Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • Around the World Trip Report
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

St. Viateur Bagels

September 23, 2012 by Jennifer Che 7 Comments

Untitled
This is the first post in the Oh Canada series, summarizing some of the great eats I had when visiting various Canadian cities this past year

There’s truly something irresistible about a fresh, piping hot bagel.

When my Canadian-Boston transplant friend found out I was going to Montreal, the first thing she requested was that I bring back some sesame bagels. For her, the memories from college (when she was at McGill) were priceless.

“It’s super fun to go in the middle of the night and grab a fresh piping hot bagel as it rolls down the wooden chute.”

“sooooo good.”

Yes, exact words from her email. She really wanted these bagels.

What could I do? I had to make the special trip.
Untitled
In Montreal, you typically hear about two bagel places: St. Viateur and Fairmont. The two are only a few blocks from each other (one on St. Viateur Street, the other on Fairmont Street), so you could really visit both if you wanted. I had a tight schedule (a flight to catch!), so I could only choose one.

I hailed a cab and told the driver my plans. I only had about 15 minutes to head to a bagel place before I had to rush over to Schwartz’s to beat the lines.

The driver assured me that St. Viateur was the better place. He thought the bagels were different at the two places, and he much preferred St. Viateur.

“Everybody who is visiting Montreal always wants to go to St. Viateur. Trust me, that’s where you want to go.”

I guess I decided to trust him. He seemed to be telling the truth. In fact, he even stopped and picked up some bagels himself when he took me there.
Untitled
St. Viateur is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. You can really stop by at any time and “grab a fresh piping hot bagel as it rolls down the wooden chute.”
Untitled
It was quite clear that sesame was the most popular flavor. They were making HUGE batches of sesame bagels compared to all the rest. It just so happens that sesame bagels are amongst my favorite as well, so I ended up ordering eighteen (!) sesame bagels, and 6 others (assorted flavors).
Untitled
It’s also fun to visit St. Viateur because you get to watch all the bagel making action.
Untitled
Check out that huge slab of dough, ready to be cut into bagel sized strips.
Untitled
Montreal bagels are a little smaller than American bagels. The hole is bigger and the overall bagel is “thinner.”
Untitled
It’s really cool to see the rows of bagels going into the huge wood-fired oven.

Though there’s no way you can eat them all, I would highly recommend eating one bagel fresh on the spot. They are definitely hot when you get them, and that’s by far the best time to enjoy them. The exterior is crispy (I love how the sesame seeds toast a bit and become super fragrant), and the inside is just a hair sweet and chewy.

Soooo good.
Untitled
Once you take them home, try to freeze them as soon as possible. According to my Canadian friend (who apparently has some experience doing this), if you freeze it the day you buy it, it tastes almost as good as fresh when you re-toast it.

If you have a vacuum sealer, you can vacuum seal them, which will keep them from drying out. Any remaining bagels that you don’t finish within a day or two can be sliced up, toasted, and made into fantastic bagel chips.

I ended up liking all the other flavors I bought as well. The 9-grain and flaxseed were both nutty, fragrant, and sweet. I had really wanted the “All-dressed” (everything), but it was still baking in the oven when I arrived. Because I was short on time, I had to forego it this time around.

Are they as good as New York bagels?
Oooh, hard to say – they are different, and I think it’s a matter of preference.  Any fresh bagel out of the oven beats a non-fresh one, so in that sense they are both fantastic. If I had to compare them, I would say that Montreal bagels are smaller, less dense, and are just a tad sweet (which I like). Both are delicious, especially if eaten fresh. Gosh, I really can’t choose between them.

In any event, all I’m saying is that St. Viateur is most definitely worth a visit.

St. Viateur
158 St-Viateur
West Montreal, QC
H2T2L4
St-Viateur Bagel on Urbanspoon

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Canada, Montreal, Restaurant, Review, World Travel Tagged With: bakery

« Oh Canada
Le Bremner »

Recent Posts

  • Arbor Hong Kong May 25, 2022
  • Mono Hong Kong May 23, 2022
  • Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong April 29, 2022
  • Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai March 22, 2022
  • Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong March 17, 2022
  • Petrus Hong Kong March 8, 2022
  • Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong March 6, 2022
  • James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong March 2, 2022

Latest Chinese recipes!

Comments

  1. Samantha Angela says

    September 24, 2012 at 8:53 am

    I really don’t get the appeal of Montreal bagels. In my opinion, they’re just okay. I much prefer a nice chewy bagel.

    Log in to Reply
  2. Aileen @ 300 Threads says

    September 24, 2012 at 11:01 am

    I miss Montreal bagels – we used to be Ste Viateur fans (maybe because we lived in that neighborhood), but somehow over the years that we’ve been living in Boston and only going to Montreal for visits, we’ve become Fairmont bagel fans. I think Fairmont ones are a bit smaller. Both are good and I’ll take a Montreal bagel over a NYC one any day!

    Log in to Reply
  3. Esther @ambitiousdelish says

    September 24, 2012 at 11:53 am

    I was just there last weekend and I was disappointed. They were bland and too doughy for me. I don’t think the New Yorker in me can ever like these bagels!! 🙂 But to each his own!

    Log in to Reply
  4. vijaynathan says

    September 24, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    I actually like these better than NY bage

    Log in to Reply
  5. Tiffany Wang says

    September 24, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Jenn, this is my must visit place whenever I go up to Montreal to visit my in-laws. I know some thinks Fairmont is better but St. Viateur has always being my favorite – I usually get a couple dozens with a few packs of salmon spread. (To reheat the bagel, I would wet the exterior of the bagel under my kitchen faucet for less than 0.5 second before toasting it, it will come out almost as good as fresh out of the oven.)

    Log in to Reply
  6. Albert Yee says

    September 28, 2012 at 12:39 am

    I’m a NYer and I can’t imagine liking a bagel from outside of NYC better than one from within, but the Montreal bagel is a different beast. It’s wonderful, but just not the same and it can’t be. I love gorging on St. Viateur bagels (I prefer them to Farimont too) when I’m in Montreal. I like the sit down St. Viateur place where you can relax and have one of their delicious bagel platters.

    Log in to Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Montreal Bakeries and Bagel Shops - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    November 11, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    […] However, Montreal is different from France in a lot of ways as well. There is a sizable Jewish population in Montreal. From a food perspective, that means the city boasts some of the best smoked meat sandwiches, Jewish babka loaves, as well as some pretty amazing bagels. […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

Arbor Hong Kong

Arbor Hong Kong

Mono HK

Mono Hong Kong

Summer Palace Hong Kong Iconic Wine Lunch

Summer Palace Iconic Wine Lunch – Hong Kong

Lucciola The Hari Wan Chai

Lucciola – Italian food at The Hari Hotel in Wan Chai

beef quesadilla

Studio City by Cali-Mex Causeway Bay Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Petrus Hong Kong

Ichiran Hong Kong Ramen

Ichiran Tonkotsu Ramen Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central Hong Kong

James Suckling Wine Central – Hong Kong

Roganic Hong Kong

Birthday at Roganic Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong

Caprice Hong Kong – Four Seasons

France!

Restaurant Le George Paris
Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

logo
Food Advertisements by

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
logo
Food Advertisements by

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

logo
Food Advertisements by
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress