Schwartz's Deli Visited 9/4/2011 3 Forks

Schwart's Deli 3895 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, QC H2W 1X9

Alright, the other famous place in Montreal that everyone talks about outside of Au Pied Cochon is Schwartz's.  Montreal is famous for its smoked meat (I did see it everywhere) and this is apparently THE place to go for it.  Dan and I lazily strolled by this place on Sunday around 2:30pm and the line was wrapped around the block.  Luckily, we weren't starving (as we had a few snacks at the Marche Jean-Talon) so we were ok with just waiting in line.  We probably waited about 30 minutes and once we walked inside my immediate thought was: Katz's Deli in New York City but on a much smaller scale.

The actual size of Schwartz's only seats about 20-25 people inside which is why the lines were so long. We sat down at a long communal table with 2 other couples, so forget about having a nice private conversation with the person next to you. It's got this old school look and feel to it...it looks like it's kept the original Jewish deli decor from the 50's.    The menu is essentially 1 thing: smoked meat (as a sandwich or just as sliced meat) and then a bunch of sides.  We ordered 2 smoked meat sandwiches and 1 order of fries.  I was waiting for the waiter to ask me how I would like my sandwich: fat, medium (which is what everyone told me to get), or lean, but he never did. So I was a bit worried that we would get something  we wouldn't like.  But luckily, apparently if you don't say anything they automatically assume medium.

The sandwich looked a bit small at first glance but after looking at all the meat in between, Dan and I probably could have split 1 sandwich.  The meat comes on 2 regular pieces of bread with a smear of yellow mustard.  I was expecting a heavenly bite of meat, but I didn't reach heaven. While it was definitely good, it didn't blow my mind. I would have preferred it to be a bit more moist and fatty but it was drier than I like.  I ended up putting a lot more mustard (which I generally don't even like) on my plate and dipping the meat into it.  Meanwhile, I actually really liked the fries.  They were crisp and tasted like they were fried in peanut oil, so it has this slightly different taste to it.   I had read on Yelp that many people encountered rude service but my waiter was actually incredibly nice and sweet, so I guess we might have lucked out.

All in all, I can see why this is a bit tourist draw and I can appreciate it for what it is, but it's like how I feel about Katz's....which is it has it's reason for being what it is, but there's no reason to rush there.  I probably would have also enjoyed it a lot more if I wasn't full from my snacking at the farmer's market and now I'm actually dreaming about the sandwich how I wish I could try it all over again.  They are cash only (and you know how I feel about that).  Total bill:  $24 for 2 people