Stopped here for lunch because we heard they had great smoked meat sandwiches. We heard right!…read moreDelicious egg bread, delicious rye bread. Hot or cold sandwiches made to order. We chose the hot pastrami and it was absolutely the best sandwich I've had in a long time. Just the smell unwrapping it was heavenly. This is not the kind of sandwich where it's all bread and little meat. The meat was piled high. Walked to the shady park a block away from the residential street it corners on with picnic tables and benches to enjoy it- and boy did we! No tables there, but great for carryout business. The deli has lots of other items too. Many items to take home and fix: pierogi choices, good pickles, sausages, and the kind of poppyseed rolls I remember from childhood Polish bakery experiences. Wonderful food makes wonderful memories- also the lady making the sandwiches was a real sweetie. I know there were many items there that I am forgetting- but everyone who passed through while we were there was focused on their sandwiches, like we were. Highly recommend- you'll be back. PS Very reasonable prices for that amount of meat- that's great these days!

I absolutely love Zytynsky's Deli!!!! Being a big fan of Ukrainian food, had to check out…read moreZytynsky's during my visit to Montréal. A little out of the way from everything else had been doing, but wanted to check out this local institution. So glad I did! Did not expect Zytynsky's being in such an unpretentious brick building, but the magic was all inside. The store had an excellent curated selection of Eastern European gourmet items, all clearly presented with pride. Since I was on vacation, my goal was something to eat that day, but did spend some time looking at all the imported goodies. When I arrived, Angel, the extremely friendly woman behind the counter, was dealing with a couple of familiar faces to her. I overheard that she's been at the store for about 40 years, but I didn't realize that she was the owner and the founder was her grandfather. At my turn to order, I asked her for some suggestions. Ending up with a Smoked Meat Sandwich and a Polish Ham, Hungarian Salami and Cheese Sandwich. Also grabbed two cans of Ukrainian Zero Alcohol Beer. We chatted a little while she prepared my food, and she was absolutely charming. Able to enjoy both sandwiches upon return to my hotel. While for years been a big fan of Hungarian Salami (which was fantastic) the star on that sandwich was the amazing Polish Ham... maybe the best I've ever had! The sensational Smoked Meat Sandwich was perfect! Look forward to my next visit and thank you Angel for my memorable eats! Appreciate your support of Ukraine, too. Zytynsky's Deli is a remarkable place and recommend you check it out! Slava Ukraini!

Right across the street from Métro Snowdon, Ella's Deli is a delight. If you ever have a hankering…read morefor Russian food, this is the place to go. If you have any Eastern European ancestry, as soon as you walk in the door it will smell comforting and familiar. Like grandma's house when she's cooking. With imports of not just dry/canned goods and chocolate, but also cheese and milk products from Russia and the Ukraine this is a serious place. Russian music on the stereo, calendars on the wall and all of the staff tri-lingual (at least). To top it off, they have home made Russian style cakes - my favorite is the Napoleon cake - classic thin layers of wafer with a tangy sweet cream cheese filling (some enrobed in chocolate). I had not had it in years and when I discovered it there I almost had tears in my eyes. It's damn good. They also have frozen food - with what seems to be over a dozen types of dumplings in all styles (Georgian, Ukranian, etc.) filled with everything from potato and onion to a delicious mix of lamb and beef. If you get them, pick up Russian sour cream to go with them. They insisted I try some - so I brought it home and tried it alongside supermarket sour cream. I'm NEVER buying supermarket sour cream again, there's just no point when this is here. Besides that there are all sorts of cured fish and meats that you simply cannot find anywhere else and an entire aisle dedicated to bins of colorfully wrapped Russian chocolates; grab a bag and start selecting. It's all in Russian (which I don't speak) so I go by the pictures. It's a complete crapshoot as the pictures are of princesses, castles, et cetera - but I like chocolate so it's been a fun adventure. Anyway, if you're a foodie, not coming here is unthinkable. it's so close to the Métro stop - you can probably tell I've been here more than a few times. ;)

Amazing Russian grocery store right off Queen Mary near Snowdon metro. There is such a wide variety…read moreof delicious products, particularly regarding deli meats, smoked fish, and even caviar. In the back, there is a small case with various delicious savory Eastern European pastries - perfectly fried or baked bread with fillings including beef, potato, spinach, mushroom, and cheese. If your looking to shop for some delicious and hard to find items, or want to eat something quick and comforting, this is a great place to go.

Oh I loved Le Vieille Europe when I was living in Montreal. Unfortunately, I was a poor and…read morestarving student at the time and so I wasn't able to shop there as much as I wanted to, lol. I would occasionally go there for their imported cookies (oh how I adored Anna's Almond Swedish Thins, lol) and exotic teas. And also for their cheeses and deli meats. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I love the smell of coffee and they have a good selection of coffee beans and a huge coffee grinder. The store has a very European feel to it, and very high prices. However, they carry products that are difficult to find elsewhere. Every time I go back to Montreal I like to pop in and poke around ;) My last visit was shortly before the Pandemic started. Looking forward to going back once this Pandemic is over.

Okay. When it comes to cities with great culinary traditions, somewhere in the back there…read morenaturally lies a bunch of places to promote, vend and educate on cuisine. Take New York for instance - if you want to know what we eat and how we came to eat them, you hit our bunch of ethnic markets and grab some finger foods. Wanna know how the Greek do their stuff? Hit Titan or Parrot Foods. Syrian? Sahadi or Souk el Shater. Chinese? Flushing. Korean? Same. Jewish style? Barney Greengrass and Avenue J in Brooklyn. In short, if you want something and is willing to travel the 5 boroughs and beyond, you'll be able to find it. When it comes to Montreal? You hit the Main. The Main is basically Boulevard St. Laurent between Sherbrooke and Jean-Talon, and the diversity of places informs you of its richeness of flavors. Want Hungarian and Askenazi jewish? Start at the Sherbrooke end. Portuguese? That's around Rue Rachel. Something more hipster friendly? That's St. Viateurs. How about Italian? That's closer to Marche Jean Talon. Interspersed between that range is a series of small shops that can cater to your specific needs. Marguez? There's a joint near that. Spanish cooking with a specific need for a paella (the pan for cooking a paella is itself called a paella), there's a place that sells it. A bit of a melange? That's what La Vielle Europe is for. So what makes La Vielle Europe such a good place to visit? Well, it might have to do with its blend of European charm and core Frenchness. When cultural anthropologists talk about food traditions they use the term foodways, which is the socioeconomic and cultural practices when it comes to food. When Quebec was a New French Signoralty hundreds of years ago, its culinary roots were preindustrial French. Then the Brits came in and injected its traditions, and throughout Montreal's history of expansion through immigration, new palates inform and expand upon these foodways, and there are still cultural and economic links back to France and other parts of Europe, and you see it in vivid display here. First, the cheese. The glorious cheese. One thing every visitor to Quebec learn quickly is the richness of the soil at "nos pays". They have great pasture, great dairy, and unlike the morons south of the border, they don't require their cheesemakers to pasteurize all their milk. As any American can attest, Quebec cheese is just better, creamier and more complex, and there is no better place to buy cheese than here. Have something in mind? Point and ask! They are not stingy with samples and will toss a few clues your way. The price is fairly decent as well, check out their discount section for some good stuff. Next, the baked goods. Yeah, they have bread, but they also have galettes, pasteis and will do you a sandwich. What kind of sandwich? They can do something classical like a jambon sandwich, or they can make you one of those gorgeous Portuguese sandwiches with their large eggy rolls. What about syrups and the beans? Yeah, for the coffee geeks out there, they have a massive selection of roasts and varietals, and the same goes for the au chocolat. Sure, they got coffee syrups to add that extra bit of salted caramel to your brew, but the payoff comes to your sodastream machine - The real charm comes from the availability of drinks syrups from France, the Teisseires and the Piquitos. Trust me, it's much better than the crap on offer in the US, and they last a long time. Honestly, with their large selection of sauces, candies, charcuterie and cooking oils, you cannot help but be impressed by both the breadth and depth of their selections. Want good eating? Visit old Europe. No availability on Air Transat? Bixi out to La Vielle Europe.

You find all the pastry name it and you will get it. All kind of bread, cupcake, cake. Their…read moreproduvt are good tasty, good looking and not expensive at all. Well situated on blv viau at st-Leonard in montreal Canada

A great pastry place in St-Leonard…read more The good: The pastries are delicious and not that expensive. Tomato pizza are tasty. Young staff was very helpful and very professional. They have cakes and fresh pasta (very cheap in price). You can have special orders. Nice ambiance and decor. The bad: Not much bad, really. I would have liked descriptive cardboards in front of the pastries so we can read the description. The parking lot is awful, especially when parents are picking up their kids at the daycare next door. There are quite a few pastries places in our city, but this one has been the best so far.

Can't complain. Good selection of just about everything. Purchased the pre-made…read morehamburgers...which are JUST meat... no fillers or seasonings. Pre-seasoned lamb, chicken & beef available too. Interesting place. Never seen butchers cutting whole carcasses in front of me before. Was always hidden from view. Looks like it's also a school for butchers "to be". Young, Fun, Happy employees all cutting carcasses together... joking around.. poking fun at each other.. I like the environment. Will go back.

The charm of a butcher shop and patissiere as if you were in France. The Canadians really are a…read moreclass act culture. They take pride of their heritage and the cuisine is based on using farm to table concept and waste not. Boucherie Lawrence was part of a cultural & foodie walking tour while in Montreal. This is my favorite stop. From the meats, cheeses,pastries and seasoned nuts, all were of high quality. Fresh is their middle name. They also have a selection of maple syrups and honey. Pastries looked so decandent, too bad I was still full from the other stops. But I made sure I bought the cheddar cheese and maple syrups. Get here and make a stop. You'll really want to! The butchers are friendly and helpful. And of course, the place is immaculate!

Nice Eastern European grocery store offering Russian breads, fresh pickles, smoked and cured fish…read moreand meat specialities, along with other imported goodies. There is also a large selection of cheeses, sweets, and some fresh produce. I go there every time my yearning for pickled herring takes over. Store is clean, staff is friendly, prices are really good. Nuff said. Prices are good.

We go there only from time to time. Mostly to buy packed foods. This time we went for the 20th…read moreanniversary to get some cheese and one of those really good-looking salamis. So we ordered a piece of Jerusalem salami and two different feta cheese, one Bulgarian, one goat. Only once at home we found out he didn't cut Jerusalem salami as asked, but a lower quality pork salami, much fatter than the one I asked for. As soon as we tried the Bulgarian feta, the smell was unpleasant. Rotten cheese, and not in the good way. Crumbly, sour taste, not creamy at all. The other one was just ok. Of course, the labelling is absent or ambiguous. Apparently, this guy will sell rotten stuff to unsuspecting customers if given a chance. Some good stuff, but stay with packed foods. Dishonest.

Food: was good - the pancake was my fav Service : ordered…read moreonline Ambiance: ordered online

We had a craving for Polish food and this place popped up in the very few search results (seems…read morelike there's not that many Polish options in Montreal). In summary, this place offers authentic Eastern European food at a very reasonable price, with a smile. Pyza is not a restaurant per se, but rather a tiny grocery store/deli/caterer that offers a variety of Polish foods such as pierogies, sauerkraut, sausages, pyzys, etc. There are a few small tables for patrons. We ordered at the cash register and sat down. The warm and kindhearted cashier brought us our food and it looked and tasted delectable. I highly recommend this place if you are looking for Polish food, and you don't want to break the bank, and if you don't mind a very informal setting. Parking is also very convenient.

The space is so cozy even on a snowy day! Got the bean curd…read moresandwich (gochujang sauce one) and it was delicious! The chefs and the cashier were helpful. Definitely sit inside and eat - the seating is unique and quirky. Local friends from Montreal recommended this and I loved it.

I haven't come here in a while. They were busy for a Wednesday lunch. They are closed on Tuesday. I…read moreusually have the grilled halum sandwich. This time I had the Cuban. Excellent with plenty of pulled pork. It was a busy noisy dining spot.