I'm such a tourist.
So yes, I had to grab a famous Montreal bagel on my recent trip. I hiked out here from my downtown hotel on a lovely Friday morning and was surprised to arrive to a line out the door. Fortunately, Fairmount is very efficient and I was quickly at the front of the line. I ordered one sesame and one cinnamon raisin bagel, paid up, and was out of there because there is no place to eat in the store. I settled on a bench outside, decided to save my cinnamon raisin bagel as a snack during my later Mont Royal hike, and started eating. Having finished the sesame bagel, I promptly reversed my decision and also ate the cinnamon raisin one. I'm a tourist with poor impulse control.
My Lonely Planet tour book informed me that Montreal residents refer to our American bagels as "hockey pucks" (whether or not this is true, I have no idea). And I can see why. These bagels are definitely "wetter" than ours are - perhaps because they're dunked in water before they go in the oven. They're also slightly sweeter. I dunno...at the end of the day they were good, but a bagel's kind of a bagel's kind of a bagel. After the hype I was expecting this bagel to change my life and make me swear off American bagels forever. Let's just say I've already purchased a Dunkin' Donuts bagel since my return.
Prices are super reasonable, and I saw they had bags of day old bagels for even less money available at the front of the store.