Smoked Meat Heaven at Schwartz's

Here's the storefront of where to dine-in!

Since we aborted our day trip to Quebec City earlier than we expected, we decided some delicious compensation was in order. We came back to Montreal, parked our car and then took the metro to Schwartz's Deli.

We got there just after 5pm and while there were other tourists milling around, we discovered there were two storefronts, one for takeout only, and the other to dine in. We went into the latter, and one of the servers instructed us to find our own seats and lo and behold -- three seats right at the counter.

The interior has hardly changed in decades

The place still has its old diner vibes. On one side are framed pictures and old newspaper articles. There are pictures of Celine Dion and it jokingly says she's in the back. It turns out she and her husband Rene Angelil have shares in the current ownership.

The paper placemat says diners are in the company of such celebrities as Jean Chretien, Burt Lancaster, Nana Mouskouri, Ken Dryden, Jerry Lewis and Guy Lafleur...

Behind the counter are back-lit signs of the menu, refrigerators holding drinks, and lots of seasonings for sale in case you were interested in attempting to make smoked meat at home.

While the staff overall are nice, they are a bit rough around the edges, seeing so many tourists come through their doors everyday. It must be so tiring having to say takeaway is next door, or next door is dine-in... the signage in front is not clear. 

A smoked meat sandwich with coleslaw

Nevertheless, we had the enviable task of figuring out what to order. The smoked meat sandwich of course. What about Schwartz's poutine? We had to try poutine anyway. For vegetables we decided on coleslaw and a dill pickle.

Minutes after we ordered, our plates of food arrived soon after. First was the plate of coleslaw and a big fat dill pickle. The coleslaw is made from shaved cabbage, a few specks of carrot, seasoned with vinegar for a tangy taste, but not sour at all. 

Not long after the smoked meat sandwich arrived (medium fat), on rye bread with yellow mustard. The smoked meat was finely shaved, piled high and still hot. Our first bite into it was heavenly, the sandwich focused on the smoked meat that had been cured for at least 10 days and had a rounded peppery flavour that wasn't too spicy, more seasoned. Absolutely delicious. And the coleslaw cut through the fattiness of the sandwich.

Poutine topped with bits of smoked meat

The Schwartz poutine was a huge portion of French fries, melted cheese curds, gravy and topped with shavings of smoked meat. Wow this was quite the meal in itself, but very good to share. The cheese curds were stringy rather than squeaky, but the combination was fantastic. Who knew poutine needed shaved smoked meat on top?

As we ate, we watched one of the staff open a giant steel container in front of us and stab a giant piece of smoked meat and lift it out, then closed the lid. Then he added more water to continue to steam the rest of the meat inside.  

We pretty much polished everything in under an hour and walked out around $75 lighter, but also very happily sated from visiting this institution that's been around since 1928. Obviously they're doing something right to last 98 years!

Schwartz's Deli

3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard

514 842 4813 

A Quick Visit to Quebec City

Chateau Frontenac has over 600 rooms

We woke up early for a 6am start to drive from Montreal to Quebec City. It was pretty smooth getting there in just under three hours and we arrived at the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac, the iconic hotel in old Quebec.

Looking for the washroom in the basement, we looked at some great exhibits showing the history of the place.

Remnants of the original fort

The hotel is located on a hill, and in 1620 is was the former site of Fort Saint-Louis, and over the decades expanded as the number of people settling there increased.

And yes the hotel is named after Louis de Buade de Frontenac, who was a governor of Quebec from 1689 to 1698.

In the 19th century, as people began traveling, tourism to eastern Canada ramped up, as tourists could reach Quebec City by transatlantic ships and then train. As a result, in 1882, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company established Chateau Frontenac, a luxury hotel.

By 1919 the hotel was so successful that the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. doubled Chateau Frontenac's capacity so that it had over 600 rooms. 

The hotel still retains its old school charm

There are also other interesting bits of information, like how in the early 17th century, porcelain china from China was highly prized by royalty and the aristocracy for its translucency, but it was very expensive.

As a result, many aristocrats, including Governor de Frontenac, turned to ceramics from Delft the Netherlands, which was cheaper to purchase, though not as refined as Chinese porcelain. 

Another fascinating story is that in 1939, on the eve of World War II, King George VII and Queen Elizabeth had a royal tour of Canada and hosted a banquet at Chateau Frontenac. For the occasion, the hotel ordered a special porcelain design that was produced in Limoges, France.

The interior of the hotel, like the cascading symmetrical staircase continues to command grandeur, and one can only imagine what it was like back in the 19th century!

Our breakfast which took an infuriating long time

Outside the hotel is a panoramic view overlooking the St. Lawrence River.

Afterwards we looked for a place to have a late breakfast and settled on a cafe that operated at a snail's pace -- it took us 40 minutes from the time we sat down to when we finally got our three breakfast orders on the table -- after we complained.

The best the staff could do was offer us more coffee... we couldn't accept because it was pathetic compensation and also our parking meter was almost up (which was why we were in such a rush). We paid our bill as soon as the food finally came.

After driving the car around and around for another spot, we finally parked it at the bottom of the hill in a parkade and wandered around some more. We stumbled on a massive mural in trompe-l'oeil style that shows the history of Quebec.

A fun mural depicting the history of Quebec

There are some historical figures commemorated in the mural, like Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Governor de Frontenac, and they are intermingled with kids playing street hockey with large jerseys, and a woman pushing a stroller with a child holding a teddy bear.

We also saw some public art, some cartoonish statues that had names and back stories in French. One seemed to be giving me the side eye.

However, not long after, it started to rain and not carrying umbrellas or rain gear, we decided to head back to the car park. It's a good thing we did because by the time we got to the car, it was pouring rain and hailing!

This guy gave me the side eye!

We decided to cut short our visit to Quebec City and drive back to Montreal! The first hour or so it continued to rain really hard, but then the precipitation stopped and we drove into sunshine as we approached Montreal and snarling traffic...

What an adventure!