Smoke Meat heaven.. the real deal! Caplansky's!

** MOVED TO A NEW LOCATION See below for address***
A group of my co-workers and I decided to find out what all the buzz about the Smoked Meat at Caplansky's was and it's definitely worth tooting about!
We noticed that our group of ladies definitely brought down the sausage fest going on in this resto-bar-deli. We were the only ladies in the restaurant full of older men!

Caplansky's is located on the 2nd story of the old Lounge 88 bar on Clinton street just south of College. We all decided to try the different degrees of sandwiches- from lean, medium to fatty (which of course was my choice- that's the way the Montrealers eat it!) ... they came very fast and were exactly how each of it liked our sandwiches- tender and big!! The meat is very smoky so it's different from that of Schwartz's in Montreal or Carnegie Deli in NYC - it's sweeter and there's an airiness that lingers after each bite. Caplansky actually is the only restaurant that does the entire process in- house- from curing the meat to smoking it so you know you're in good hands.



They also provide you with homemade mustard- which is a very strong wasabi like grainy mustard - which went well with my fatty sandwich. If strong mustard doesn't strike your fancy- they also have a mustard cart -with deli style, regular and honey mustard. The only things they don't make in-house are the pickles which were very succulent and juicy, bread and desserts as they come from Wanda's Pie in the Sky (mmm). They do have a homemade cheesecake which one of their chef's makes in the back.
I ordered the sandwich, the smoked meat poutine (of course) and a cherry coke which is my regular order minus the pout! I had finished my sandwich before 2 of my cowkrs finished their first half!! The poutine was really yummy but of course eating a smoked meat sandwich- ahem- a FATTY smoked meat sandwich and having poutine with Smoked meat on it- just made me feel like I was eating a cardiac platter! We also ordered fries (for the sake of the food blog) - they were good and the portion was huge!
Our bellies were full but our gracious server Zane surprised us with dessert which were mini strudel with wal-nuts - from Wanda's- A-mazing.! Our bill came with hubba-bubba chewing gum and wet naps which i thought was a perfect end to a great lunch.
A note- if you order anything other than Cherry coke or water- you might get stopped at the door and asked to pay the bartender as Caplansky splits the space with the bar which also explains why there were older men who brought in large messy Italian sandwich take out from California Sandwiches and ate them at the table behind us drinking beer.

I know my dad would love this place so I plan on going back with him!

Caplansky's - 356 College Street, College & Spadina
*** stars ( out of 5)