Abie's prides itself on doing smoked meat the traditional way; nitrate free and with lots of love. I'll have to admit, the discernible characteristic of smoked meat that is pumped full of pink curing salt that makes you want to grind your teeth together and have the squeak resonate in your skull like nails on a chalkboard was not present in Abie's smoked meat. Having your mouth feel like it was coated with paint stripper isn't always pleasant, and fortunately, this isn't the case there.
Look, the smoked meat is decent and can hold you over until you make the trip into town for something that will ultimately fill the void like your favourite spot can. I've read mixed reviews on this place - which sound like people who were comparing their favourite and not having this stand-in cut it... Does a taxi get you to work if your car is in the shop? Yes. Is it any 'less' of a car? No. Abie's does the trick if you're in the middle of St Jean, amidst a snowstorm and there's 45 mins worth of traffic on the 40. Are there better in the city, sure... it just depends who you ask.