Montreal Style Bagels? [General]

2009 Feb 25
Anyone know a good place to get them? I'm open to going anywhere in Ottawa but east end would be extra awesome :D.

2009 Feb 25
I have to be honest, I'm not sure of the difference between Montreal style and New York style (perhaps because I was in Austria long enough to forget--perhaps someone can enlighten me).

That said, Kettleman's (ottawafoodies.com/vendor/456) is great, whereas IMHO, the Bagel Shop (in the west end: ottawafoodies.com/vendor/691) is sub-par. Other people disagree, of course, but that was also a year ago (I haven't gotten truly fresh, melt-in-your-mouth bagels from them, ever). Good luck!

2009 Feb 25
lady who brunches great minds think alike! I was just about to post those two suggestions and you beat me to it.-;

vorpal as a former Montrealer the Bagel Shop and Kettlemans are about as good as they get. There is also Dovers in the far west end but they are a distant second IMO.

2009 Feb 25
See, I prefer Bagelshop to Kettleman's because Kettleman's is not consistent between retail locations, and whatever it is they resell to grocery stores for retail distribution. Bagelshop is closest to a true Montreal bagel, in my experience. Kettleman's is like a hybrid Montreal/NYC bagel. NYC bagels, what I remember of them anyway, were less dense (perhaps leavened more?) and had more to them (ie, just physically larger).

2009 Feb 25
I agree the Bagel Shop is closest to the Montreal style bagel. I usually shop at the Kettlemans in the Glebe since it is closest to home and their bagels are pretty darn close to the Bagel Shop bagels.

2009 Feb 25
Re: Kettleman's.

I prefer the Glebe location as well...plus Vorpal is coming from the East, so this makes sense for him anyway.

So, what is the difference between Montreal style and NY style anyway?

2009 Feb 25
I think the big difference is size...I could be wrong but I believe a MTL style bagel is relatively small with a big hole.

2009 Feb 25
I think I kind of touched on that in my post - "NYC bagels, what I remember of them anyway, were less dense (perhaps leavened more?) and had more to them (ie, just physically larger)."

2009 Feb 25
Last time I read up on it NY and Montreal bagels were totally different things. Only similarity is that they both originated in the Jewish community in their respective cities.

Bagel Shop are the real deal - the owner learned how to make them from his wife's cousin in Montreal.

2009 Feb 25
Ok, as an ex-Montrealer, let me tell you that I truly believe nothing in Ottawa comes close to those found at either the Fairmount or St-Viateur Bagel Shops..... Especially if you are right there when they are pulling them out of the wood-fired brick oven.

That said, Zym is right, it is indeed my understanding that the owner at the Bagel Shop is related to the folks in Montreal.

Lady Who Brunches - Here is the link for the Wikipedia entry for "Montreal-Style Bagel" en.wikipedia.org and Chimichimi was right on the money for their description, but it should be added that they are ALWAYS made in a wood-fired brick oven, and the two predominent versions are either poppy seed or sesame seed. Although you can get about 20 different kinds, I agree that the poppy seed or sesame seed ones are best!

Gosh, this post has me thinking that a "road trip" is soon in order. I can practically smell them, let alone taste them with melted butter or cream cheese.

2009 Feb 25
F&T - I've heard similar things re: Ottawa Bagelshop being linked to St-Viateur, on a related note, there's a St-Viateur t-shirt hanging about the bagel counter, if memory serves me right. Bagelshop bagels are kosher, as well (not sure about Kettleman's, maybe only the Glebe location is).

2009 Feb 25
Chimichimi - Not sure about Kettleman's either... However having known someone from the Ottawa Bagelshop - Ottawa Bagelshop. I can say the family is very proud of their Jewish Heritage, hence the adherence to an old world recipe, style of cooking and yes they are certified kosher.

2009 Feb 25
I hate you all. I can't get proper Montreal-style bagels here in Toronto and I miss them dearly. :p

2009 Feb 25
I'm not speculating about the owner learning from his wife's cousin in Montreal - I know this for a bona fide fact. On the wall is a news paper article that tells the whole story. Last I recall it was at the bottom of the ramp going up to the top section. My brother-in-law also worked there for a year or so while he was living with us, and he got to know Vince (if I recall his name correctly) fairly well (who reportedly treats all his staff like family)

Here is wikipedia on New York bagels : en.wikipedia.org

It includes this paragraph on how New York and Montreal differ :

"The two most prominent styles of traditional bagel in North America are the Montreal-style bagel and the New York-style bagel. The Montreal bagel contains malt and sugar with no salt; it is boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking in a wood-fired oven; and it is predominantly either of the poppy "black" or sesame "white" seeds variety. The New York bagel contains salt and malt and is boiled in water prior to baking in a standard oven. The resulting New York bagel is puffy with a moist crust, while the Montreal bagel is smaller (though with a larger hole), crunchier, and sweeter. Poppy seeds are sometimes called by their Yiddish name, spelled either mun or mon (written מאָן) which is very similar to the German word for poppy, Mohn, as used in Mohnbrötchen. The traditional London bagel (or beigel as it is spelled) is harder and has a coarser texture with air bubbles."

The pictures tell the whole story though.

2009 Feb 25
i don't hate them Candice
i don't care for either montreal or ny styled bagels
i was spoiled in seattle where they produce some nice bagels boiled traditionally in a nice malt syrup and slowly baked so it was nice and yeasty and tender

i find alot of the montreal or ny styled bagels hard and sometimes dangerously
crusty reminds me of sicilian bread that could literally cut the roof of your mouth if you were not careful

reminds me of my fave comedian, billy connelly, re: toblerone, no one likes a food (sic: sweetie) should be dangerous

but i so miss my sundried tomato and basil toasted bagel with roasted garlic butter slather

actually i just miss the west coast lol

2009 Feb 25
If you're looking for a place in the East end, I'd recommend the Bagel Run in Orleans. They do an excellent job of a Montreal Bagel.

thebagelrun.com/

2009 Feb 25
Chalk up another vote for Ottawa Bagelshop! They're sold at my local Loblaws (College Square) so check there for availability in your end of town vorpal.

lady who brunches/chef obi - my girlfriend doesn't really care for Ottawa Bagelshop, nor the style. she finds them far too dense and crispy when toasted. oh well, more for me!

candice - www.thebagelhouse.ca/

2009 Feb 26
when i was in manhattan last spring we made a specific stop to h & h bagel on the upper west side to try a real new york style bagel. we go to montreal regularly and always hit st. viateur and in town i love glebe kettleman's, so this was my comparision.

the real deal, ny bagel was huge. it was the size of 2 kettleman's bagels. it was like a giant kaiser roll with a tiny hole, so immediately i was skeptical. i tried plain, seasame and everything. for 3 bagels it was $10 at h & h. these giant bagel buns were chewy and their crust was not as dense as kettleman's sometimes is, but the bagel was too big to eat both top and bottom together with any kind of filling. sliced open and toasted with whitefish salad (from zabar's down the road from h & h), they were good, but i didn't feel like i was eating a bagel. it was overpriced and not worth the effort. i find all the bagels in the states to be giant, puffy buns. when ever we go down friends and family beg us to bring them kettleman's sesame bagels.

i will stick to montreal style and in town i will stick with kettleman's sesame. i am not a fan of ottawa bagel shop and i like watching the bagels cooking at kettlemans.

2009 Feb 26
Wow, I'm learning a lot in this thread! zym's post enlightened me as to why I'm not really a fan of Montreal style bagels. I don't like sugar in my bread! (unless it's Zopf -- and then only when eaten with jam/honey)

Like some of you, I prefer Kettleman's to the Ottawa Bagelshop, but clearly that's a personal choice. I don't like the way sweet white bagels stick to your teeth. I much prefer the whole wheat ones.

Fresh pretzels, on the other hand, are A-OK by me!

2009 Feb 26
Having lived right next to the Ottawa Bagel Shop, I can attest that they have some good bagels - I guess I prefer mine "montreal style" if that's what I was eating :)

My FAVOURITE bagels however, wierdly since its not specifically a bagel place, were from the Farmboy in Merivale Mall. Not sure if they were baked/boiled in-house or not, but I found them much more flavourful than OBS (though the same style/texture)...

2009 Feb 27
now that I am dying for a bagel...
I really enjoy the Kettleman's in the Glebe, and if you go during the day you can see them making them!

2009 Feb 28
Thanks, everyone, for all your help! I wasn't expecting this much of a discussion, and it's been fantastic!

I ended up going to Kettleman's last night (great excuse to pop into my favourite Indian restaurant across the street, Taj Mahal, for some tasty onion bajia and chicken pakoras for a snack). Good bagels, but not as sweet as what I usually expect when I've had Montreal style bagels in the past. Definitely enjoyed them but missed that little bit of extra sugar. I'll be sure to try some of the other suggestions here and report back.

2009 Mar 3
In this week's email from Ottawa Organics they are now offering Montreal style bagels from a Montreal bakery called Ynew.