News   Mar 28, 2024
 1K     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 570     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 874     0 

If one wants good deli sandwiches in a Sue-Ann Levy free environment...

ShonTron

Moderator
Member Bio
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
12,370
Reaction score
8,966
Location
Ward 13 - Toronto Centre
Head to Caplansky's!

Zane Caplansky (@Caplansky) and Sewer-Ann Levy are having a wonderful twitter fight. SAL isn't happy that Caplansky - the classy Jewish owner of a very Jewish deli (perhaps not the smoked meat poutine) - is sponsoring the Palestinian film festival.

SAL is at her worst. And losing badly.
 
Last edited:
Yea it took severe restraint for me to not have a twitter shit fit when I saw that. It takes huge balls to do what Zane did, and it takes nothing but a hack to do what SAL did.
*edit: and now I think I want me some Toronto smoked meat
 
I'm a huge fan of Jewish Deli. There's actually a book on the history of Deli's called Save The Deli by a guy from Toronto.

Caplansky's is awesome, as everyone already knows. When I lived near it I liked NY Deli on Bay south of Bloor. Lately I've been liking Ben & Izzy's a lot north of Lawrence on Bathurst. I still need to check out Centre Street Deli though (I know, I probably shouldn't call myself a deli fan until I go). I've only been to Yitz's once. Moe Pancer's is pretty good.

I recently visited Montreal and had Schwartz's, as I do every time I go there. Absolutely mouth-watering, it's a national treasure. I had the pastrami sandwich at Katz's in NYC, it was good, but I didn't like it as much as Schwartz's smoked meat.

The thing that started my addiction was fast food chain Druxy's. Perfect lunch: deli sandwich, pickle, coleslaw and coke.

Argh after typing this I'm hungry! :p
 
I recently visited Montreal and had Schwartz's, as I do every time I go there. Absolutely mouth-watering, it's a national treasure. I had the pastrami sandwich at Katz's in NYC, it was good, but I didn't like it as much as Schwartz's smoked meat.

Please, do yourself a favour. Schwart's is alright as an "experience," I suppose but it hasn't been the same since Maurice Zbriger owned it. To me it's more of a tourist destination/Montreal institution rather than a place for a really good nosh. Celine Dion is a partner in it, FCS! The other owner is a Greek family that owns big chunks of Crescent and Mountain streets.
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwartz%27s#History

Instead, try Beauty's. Not so much for deli as it is more of a classic diner. But, as we say, "Beauty's for breakfast."
http://beautys.ca/

As for deli, nothing in Montreal beats Reuben's right now. There are two of them, both on St. Catherine. One is in the basement on the SW corner of McGill College St. It's very basic and old-fashioned and you know it's genuine because it's open late Christmas Eve! The other is a large bustling place near Peel with a multi-page menu, ginormous cheesecakes in a glass display case and sandwiches so big you can barely get your mouth around them. The smoke meat cutters -- and this is a true art that, IMO, the guys at Caplansky's hadn't mastered when I have been there -- get it just right. It needs to be shaved, not sliced, and served up with just the right amount of spice-crusted fat.

To me, no visit back home is complete without a visit to both Beauty's and Reuben's

http://reubensdeli.com/

ETA: Incidentally, I always understood that difference between Montreal (and Manhattan) and Toronto in terms of deli culture was the origins of their Jewish communities. Montreal had a huge wave of Romanians (and east Europeans) who brought their smoked brisket-cuisine with them. Toronto was mostly Polish and north European. But I have never researched this so I can't say for sure.
 
Last edited:
Caplansky's will probably be an institution in time. Polish delis are great too. A good Polish deli will have cold cuts and cheeses from around Europe, smoked fish, many kinds of kielbasa, quality breads and tasty pastries and chocolates. It's not about a dining experience but having great food at home for breakfast and lunch like some tasty kielbasa and rye bread or some smoked mackerel.
 
Last edited:
Caplansky's will indeed be an institution in time, but I just got back from Ben and Izzy's, and they give Zane a run for his money
 
Caplansky's will probably be an institution in time. Polish delis are great too. A good Polish deli will have cold cuts and cheeses from around Europe, smoked fish, many kinds of kielbasa, quality breads and tasty pastries and chocolates. It's not about a dining experience but having great food at home for breakfast and lunch like some tasty kielbasa and rye bread or some smoked mackerel.

This isn't Montreal chauvinism, truly. I prefer Toronto restaurants overall (with some exceptions) to Montreal's. But Toronto has never truly mastered rye bread nor the bagel. As for the karnatzel, don't get me started. Nothing like rye with a slap of mustard around 6 inches of karnatzel. (Har, har. Don't go there.)

As for the exceptions, some have to do with seafood/fish. For example, no question Montreal Greek restaurants are much better because of that. Toronto's are too stuck in the souvlaki-fried calamari-saganaki OPA! rut.

Others, again, it's about immigration. The Lebanese, who are Francophone, went to Montreal so Montreal has some great Leb restaurants. (That said, I am liking Taboule on Queen St. E. here.) Vietnamese food, also because the language, is generally better in Montreal. And, of course, French, although Cluny shows promise (but it would be nice if it had a moules et frites selection.)

The rest, Toronto pretty much wins hands down.
 
Please, do yourself a favour. Schwart's is alright as an "experience," I suppose but it hasn't been the same since Maurice Zbriger owned it. To me it's more of a tourist destination/Montreal institution rather than a place for a really good nosh. Celine Dion is a partner in it, FCS! The other owner is a Greek family that owns big chunks of Crescent and Mountain streets.
http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwartz%27s#History

Instead, try Beauty's. Not so much for deli as it is more of a classic diner. But, as we say, "Beauty's for breakfast."
http://beautys.ca/

As for deli, nothing in Montreal beats Reuben's right now. There are two of them, both on St. Catherine. One is in the basement on the SW corner of McGill College St. It's very basic and old-fashioned and you know it's genuine because it's open late Christmas Eve! The other is a large bustling place near Peel with a multi-page menu, ginormous cheesecakes in a glass display case and sandwiches so big you can barely get your mouth around them. The smoke meat cutters -- and this is a true art that, IMO, the guys at Caplansky's hadn't mastered when I have been there -- get it just right. It needs to be shaved, not sliced, and served up with just the right amount of spice-crusted fat.

To me, no visit back home is complete without a visit to both Beauty's and Reuben's

http://reubensdeli.com/

ETA: Incidentally, I always understood that difference between Montreal (and Manhattan) and Toronto in terms of deli culture was the origins of their Jewish communities. Montreal had a huge wave of Romanians (and east Europeans) who brought their smoked brisket-cuisine with them. Toronto was mostly Polish and north European. But I have never researched this so I can't say for sure.

Thanks, I'll check those out next time I'm in Montreal.

From what I understand Toronto has had quite an influx of Jewish people from Montreal in the last 30 years, which has created some demand for good food.

I know that the Bagel House's cred is that the guy who started it trained at St Viateur and Fairmount in Montreal.

This isn't Montreal chauvinism, truly. I prefer Toronto restaurants overall (with some exceptions) to Montreal's. But Toronto has never truly mastered rye bread nor the bagel. As for the karnatzel, don't get me started. Nothing like rye with a slap of mustard around 6 inches of karnatzel. (Har, har. Don't go there.)

As for the exceptions, some have to do with seafood/fish. For example, no question Montreal Greek restaurants are much better because of that. Toronto's are too stuck in the souvlaki-fried calamari-saganaki OPA! rut.

Others, again, it's about immigration. The Lebanese, who are Francophone, went to Montreal so Montreal has some great Leb restaurants. (That said, I am liking Taboule on Queen St. E. here.) Vietnamese food, also because the language, is generally better in Montreal. And, of course, French, although Cluny shows promise (but it would be nice if it had a moules et frites selection.)

The rest, Toronto pretty much wins hands down.

I'm surprised they beat us in Vietnamese. I thought we had good pho :)
 
I'm surprised they beat us in Vietnamese. I thought we had good pho :)

We do. But pho is "peasant" food. The Vietnamese upper crust had a marvelous marriage of French and Asian cuisine. You'll find it Montreal restaurants such as Cafe Saigon. But it's been a long time for me so I can't recommend it 100%.

I don't bother with Asian food in Montreal. I prefer the deli, French (L'Express) and the Greek (Zante for seafood, Panama for lamb and chicken and, when I am super flush, Milos.)
 
As a semi regular visitor to Montreal can I just through in my seconding of the Beauty's recommendation? It is a marvellous place and part of my group's routine when we are in Montreal.....on thursday to sunday visits to Montreal, Saturday starts with a 10:30/11 a.m. visit to the corner of St-Urbain and Mount-Royal.......a hearty greeting from Hymie then a great breakfast in a super setting!

We typically then follow it with a slow stroll over to, and then down, the main and invariably there is a short stop at Schwartz's for a smoke meat to go (usually just stuffed in the pocket for a snack later) then back downtown to get ready for the evening's activities (typically a hockey game).

We always approach Beauty's with a little trepidation...been going there for +/- 20 years now and we just know that one day Hymie (who is now 92) won't be there to greet us....it is the way nature works.

P.S. yes Milos is the best Greek resto I have ever eaten in.
 
P.S. yes Milos is the best Greek resto I have ever eaten in.

There are a couple of respectable imitators, very, very good , not cheap but not Milos pricey.

Zante, as I mentioned above, just north of Sherbrooke on St-Laurent. It's quite small and by 9 pm it's jammed. There's valet parking. Excellent fish, lamb chops and even steak (which gets cut up for sharing.) In the north end of town, there's Elounda which is quite large and noisy but also good.

Aside from decent seafood, one thing all these Greek restaurants do which none in Toronto does is thin, thin sliced and dredged-in-flour lightly-fried-to-a-crisp zucchini and eggplant stacked up like Pringle's chips served with some seriously gutsy garlicky tzatziki for dunking.

In Toronto, I go to Kritamos but even they don't offer this there. It's on the menu at some of the other places, e.g. Pantheon, but it has all the delicacy and refinement of A&W onion rings. Greasy and heavy breading.

But enough about Greek food. This is, after all, a deli thread.

Oh, and if you're driving back to Toronto, stop in at Fresser's on Decarie in Snowdon for take-out.
 
Sightly off-topic, but you can get Caplansky's smoked meat at the deli at Bloor Street Market in Manulife Building now. It's not quite the same as eating at the restaurant, but it's damned close.
 
I don't get the chance to go to Caplansky's as often as I would like (and hearing about Zane's class act of sponsorship makes me want to go back even more!), but it's probably just as well, from a waistline-management perspective. I could live off their knish.
 

Back
Top