How to Eat Your Way Through Montreal

Prior to visiting Montreal, I polled my friends and canvassed Twitter for must-do suggestions. What I received was a long list of restaurants and dining selections, which suggested that I’d better prepare my stomach for a weekend of endless eating. I was not disappointed!

Schwartz’s

My first meal in the city was, on the recommendation of friends, at the Schwartz’s deli down the street from my rental apartment. The line-up that stretched two storefronts outside assured me that this was a hot spot for visitors. A designated tourism location by more several travel guides, the place was packed wall to wall with customers, most of whom were eagerly waiting on the deli’s infamous smoked meat sandwich. I only had the audacity to eat half a smoked meat sandwich, which was probably a good 2 pounds by itself. It was the most meat I had ever consumed at 3pm in the afternoon, and a darn good smoked meat sandwich at that.

Poutine

The sandwich from Schwartz’s filled me up past dinner, but by 9:30pm, I was craving for more deliciousness. Like all late-night cravings, I was in the mood for something fast, filling and incredibly unhealthy. After turning down several streets of high end French restaurants, I stumbled upon Frite Alors and immediately found what I was looking for – poutine. Not just any poutine, Montreal poutine. I got a little carried away with the order and ended up with a large dish of poutine and a even larger topping that included bacon. Talk about heart attack on a plate!! Nevertheless, I still made it through the unhealthy yet satisfying fries to blog about it today.

Crepes

I was full from the poutine for the rest of the trip (that’s 2 whole days!) and don’t remember eating much else after that, but I made sure that I didn’t leave Montreal without having some crepes. On my last morning in the city, I visited a cozy cafe called Laika for Sunday brunch and ordered the most delicious crepes I’ve ever had, that’s including all the crepes I ate during the four months I spent living in France. I would go back to Montreal just for that!