Snowdown deli !

[toto2]

Last tuesday , I was helping a friend who is a landscaper on one of his jobs in NDG. Lunch time arrives and since they have been working there for ages , they were a bit tired of the fast-food offering of the area. A few weeks ago , on the Roadfood website, they were talking about the Snowdown DEli. So I offer to go pick-up lunch there. I had no eat proper smoked meat in years , so mwas very exited that I would discover a new place , and that they were supposed to have good meat !

What an experience ! First , at 45 year old , I was among the yougest in the place. Second , I was probably , beside the staff , the only non-jewish . Swartz has more tourist than local. Quite surprising for a quebecois guy who grew-up in Saint-Lambert ! I felt like I was in New-York ! The place is ugly ugly ugly !

I went to the counter to order take-out. While the intoduction was in english , the gilr switche to perfect french to serve me. I ordered 4 sandwichs , spicy , medium fat , one pickle , 4 fries , one karnitzel and 4 drinks, for a total of $43.

I take all this back to my friends and we eat: the sandwich were a pure joy. Easy on the mustard , so that it only compliments the meat wich is juicy , salty and a bit sweet at the same time. Medium fat is the only way to go , so that all the succulence of the meat is offered to the eater ! I still could taste the sandwich two hours after the meal. The fries were very good. Obviously , they got a bit mushy during the 10 minutes car ride, but they remaned very good , and sweet. The pickel was ...a pickel , good but not exeptionnal and the karnitzel not dry enough to my taste.

My friends went back to Snowdown Deli the day after , and they were still exited. Me , I plan to go back for a sitdown meal to soak-up the atmosphere , away from the theater of Shwarts or Bens. I dont know where Snowdown Deli get's it's meat , but it was very good !

Is there anything else worth trying there , for those who have been there ?

http://www.snowdondeli.ca/delisite.html

[Pam R]

I dont know where Snowdown Deli get's it's meat , but it was very good !

They used to get their meat from Levitt's. In fact, looking at their website, it says they have Levitt's hotdogs. But Levitt's went out of business a few years ago - so I'm interested to know where they're getting their meat from too.

[Fat Guy]

Just a quick note: it's Snowdon, not Snowdown.

I love the place. A few years ago I tasted several examples of smoked meat and liked Snowdon the best, better than Schwartz's. Although, a couple of years after that, I had a better experience at Schwartz's. Still, Snowdon is great.

I think the source of the meat and the way it's cured and smoked are important, but perhaps equally important is the way the restaurant handles it. Snowdon gives the meat a good, long steam and slices it by hand.

[toto2]

Thank you for the correction. I've lived in Montréal most of my life , but as good french Montréaler , the west of the city is full of mystery (and misspelling !)!

When I was asking about where they got there meat , I was meaning if the bought it alredy prepared ( smoked , cured and spiced) or if it was their own preparation.

Edited June 19, 2006 by toto2 (log)

[Chrisser]

Is there anything else worth trying there, for those who have been there

YES! The chopped liver. It's the only way I can eat organ meat. They serve it with rye and mustard on the side.

I also prefer Snowdon Deli's smoked meat to Schwarz'. It's less chewy, IMO. Maybe due to the good long steam.

[poutine]

For a nice change of pace, try a box of their party sandwiches or their veggie egg rolls (although not cheap). Their mun (poppy seed) cookies are quite good, very thin & crisp. Or order a corned beef sandwich to compare/contrast with the smoked meat. And the frites are not too bad either!