ACZoom  ·  Archive-2016

Food Rating: Value Rating:
Schwartz's Deli 3895 St-Laurent Blvd. Tel: +1-514-842-4813
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 9am-12:30am, Friday 9am-1:30am, Saturday 9am-2:30am

The number one restaurant in Montreal, as far as I'm concerned, is Schwartz's Jewish Deli on Boul St-Laurent! As I write this paragraph sitting in Boston, I am reminded of the taste of those excellent smoked meat sandwiches -- tender, succulent meat that falls apart easily with the touch of a fork, the exquisite mild pepper spices... accompanied by a black cherry soda or hot tea, it is truly an unique experience! Take a seat at the bar-stool at the deli counter, and enjoy the food amidst the hustle and bustle. The interior of Schwartz's is kind-of run-down, but that, with the extremely busy waiters, and the tables where you will find yourself doubled up with strangers because space is so tight, is what creates the unique atmosphere of enjoying smoked meat at Schwartz's.

The protocol: order a medium (sandwich is understood), black cherry, pickle, and french fries. My exact order is a medium, hot water + tea bag, and a pickle (no fries).

The medium is a medium-fat sandwich. Lean is available, but what is the point? Fatty is available, but if you eat here 3-4 times a week, that would be foolhardy. They also have plates, with bread served on the side, but the sandwich is better with the meat warming up the bread, which tastes nicer.
Most people drink the Black Cherry Soda with it. But black tea without sugar or milk is definitely healthier (not that anyone comes here to eat healthy food!).

Recent updates go to this Montreal as a tourist Google+ Collection.

There is no city that is more inviting, fascinating, friendly, and exciting, than the city of Montreal.
From its museums, to its parks, to its bustling tourist areas like Ste Catherine, St Laurent, and St Denis, there is never a dull moment in Montreal. Even after visiting so many times, I always end up discovering something new on each visit. It does help me a lot that English is spoken everywhere here, since it takes all the fun out of traveling if one can't communicate with the locals.
(Of course, like France, Quebec is not very fond of English. Once in a while, out in the suburbs, you'll bump into someone who will rail at you for not speaking French. But the majority seems comfortable speaking English.)

In addition to being a major cosmopolitan city with many different communities living together, and having a collection of awesome ethnic restaurants, the people of Montreal are very friendly, and Montreal is also a very safe city -- there are no regions I am afraid of being in at any time of the day or night -- as long as there are other people around, I feel totally safe. Drunks are the only problems you may encounter.

Food in Montreal is always what gets me back there. I've eaten in numerous places; even when I'm on my own exploring restaurants, when such a policy is bound to end in tragic results in other cities, it is hard to escape bad food! Amazingly, even with just randomly choosing a restaurant, I have usually encountered excellent cuisine in Montreal.

In this section, it's all about memorable places I have visited, and like to visit again and again. And the focus is on food - where to get some good, local eats while traveling.

I thoroughly enjoy visiting cities, exploring all the streets and suburbs of a city, taking things very slow and just wasting time sitting on a city bench or a sidewalk cafe, spending all the time watching the local people go about with their daily duties. Then there is food - absolutely the best part of traveling is exploring restaurants of all types, and what draws me back to a place is usually the memory of particular foods - for example, Schwartz's in Montreal, Sal and Carmine's pizza in NYC, and the Taquerias in Mexico City. The food has to be unique and interesting, and the locals must also give it their vote of confidence. This means ignoring all the four/five star high-end tourist dining joints. These are actually risky since either bad food or bad service makes it all doubly disappointing, and secondly, all high-end places all over the world are alike. Why travel for those, travel should be for exploring and experiencing how others live and eat, in their daily routines.

I never make any definite plans about what I'll do when I get to a place - other than walk and eat, a strategy that works only in the truly memorable cities of the world.

Right now, I have two very favorite destinations -- Montreal, and any Latin America city. Montreal is just a six hour drive from Boston, so a a four-five day vacation is a sufficient excuse for me to try get to Montreal. And my fascination with Latin America and its people have given me my most important hobby -- I am trying to learn Spanish (sad to say, I have made little progress on that count even after multiple years of attending non-credit courses at the local school -- but that is ok, this is turning out to be a lifelong quest :-).