Part of being a backpacker is enjoying whats there in a country. Often, its difficult to be a full blown tourist when you’re trying to stay low budget. But sometimes, local delicacies can be the right price.
Recently, we made a trip to Montréal, Canada- which was amazing! We vowed to try a lot of the cultural foods Canadians had to offer without breaking our budget. Here are the local foods you can’t miss in Montréal!
1. Poutine- Pou-what did you say? Poutine was probably the most interesting delicacy we had in Montréal. Poutine is French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy. We compared this dish with what us New Jersey natives call “Disco Fries” which is the same recipe as Poutine, but with mozzarella cheese. (Perhaps because there are so many Italians in New Jersey!)
We shared a large order of this delicious treat and were very full! For $6.00 Canadian dollars, it came out to $3.00 each of us to keep us full for lunch!
2. Smoked Meat- Is definetely just as well known as Poutine. We were told Schwartz’s was number one for smoked meat in Montréal. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there, but luckily, found smoked meat everywhere. At the Casino of Montréal, we enjoyed a delicious smoked meat sandwich that consisted of the meat on rye bread. I was only able to eat half. A platter of a large smoked meat sandwich, poutine fries and a beer cost $11.00 Canadian dollars.
3. Montréal-style bagel- It is hard to disagree with anyone when they say they found a better bagel than New York City, so when we read in our guidebook to try “Fairmount Bagel” in Montréal, we were on a mission. We actually traveled out of our way in the rain for this bagel.
We arrived at a small tightly run shop crowded with people buying 2 dozen bagels! What sets these bagels apart are their size- much smaller than New York bagels and they are wood-fire baked, which is evident in the taste. Also, the bagels contain no added salt and are presoaked in honey water before they are baked. I’m a person who loves variety and choice so I was ecstatic to the huge menu of bagels. From the traditional poppyseed to flaxseed Omega-3 bagels you can’t help but buy 2. We bought 4 flaxseed Omega-3 whole wheat bagels with cream cheese for $11.00 Canadian.
Watch how they make bagels in Montreal!
4. Bubble Tea and Shrimp Balls- This is a great honorable mention. We fell in love with this cafe in Chinatown. They had (our favorite thing in the world) a huge variety of Bubble Tea- a cold or hot beverage made with tea, juice or milk and lychee pearls. We know this wasn’t necessarily a traditional Montréal cuisine, but it definetely a place to check out if you are travelling there.
For $3.50, you get a large sized bubble tea beverage. We both got our own- For the mister, he had a Kiwi Black Tea bubble tea, while I opted for the Plum Green Tea. Both were sweet and delicious. For an appetizer, we split an order of Shrimp Balls- fried balls of meaty shrimp with a black sauce. For just under $15.00, it was just enough to give us energy to explore Montréal.
Stay tuned! We’ll be featuring an article about the many places (at a great value) to drink in Montréal. Buon appétite!
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