The bagels of Montreal - Global Toronto Eats

Where to get the best double-cooked bread in Montreal

Montreal bagels are perhaps the most famous home-grown food from the city. Only poutine is more well-known but that’s shared with the rest of the region and not invented in Montreal.

Interior of St-Viateur Bagel — Making bagels at St-Viateur Bagel

The two oldest and most popular places to try are St-Viateur Bagel and Fairmount Bagel. They define the standard for Montreal bagels. But are these the best in the city? Fortunately, there aren’t many bagel specialists in Montreal. If you have a few days to spare, you can hit up all of them to find out who makes the best. Or you can just read on.

Montreal bagel vs The Others

Montreal bagels, like all bagels, involve a 2-step cooking process. First, the dough is shaped and boiled in a sugary, alkaline solution. Then, toppings are added and the bagels are finished in the oven. Boiling helps to achieve a glossy sheen.

Montreal bagels are often compared to New York bagels. The only significant differences are that Montreal bagels are smaller, sweeter, and wood-fired. There are ardent fans of either variant. Personally, I prefer Montreal bagels because they are better to eat plain.

A good Montreal bagel should have a glossy exterior with a light crack as one bites into it. The interior is chewy but not dense. If there are toppings, one should be able to taste them distinctly, unless it’s a bagel sandwich. Likewise, the sweetness should be discernible. Bonus points for uniform shaping of the bagel.

Taste test method

To be fair, only sesame and poppy seed bagels were sampled. These are classic flavours that all bakeries should have. If these were not available, then the everything bagel was sampled instead.

Bagels were tasted on their own, without any spreads nor as a sandwich. This is a pure bread test.

All bakeries were visited in the morning, with the highest chance of getting bagels hot out of the oven. They were tasted within 15 minutes of purchase and not reheated.

Bagel St-Lo

Bagel St-Lo is a popular cafe-restaurant in Verdun, south of Montreal centre. They’re highly rated for brunch.

The bagels looked like they were baked a few hours ago and were slightly warm. Unfortunately, the dough was barely seasoned. It was neutral—great for sandwiches but not so great on its own. I couldn’t taste the sesame seeds. They were pale and not toasted enough. 6.5/10.

The poppy seed bagel was densely coated but only around the sides. The seeds gave good flavour when landing on the tongue but were subsequently lost in the chewy and dense dough. 7/10.

Bagels are only a small part of their offerings. Their sandwiches, breakfast platters, and drinks looked more enticing than the bagels.

Bagels Le Trou

There are two locations for this bakery. The main one is in Griffintown, which is the one I went to.

These bagels were fresh out of oven. They were slightly glossy and had a crisp exterior. The dough was soft with a hint of sweetness.

The toasted sesame was aromatic. The poppy seeds were generous. 8/10 for both flavours.

Bagels Le Trou is a bagel specialist. The giant bagel churning machinery is positioned just behind the counter. It doesn’t dabble in other baked goods or other types of foods. But unlike St-Viateur and Fairmount, it’s a cafe so you can also get drinks.

Exterior of Bagels Le Trou — Bagels Le Trou

Interior of Bagels Le Trou — Bagels Le Trou

Bagels on Greene

This bakery is in the English-speaking part of Montreal. You can tell by its English name.

The bagels had been sitting around for a while and were at room temperature.

The dough was noticeably sweet. Sesame and poppy seed flavour came through without being overwhelming. However, the bagels were too dense. 7/10 for both flavours.

Bagels on Greene has much more than bagels. It’s a full-service cafe with salads and a large variety of baked goods.

Exterior of Bagels on Greene — Bagels on Greene

Interior of Bagels on Greene — Bagels on Greene

Fairmount Bagel

Fairmount is the second-most famous bagel shop in Montreal, after St-Viateur. They have a bit of a rivalry going on, being located close to each other. Both have a steady flow of customers and high turnover, so you can be almost guaranteed to get a freshly-baked bagel.

One obvious difference is that Fairmount’s bagels are larger and slightly more expensive. The dough rose well and was mildly sweet. The sesame seeds were adequate but could be toasted more. 7.5/10.

My main gripe with poppy seed bagels is that there are too little seeds and they’re not evenly distributed. Continuing the trend, Fairmount’s bagel only had seeds on one segment and tasted plain. 6.5/10.

Fairmout Bagel is open 24h in case you have a sudden craving at 3am. The main oven opens directly to the counter, so you can literally see the inner workings of the bakery. Don’t miss their special flavours like chocolate or sun-dried tomato and olive. Few bakeries have this much variety.

Exterior of Fairmount Bagel — Fairmount Bagel

Interior of Fairmount Bagel — Fairmount Bagel

Hinnawi Bros

This is one of the newest bakeries on the list and their interiors are just as young and hip. They have several locations, all around downtown. I went to the one on Rue Ontario Est, close to UQAM.

These bagels looked like textbook Montreal bagels. They were generous in blanketing the bagels with sesame seeds and whatnot. However, this was clearly a bagel intended for sandwiches. The dough was bland on its own and rather dense. There was a whiff of sesame aroma but it would be better if they were toasted longer. The bagels were at room temperature. 6.5/10.

They didn’t have a poppy seed bagel, so I bought the everything bagel, which had some poppy seeds. Flavour-wise, it was better than the sesame one because it had more toppings. 7/10.

The target clientele is the cafe crowd: one can grab a bagel sandwich and coffee and chill out forever.

REAL Bagel

This is an unassuming neighbourhood bakery in Snowdon. You can see their dedication to bagels in their bagel-churning machinery, just like with St-Viateur Bagel.

The bagels had a mass-maufactured look to them, like ones destined for supermarkets. On the positive side, they were fresh-out-of-the-oven warm. The bagels had a bouncy chew and were mildly sweet. The sesame flavour was adequate. 7.5/10.

They were out of poppy seed bagels so I got an everything bagel. It had burnt onion flakes which overwhelmed the other flavours. The toppings were not evenly distributed around the bagel. 5.5/10.

Aside from bagels, they have a small selection of other baked goods. But let’s not kid ourselves on the main attraction here.

St-Viateur Bagel

Expectations are high for the most famous Montreal bagel bakery in the world. Like Fairmount, its reputation ensures a steady crowd and bagel-baking throughout the day. Chances are high that you’ll get a freshly-made one. There are a few branches around Montreal but foodies should go to the one that started it all, on Rue St-Viateur Ouest.

The bagels were small and irregularly-shaped. They were the sweetest of the bunch in this taste test. And there was a lingering warmth from being fresh out of the oven. The sesame could be more pronounced but the flavour of the dough made up for it.

Like Fairmount Bagel, the poppy seed variant was only coated partially on one side. I didn’t mind as much because the dough was soft and chewy. If the bagels were cold, the rating would be very different. 7.5/10 for both flavours.

At each of their locations, you can see the giant oven where they bake bagels and shuffle them down a chute.

Exterior of St-Viateur Bagel — St-Viateur Bagel

Bag from St-Viateur Bagel — St-Viateur Bagel

Verdict

The standard-bearers, St-Viateur and Fairmount, are still amongst the top bagel purveyors in the city, in part because of their high turnover. That keeps the bagels fresh and warm. However, a lesser-known option that’s just as fresh but with more generous toppings is Le Trou. It trumps the stalwarts.

Bagels Le Trou: 8/10
Best appearance, flavour, and those who like their bagels a bit more toasted. Almost gourmet.
St-Viateur Bagel: 7.5/10
The classic to measure the rest against.
Fairmount Bagel: 7/10
Hefty and more interesting flavours.
Bagels on Greene: 7/10
Sweet. Generous toppings. Might taste better fresh or when warmed up.
Bagel St-Lo: 6.75/10
Better suited for making sandwiches. Artisanal.
Hinnawi Bros: 6.75/10
Better suited for making sandwiches.
REAL Bagel: 6.5/10
Rough and ready. They would have scored much higher if their everything bagel wasn’t overwhelmed with burnt onion.