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What a combo: Schwartz's Deli and Montreal smoked meat. The two have practically become synonymous. Forget your favorite hometown deli. Forget Carnegie Deli. We're here to tell you the smoked meat in Montreal is unparalleled.
As are many other amazing dining spots in Montreal, this restaurant is modest and understated. There is always a wait to get in, although never more than 10 minutes as they expedite the tables quickly here. Just expect to be seated with perfect strangers. Such was our luck as we entered the 83-year old Schwartz's, the original and only, on St. Laurent Street. As it turned out, our table companions happened to be New Yorkers. Ah yes, we thought, the true test.
We ordered as we had been instructed, "smoked meat, medium, fries, and a Black Cherry soda." "Medium" here references the fat content in the meat, in this case trimmed, lean-er corned beef. The options are: lean, medium, medium-fat, and fat. Sandwiches come on a simple, seedless rye bread, slathered with yellow mustard (see right).
Our new friends ordered as we did. The order came quickly and we began an indulgence into one of Montreal's most prized possessions. The cured and smoked beef could not have been more perfect: succulent, smokey, and earthy (allegedly a combination of the spices and whatever magic lies within the walls of the storied curing room). It's no stretch to say our New York table mates were overwhelmed, ultimately confessing it was "better than what the big boys put out in NYC."
Be advised, though: Schwartz's is a dive, one that should have been renovated 50 years ago. You may hear about "the charm," but alas, there is no charm. Go there for the "smoked meat, medium." Even take some to-go. You can charm yourselves someplace else.
