Foods of Montreal

Every city has some really delicious items that are really well known.  Montreal is no exception, and being back last month for the first time since June 2010, I got to eat some of the best foods this city has to offer.  Here are my best highlights and how accessible the place was:

Schwartz’s Deli

Montreal smoked meat is a staple in this city and Schwartz’s Deli is considered the one of the best if not the best place to get this popular item.  Schwartz’s has been around for over 90 years and I know why.  Each sandwich masterpiece has piles and piles of perfectly cooked smoked meat with just the amount of fat you choose.  Then it is put on a layer on mustard and in between 2 slices of rye bread.  There is so much meat in this sandwich that it just topples over.

medium fat smoked meat sandwich

This place is so popular that even pop singer Celine Dion became part owner of Schwartz’s since 2012.  I ate here on my last visit and was also wowed by the smoked meat sandwich back the.  Be warned that this place has long lines and we had to come back later as it was too busy.  The inside of this restaurant is quite narrow and just barely wide enough to fit my wheelchair.  Luckily, everyone is kind to help me to a table.  A minor nuisance to be had to not miss this great place to eat at.

lines can be long to get into Schwartz’s

Poutine

Known as Canada’s national dish, poutine was created in the 1950’s in Quebec.  It has just 3 simple ingredients: fries, cheese curds and gravy.  This food is so popular that there is an annual Poutinefest happening in Montreal every year.  Lucky for us, we were in town at the right time and went to it during one of the slightly rainy days.  We tried the bacon ranch supreme poutine at one of the food trucks.  For $16, it was fresh cut fries, cheese curds, home gravy, deep fried battered curds, bacon and ranch sauce.  It was definitely super tasty, but probably loaded with calories.

at Poutinefest

Lots of places in Montreal serve poutine as either a main item of their restaurant or as a side to their entrees.  A popular place that we didn’t get a chance to visit this year but did try in 2010 was called La Banquise, which serves over 30 different varieties of poutine.

bacon ranch supreme poutine

Chinatown

Chinatown was located about a block from our hotel so we pass by it everyday going to and from our hotel.  In general, Chinatown was quite wheelchair accessible with most restaurants appearing to be accessible.  Of course, we couldn’t check out every place, but at a glance the majority were good.  The one where the 4 of us ate at was called Mai Xiang Yuan Dumpling.  There was one small step to get in and was easy for my manual wheelchair to get in.  Not sure if a powerchair can be easily bumped in or not, but I was glad to have had my manual wheelchair.

one small step to get into this restaurant

There was a special on dumplings and we ordered so many.  The food arrived hot and fresh and we were all pretty satisfied and ready to get on with our day in Montreal.  I just love how they have guardian lion statues at the paifang (Chinese gateway structure), makes it seem more authentic.

some of the dumplings we ordered

Cafe Santropol

Cafe Santropol was recommended to us by friend and it did not disappoint.  This place was founded in 1976 as part of an attempt to save the building in which it resides in.  For that reason, this restaurant was in an old structure that was not wheelchair friendly, as there were a few uneven steps at the entrance.  we were thinking about doing take out, but then a staff mentioned we could go in the emergency exit at the back of the patio area and make our way inside the restaurant.

I had to come into the restaurant from the back since there were stairs

Their menu consists of sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts and drinks.  We shared a chicken salad sandwich with a side garden salad and a bottle of birch beer.  The sandwich was just so good with lots of chicken and flavoring.  I normally do not eat a lot of sandwiches, but this was just too tasty.  If we weren’t heading to Schwartz’s in a few hours, I would have ate more at Cafe Santropol.

so good

St. Hubert

St Hubert is a popular rotisserie chicken casual dining place founded in 1951 in Quebec.  It can be found in Eastern Canada and was bought by Cara Operations in 2012, the owner of rival rotisserie chicken place Swiss Chalet.  There were 3 types of formats St Hubert operates: restaurants, resto-bars and express locations.  We decided on visiting a restaurant, so we could relax and order from a sit-down menu.  The restaurant had a patio and since it was warm out and accessible, we chose that option.

accessible patio at this St Hubert location

Of course, we ordered their signature classic rotisserie chicken.  It came with their signature bbq dipping sauce.  Everything was delicious and this is my 2nd time eating at St Hubert.  I think I prefer Swiss Chalet because I love their signature chalet dipping sauce.

signature rotisserie chicken

La Diperie

La Diperie has been around since 2014 is known for its vast and delicious selections of over 30 pure Belgian chocolate dips and over 20 different toppings to coat its creamy vanilla soft serve.  There seems to be La Diperie stores everywhere so we had to try the one near our hotel.  This location has a large step to get to the counter to see all their products, so my buddy just bumped my wheelchair up the step.  I do love my sweets and was just in awe of all the choices and saw that you could get other items dipped too like cookies, fruits etc.

the menu

I settled on a mini vanilla cone dipped in dark mint chocolate and it was just so good.  I wished I got a larger size because the mini was too mini and vowed to come back later in the week before the trip was over.  The next visit, I got a small vanilla cone dipped in dolce la leche.  Again, I did not want any toppings cause it would have been too much going on with the ice cream.  The small was so much bigger than the mini.  I did enjoy this dip but preferred the dark chocolate mint.

mini dark chocolate mint dipped vanilla cone

Not only did I have an amazing time checking out Montreal, I had an equally amazing time eating at these places.  I won’t want to wait another 9 years to revisit Montreal and eat at these 6 places again.