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[Hawk]: Having spent a few years living just a short distance from Montreal, I know my way around a smoked meat sandwich. From 1990 to 1997, I slammed as many inch-thick smoked meat sandwiches into my stomach as it could possibly handle. The sandwiches and the poutine are two of the things I miss most about the area.

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So after years of living without smoked meat sandwiches, if you can call that "living", I was certainly happy to learn about the existence of Lanie's Place in Market Square. Opening in place of a chain restaurant that closed up shop a few months ago, Lanie's emerged with a large menu of Montreal-style treats along with some local fare such as donairs.

It was actually the recent Best of Food issue of [here] that brought the place to my attention. Lanie's won best lunch menu and scored its share of votes in best service with a smile, best donair, best pasta and best new restaurant. An impressive start.

[Brufrog]: I was surprised about Lanie's showing in the Best of Food awards, because I hadn't heard a peep from any of my foodie friends. I was wondering how Lanie's slipped under my radar. Part of the reason, of course, is that it's an unlicensed eatery, in a food court, and not a pub. But its claims of having Montreal smoked meat should have reached me, even if I couldn't drink a Montreal craft beer with it...

[Hawk]: On a recent lunch, I visited Lanie's Place. Obviously I was going to take advantage of the Montreal flavours on the menu, and got myself a reuben, the classic sandwich of smoked meat on rye bread with sauerkraut and mustard. My first impression of this sandwich was that it was among the smallest sandwiches I've seen in recent memory. Generally speaking there's nothing wrong with a small sandwich as long as it's made well and priced well. This one is $7.49 before tax. It had a couple ounces of thinly sliced smoked meat on the small rounds of rye bread, I would guess. Each half was about a three or four-biter.

The fries, at an extra $1.99, were very brown, somewhat limp and just warm. Something simply went wrong with the fries on this day. Lanie's also offers an option of pasta instead of fries, if you prefer. I'm a huge fan of fries though. I ate just a couple and finished the sandwich.

[Brufrog]: I wanted smoked meat too. I've lined up at the famous Schwartz's in Montreal several times for the honour of being gruffly served by old Jewish guys, only to be rushed through a monstrous stack of deliciously fatty meat (you can opt for leaner if you like), stuffed in a sandwich that can barely hold it. All washed down with two cans of Coke, just like the locals do, and accompanied my a monstrous garlicky dill pickle. It's a cultural thing, and it's great fun. I've been to the less interesting and more touristy Ben's too; in fact Brian Mulroney ate lunch a few booths over when we were there.

Anyway, I have expectations when a place advertises "Montreal smoked meat." At Lanie's I went for the special of the day: a smoked meat wrap with Swiss cheese, with a side of fries or salad (I took fries) and a pop (I opted for water), all for $6.99 tax = $7.90. It was fairly tasty, but quite small, in terms of the meat portion. Montrealers would riot if served this small a sandwich. My fries were a little crispier than Hawk's, but lukewarm. They tasted pretty good with lots of salt and ketchup. The "Special" price makes it a fair deal for lunch, but nothing that evokes the Montreal deli experience.

[Hawk]: My wife ordered the special of the day, a ham and cheese sandwich. The bread was more stiff and dry than it should have been and there was a slice of tomato that was sliced far too large and dominated the sandwich. The cheese is of the processed variety and was in pieces, presumably because of the small size of the bread. Her fries were like mine and she also decided to pass. Total for lunch, which included a smoothie for our daughter, was $22.05.

Overall, I'd say I really, really miss Montreal.