Smoked Meat Crawl - Montreal

(caveats: Prior to this "side by side", I was pro Schwartz's and my wife Dunn's)

Was in Montreal last week and decided to hit as many of the big named smoked meat places as we could. Order of visit: Main (Sun), Lesters (Mon), Dunns (Mon), Schwartzs (Tue). In order of preference:

1) The Main - By far the most flavor, very spicy top, tender, not to much fat. Good (garlicy) cole slaw, good fries (might have been great if the waitress had brought the vinegar she promised).

2) Dunn's - a step down from all explanations above, except for the cole slaw (which was the best slaw we had)

3) Lester's - Very close to Dunn's. Only had a sandwich as a brekfast dessert (may be an influence?).

4) Schwartz's - What a bummer this was. Tough, dry, overly fat (asked for medium) and blah taste. From the first bite we were thinking the Main is just across the street. Good fries, slaw. Great pickle.

Did not do Snowdon Deli (closed for the week. I never find this place open) or Rueben's (based on my last trip, I consider this place to be the Ruby Tuesday's of smoked meat and won't go again).

Main's was a very clear winner based on flavor alone.

For any smoked meat virgins, I still think Schwartz's is a must try. But if the line is to long, or for your second smoked meat, try The Main.

Bon Appetit,
Bob

Man I thought there were going to be pics.