer, but I now regret not tasting what the Montreal folk all seem to enjoy, Black Cherry Cott. Um, is this available in Ontario?

A few things I noticed about the sandwiches in Montreal - their love for pickles, thinly sliced bread, dijon and cheese. Grilled cheese seemed to be quite common on the menus and I had to wonder if you tire of poutine, grilled cheese must be a suitable switch-up.

Stay tuned for more carb-indulgent entries.