Kosher Restaurants in Montreal, Page 5

The kosher scene sits in a band of adjoining western and central neighbourhoods: Cote Saint-Luc, Snowdon, Cote-des-Neiges, Hampstead, Outremont, and Ville Mont-Royal, with more out in Ville Saint-Laurent and Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Cote Saint-Luc has the largest single share, and the Cavendish Mall area there, together with the Decarie and Van Horne corridors, gives you the densest run of restaurants, bakeries, delis, pizza, and takeout.

It is a compact, community-rooted scene rather than a tourist strip, so the rooms tend to be family places that residents use week in and week out. The orange Metro line and the buses along Cote-des-Neiges and Cote Saint-Luc roads connect the main districts, so you can manage without a car if you base yourself in the middle of it.

The overwhelming majority of certified establishments carry MK, the mark of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal, the Vaad Ha'ir, which publishes a regularly updated dining directory. That makes checking a place straightforward. One thing worth flagging for visitors: Montreal is famous for smoked meat, but the well-known tourist delis are generally not kosher, so do not assume the name on a landmark deli means it carries a hechsher. Stick to the certified list and confirm the teudah.

As across observant communities, nearly everything closes for Shabbat from Friday afternoon through Saturday night, so plan Friday meals and Saturday takeout ahead. During the week and on Saturday night the western neighbourhoods have plenty open.