Schwartz’s vs. Lester’s Deli: Who Makes the Best Smoked Meat Sandwich in Montreal

This is the most famous sandwich in Canada, Montreal Smoked Meat from Schwartz's Deli. But we didn't come all the way to Montreal to get suckered into a tourist trap. We need to make sure we get the full experience. So we'll also be trying a local favorite, Lester's, to see how they compare. We're Kristen and Will, and today we're on a mission to find out who makes the best smoked meat sandwich in Montreal. You're probably wondering what smoked meat is, and if it's any different than pastrami. It looks almost identical, and is made in a very similar way. The biggest difference is the cut. Pastrami is made from the beef plate, which is the belly area, so it tends to be a little bit more fatty, whereas smoked meat comes from the brisket. The spices they use are also a little bit more intense than pastrami, and they don't contain any sugar. But just like a typical New York pastrami sandwich, the Montreal Smoked Meat is served on rye bread with mustard. First, we're trying Lester's. It's a little bit more of a local spot, but it's still very popular, and has been around since 1951. Oh my gosh, this is a big sandwich. They have loads of Montreal classics, like bagels, toasties, and a smoked meat poutine that look extremely tempting, but we are just sticking to the sandwiches this time. If you wanna see us try more Montreal classics, make sure you check out our food tour. So we are gonna be ordering our sandwiches the exact same way both times. According to locals on Reddit, the best way to order it is medium. That means that there are some slices that are more lean, and some that are a little bit more fatty. Also, apparently, we needed to try it with cot black cherry, so we'll be trying this both times as well. If you're from Montreal and we're doing something wrong, be sure to let everyone know in the comments what the proper way of getting one of these is. But for now, let's dig in. First of all, it is stacked a mile high, but it's not the widest sandwich ever, if that makes sense. Like, the bread is kind of small, but it does have a lot of meat in it, and it doesn't look that smoked. Like, you don't really see any of that brine and the spices on the meat itself, but let's give it a go. Mm, it's a lot less smoky than I was expecting. Maybe that's a misnomer or something, but it doesn't have, like, an overly smoky taste to me. That's not to say it's not spicy, but it's not like a hit-the-back-of-your-throat kind of spice. Even the mustard isn't really that strong or spicy. It's a little bit oily. It's not overly fatty or anything, but it is really good, and it's really flavorful, and it is definitely different than a pastrami sandwich. All right, let me try this soda. I don't know if we have this in the US. Mm, oh yeah, that's good. It's not like a Coke cherry or a Doc's Pepper. It's a lot more cherry licorice flavor almost, but I like it, it's good. All right, I think I'm gonna start with the soda. Wow, it's a pretty strong cherry flavor, but it's actually not that sweet. Normally, I'm not a huge soda person for that reason, and I like how there's no high-fructose corn syrup. Maybe it's a little healthier. Now let's try the sandwich. It is very thick, but it's funny, because look at this piece of bread. It's so small. Yeah, it's like, why not make it wider? I don't know. It's definitely tall, but not wide. That's pretty funny. It's probably as tall as the Katz's sandwich. Yeah. But it's definitely smaller. But there's no bread. Yeah, there's no bread. And there's really no mustard. So, all right, let's try it. Hmm, that's delicious. It doesn't really have a lot of mustard. It doesn't really have a lot of rye bread, but that meat is so flavorful. Like Will was saying, it has all these spices. It's not spicy, hot. It just is really seasoned. I like how it's a little oily. There's some pieces of fat, but in general, it's a little bit more lean. It's really, really good. Can we just get one smoked meat sandwich, medium? Schwartz's is the most iconic place for a smoked meat sandwich in Montreal. Think of it like Katz's Deli in New York. It's the kind of place you have to try at least once. It was established in 1928, so it's not the oldest, but it has outlasted all of the rivals that came before, making it the oldest remaining deli in Canada. Some would say because it's the best. An interesting thing you might not know is that it's partially owned by Celine Dion, who grew up just outside Montreal. We're here on a weekend, so the line to sit down was pretty long. Luckily, there's a to-go counter right next to the main store, and the line in there moved really quickly. We got the same thing as yesterday, smoked meat sandwich, medium, and hot black cherry. Schwartz's is supposedly one of the last remaining delis in Montreal that spices, smokes, steams, marinates, and cuts their brisket in-house, so let's see how it compares to yesterday. First of all, the pieces of brisket are way thicker, and it looks like there's a whole lot more mustard on here, but again, the bread is just as thin as yesterday. The width of the sandwich, it's really, really tall, but it's just so thin. It's so funny, and you actually can see the outside of the pieces of brisket this time have a lot more coloring. All right, let's give it a try. This is a phenomenal sandwich. Not to be controversial right off the bat, but I think I prefer this a little over the one we had at Lester's. It's just the flavor profile fits what I like a little more. It's a bit smokier than that one, and the spices aren't really as prominent, but you do get that spice from the mustard more on this one, I would say. The brisket is definitely a little bit more flavorful, but I think that's probably just because they're big, fatty pieces, but man, this is a perfect sandwich. This thing is delicious. Wow, wow, wow. This is incredible. I would say it's a little bit more well-rounded, in my opinion. You get more of that rye bread flavor, more of the mustard flavor. I like how the meat is a little bit thicker and a little bit fattier. It is less oily, and I kind of enjoy the oiliness of yesterday's. The meat here, I would say, is flavored a little bit more to my liking. It is more smoky and less spicy. It's really, really good. Bad news. I looked it up. That thing does have high-fructose corn syrup in it. We just didn't understand what it's called here. What is it? Glucose fructose? Yeah, glucose fructose. I'm kind of sad about it, actually. I thought it was healthier, but I guess not. That was fantastic. I can absolutely see why this place is such an institution here in Montreal. I'm so glad we were able to try both. You might have different flavor preferences than we do, so it's hard to say which one will be better for everyone. Both were really good in their own way. If you have a favorite place to get a smoked meat sandwich here in Montreal, definitely let us know in the comments. Make sure to like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video, and we'll see you guys in the next one.