After scouring the city for macarons, we were more than ready for a savory lunch of Montreal smoked meat at Mile End in Brooklyn. There are two foods New Yorkers (like my hubby) are passionate about: bagels and pastrami sandwiches. So why was he all excited about heading to Mile End?
A couple years ago, I took my husband up to Montreal for the first time. I love Montreal and had spent many childhood road trips walking the cobblestone streets in Old Montreal, munching on crispy Montreal bagels from St. Viateur, and practicing my rudimentary French. He enjoyed the city as much as I did - but was especially excited when we dined at Schwartz's. The melt in your mouth smoked meat we ate was amazing, with the only problem being it was a 6 hour drive away. Now with the opening of Mile End, his smoked meat was only a subway ride away.
Mile End is New York's first restaurant serving Montreal casual fare like smoked meat sandwiches, Montreal bagels (directly from St. Viateur), and poutine. Every Friday, they pick up fresh bagels from St. Viateur in Montreal, and drive them back to Brooklyn on Saturday. Until the end of March, they are discounting bagels by 20%. We pre-ordered our sesame seed bagels online ($16/dozen), picked them up from the counter, and munched on a couple of them while waiting to dine in for lunch.
Montreal bagels are thinner and sweeter than New York ones. They are hand-rolled, par-boiled in malt-infused water, and baked in a wood-burning oven. We love the ones completely doused in sesame seeds.
Montreal bagels are thinner and sweeter than New York ones. They are hand-rolled, par-boiled in malt-infused water, and baked in a wood-burning oven. We love the ones completely doused in sesame seeds.
Despite the summery weather and weekend lunch crowd, we only waited about 20-30 mins for a seat. Mile End has a small counter area, a few picnic tables, and a popular take-out window. The menu is small and nearly everything is made on-site.
We started off with the Smoked Meat Hash ($8) with brisket, potatoes, onions, and a fried egg. Crunchy, salty, and topped off with a runny yolk - what could be better?
We started off with the Smoked Meat Hash ($8) with brisket, potatoes, onions, and a fried egg. Crunchy, salty, and topped off with a runny yolk - what could be better?
Classic Poutine ($8): It's no secret we love this dish of fries, cheese curds and gravy. Whenever we're in Montreal, we love La Banquise, in Toronto it's Smoke's Poutinerie, and in Manhattan, we've gone to T Poutine. This version features hand-cut, twice fried French fries covered in Silvery Moon Creamery cheddar cheese curds, and homemade mushroom gravy. We could have used a bit more gravy to help melt the curds more, but we did empty out this bowl of comfort food.
Smoked Meat Platter ($13): This was the reason why we trekked out to Brooklyn and it did not disappoint. My very happy hubby was in smoked meat heaven. We loved the big fat black peppercorns encrusted along the meat's edge. The meat is an all-natural, pastured Creekstone Farms brisket that is dry rubbed and cured for 10 days, smoked over oak for 10 hours, steamed for 3 hours and finally hand-sliced upon order. It's a little fattier than the NY pastrami, but just as worthy of inducing the Meg Ryan "When Harry Met Sally" scene at Katz's.
It's no wonder that Mile End regularly runs out of its smoked meat by 3 or 4pm. (We were following them on twitter all day to check the status of the smoked meat inventory). Space is tight and food can quickly run out, but Mile End was definitely worth the trip.
Mile End is located at 97A Hoyt Street in Brooklyn, NY.
No comments:
Post a Comment