St-Viateur defended Montreal’s honour in a NYC bagel battle
St-Viateur defended Montreal’s honour in a NYC bagel battle
by apis_cerana
8 Comments
MaizeNBlueWaffle
I’m so tired of this being a debate because it really shouldn’t be one. I’ve had both St Viatuer and some of the best bagels in NYC and it’s not a contest. NYC bagels are 5x better. Montreal style bagels are glorified stale soft pretzels. The exterior has a nice crunch, it has a nice flavor, but the texture is just meh. NYC bagels are a textural experience. A good NYC bagel has a crunchy exterior that collapses into a pillowy interior with just the right amount of chew. The only people who think Montreal style bagels are better are arrogant Québécois or people trying to be contrarian/unique.
> Co-owner Vince Morena appeared on Good Day New York, where one host referred to him as “the guy from the Canada bagel store,” to face off **against Zuckers Bagels** in a blind test.
Also, needing to handicap NYC bagels by putting St Viatuer up against a mediocre Zuckers bagel tells you all you need to know
Thick-Definition7416
Zuckers?! Who thought that would be even contest.
Jeff-Van-Gundy
I love Montreal. My favorite place for a weekend trip from the city, highly recommend it to anyone on this sub. The food there is incredible. The bagels are not (to me). I bought some from the shop and they were stale. Took a pack from the other famous place home and they weren’t good either. They are also a little sweet which is a no for me.
iniquities
To me – I can’t really compare the two because they’re basically different styles of bread. Like comparing a baguette to challah. There are moments I want one, and moments where I want another.
The texture of Montreal vs. NYC is really just personal preference and/or what you plan to do with it.
pixel_pink
Montreal makes a mean smoked meat sandwich though. Schwartz specifically.
Bagels… I don’t get it, their bagels are just not for me. You can hardly schmear ’em, and the crust aint crispy with a pillowy interior. I can see why people might like them better plain than an NYC bagel, but it just doesn’t do it for me.
Toilet-paper-101
Montreal bagels are more dense and more chewy than NY. They are also smaller with a much bigger hole. NY are more bready and they come in a lot more creative flavors. They are quite different. It’s really a matter of preference. Personally I prefer Montreal’s chewiness.
Swagyolodemon
I actually like Montreal bagels a little better as they feel like better fit as a snack to me.
k2theeev
Born and raised in Montreal, living in NYC for the past 5 years. The main difference is no one is eating a fresh New York bagel with nothing on it. In Montreal, you’d snag a bagel from the dozen you just bought and eat it completely plain. That’s another difference- everyone I know buys fresh bagels in Montreal by the dozen, whereas most orders in NYC are for on site sandwiches. Every NYC bagel spot has a ton of sandwich options and more cream cheese flavours than your average ice cream parlour. NYC bagels are better for sandwiches, Montreal bagels are amazing with just cream cheese but I’d always end up needing two of them because they’re much smaller.
Agree with the top comment, they’re too different to even compare. I can’t wrap my mind around the ‘stale’ comments. I’d never eat bread that’s borderline stale without toasting it with butter, but again, FRESH Montreal bagels are great on their own.
8 Comments
I’m so tired of this being a debate because it really shouldn’t be one. I’ve had both St Viatuer and some of the best bagels in NYC and it’s not a contest. NYC bagels are 5x better. Montreal style bagels are glorified stale soft pretzels. The exterior has a nice crunch, it has a nice flavor, but the texture is just meh. NYC bagels are a textural experience. A good NYC bagel has a crunchy exterior that collapses into a pillowy interior with just the right amount of chew. The only people who think Montreal style bagels are better are arrogant Québécois or people trying to be contrarian/unique.
> Co-owner Vince Morena appeared on Good Day New York, where one host referred to him as “the guy from the Canada bagel store,” to face off **against Zuckers Bagels** in a blind test.
Also, needing to handicap NYC bagels by putting St Viatuer up against a mediocre Zuckers bagel tells you all you need to know
Zuckers?! Who thought that would be even contest.
I love Montreal. My favorite place for a weekend trip from the city, highly recommend it to anyone on this sub. The food there is incredible. The bagels are not (to me). I bought some from the shop and they were stale. Took a pack from the other famous place home and they weren’t good either. They are also a little sweet which is a no for me.
To me – I can’t really compare the two because they’re basically different styles of bread. Like comparing a baguette to challah. There are moments I want one, and moments where I want another.
The texture of Montreal vs. NYC is really just personal preference and/or what you plan to do with it.
Montreal makes a mean smoked meat sandwich though. Schwartz specifically.
Bagels… I don’t get it, their bagels are just not for me. You can hardly schmear ’em, and the crust aint crispy with a pillowy interior. I can see why people might like them better plain than an NYC bagel, but it just doesn’t do it for me.
Montreal bagels are more dense and more chewy than NY. They are also smaller with a much bigger hole. NY are more bready and they come in a lot more creative flavors. They are quite different. It’s really a matter of preference. Personally I prefer Montreal’s chewiness.
I actually like Montreal bagels a little better as they feel like better fit as a snack to me.
Born and raised in Montreal, living in NYC for the past 5 years. The main difference is no one is eating a fresh New York bagel with nothing on it. In Montreal, you’d snag a bagel from the dozen you just bought and eat it completely plain. That’s another difference- everyone I know buys fresh bagels in Montreal by the dozen, whereas most orders in NYC are for on site sandwiches. Every NYC bagel spot has a ton of sandwich options and more cream cheese flavours than your average ice cream parlour. NYC bagels are better for sandwiches, Montreal bagels are amazing with just cream cheese but I’d always end up needing two of them because they’re much smaller.
Agree with the top comment, they’re too different to even compare. I can’t wrap my mind around the ‘stale’ comments. I’d never eat bread that’s borderline stale without toasting it with butter, but again, FRESH Montreal bagels are great on their own.