Meeeeeaat!

Kickers Smoked Meat & Deli

1215 1 St SW

www.kickersdeli.ca

Wandering near my work last week, I discovered a new eatery. Hooray! I gathered the troops from the office and headed back the next day. Kickers is the name of the place and Montreal smoked meat is the name of the game. Located in a former coat room, the owner has done a fabulous job of renovating the space while maintaining some of the existing fixtures. Like this chandelier. That was one fancy coat room I tell ya! 

The little shop was manned by two staff, including the owner. They could have used another guy or two during the lunch hour rush. There was a huge back log of orders when we arrived. It didn't help that the other guy made the wrong things. 


I wanted a poutine with a regular cut Montreal smoked meat sandwich and it just so happened he made an extra poutine just as I was about to order... Perfect! The poutine was super fresh. The crispy fries were drenched in gravy and smothered with cheese curds. So amazing! The portions were decent and I would have been super stuffed had I tried to devour the whole thing but Jordan came to my rescue with his plastic fork. Those fries stood no chance.

Our numbers were called some time after and we picked up our sandwiches. It came with a side of soup or salad. I chose the soup. The feature of the day changed to the Santa Fe Tortilla as we ordered. It was pretty flavourful and likely pre made and came in some sort of can or tub. No matter. It was not bad. The Montreal smoked meat was really good. Not too fatty. The regular cut featured a pretty impressive stack of the tender and flavourful meat sandwiched between two slices of rye bread with a house mustard spread. Pretty excellent overall and very much nap inducing. Nothing a Starbucks can't fix. There's one conveniently located across the street. You know what they say - "Location, location, location"

The scores:

Atmosphere: 7 out of 10. The interior was really nice. Bonus points for restoring the vintage chandelier.

Food: 7 out of 10. Pretty decent food. Good portions.

Presentation: 6 out of 10. Typical deli sandwich presentation. Plastic basket with checkered paper. It's the classic look.

Price: 7 out of 10. Decently priced, on par with similar places.

Service: 8 out of 10. The owner was very sociable. Even brought out the sandwiches for the people when it was slow. Checked in on everyone to make sure everything was great. Not something you would expect at similar establishments.

Overall: 8 out of 10. Thumbs up for Kickers Smoked Meat & Deli!