Dunn's Famous - Vancouver

Dunn 's is a delicatessen that first opened in Montreal in 1927. They turned into a chain and now have seven locations in Quebec, one in Ontario, and one in British Columbia. The specialty of the house is smoked meat and they 're very likely your best bet for authentic Montreal smoked meat outside of Quebec. The Vancouver restaurant is located downtown and the entire place is an ode to Montreal with it 's iconic signage, exposed brick walls, and Montreal themed photography and artwork. It certainly feels 'newer ' than the homeland locations because it is but a similar vibe can be found here. Founder Myer Dunn 's photo is right there on the wall!<br/ <br/ We visited on a Friday evening and were seated at a table by the window atop red and black chairs their signature colour scheme. The servers are friendly and the menu is extensive and pretty well matched to what you 'll see on the menu in Montreal. Although I did notice that the prices seemed to be a bit higher.<br/ <br/ Here 's a little bit of smoked meat snobbery for you: In Montreal Dunn 's is viewed as more of a 'chain ' and less as one of the top places to get smoked meat. Not to say that their product isn 't good, but I wouldn 't say that they 're on the same level as Schwartz 's, The Main, Lester 's or Smoke Meat Pete. That being said, having any sort of representation all the way over on the west coast is exciting.<br/ <br/ For those who know, the only acceptable beverage to order while eating smoked meat is black cherry soda. Anything else and you 're doing it wrong! Thankfully the Vancouver Dunn 's is aware of this and I ordered a Black Cherry Fountain Soda $2.50 . It 's the house wine of Montreal delicatessens!<br/ <br/ For our appetizer we instantly ordered up the Latkas Potato and onion pancakes with sour cream $4.00 in the 'add on ' size. These were okay enough. Certainly not up to the caliber of the latkas at The Main in Montreal, but better than nothing. They just didn 't seem 'homemade ' enough for me. I found them a bit too dense, although they were fried and seasoned well. There was no option to order apple sauce with them, which is a bit of a misstep.<br/ <br/ They also have Matzoh Ball soup on the menu... I 'm curious as to how that goes over.<br/ <br/ My husband and I decided to share the Smoked Meat Poutine Made with hand cut Kennebec fries, fresh Canadian cheese curds covered in our original BBQ beef gravy. We make our gravy in house from scratch using roasted beef bones and our signature barbecue spice mix. Served with chopped smoked meat $13.00 also known as the Dunn 's Poutine. This poutine was very good and very legit. The fries were wonderfully golden and crispy, yet had just the right sogginess after sitting in the gravy. It was exactly the right crispy to sogginess ratio. The cheese curds were on point and plentiful. First of all, they were cheese curds and not some other blasphemous type of cheese if you are ever served poutine with anything other than cheese curds, you aren 't eating poutine . And the sauce brune as it 's called in Quebec was quite good with a bit of spice. You can tell that they understand the importance of getting it right. And of course the finely chopped smoked meat on top was piled on thick just like it should be and was full of flavour. I would say that this was a near perfect specimen.<br/ <br/ We also shared their signature sandwich: The Best Reuben in the City Hand sliced smoked meat double stacked in dark rye bread with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing $16.00 with a Dunn 's Original Putters Deli Dill Pickle $1.00 . This is what you come for. At first glance, I was loving the heaping amount of sauerkraut and oozing Swiss. The smoked meat itself didn 't appear to be stacked as high as you would get it in Montreal but what really counts is the taste. And it tasted pretty good. The meat was juicy and flavorful, boasting that signature smokey spicy savoury... special flavour that is unmatched anywhere else. It might not have been quite the same as in Montreal, but for being all the way over here on the other side of the country, it tasted pretty convincingly like authentic smoked meat.<br/ <br/ The pickle was also excellent. Exactly what you want it to be. They also have something called a 'Dill Tomato ' and I want to learn a whole lot more about that. <br/ <br/ It may not have been an absolute perfect experience. But let 's face it: Vancouver is just about as far away as you can get from Montreal without leaving the country 4,500 kms away! . The fact that Dunn 's is here, among the sushi and vegetarian food is at least something. I wonder if the cooks at the Vancouver location are sent to Montreal for training? I would assume so! Plus they serve breakfast on the weekend. Come home to the rich bread cheese meat eating that Montreal teaches you to know, love and crave.

I think I must have walked past this place hundreds of times but I finally stopped in and I loved it. We ordered some Matzo Ball Soup, a Californian Grilled Cheese, a Cuban Sandwich, some Pickles and some Cherry Cokes. Food was fresh and delicious and the Service attentive and friendly. Will go back for more.

This restaurant is incredible! The sandwich was delicious, especially the Montreal meat, and the cheesecake was so yummy. I definitely recommend this place, the service was also fantastic.

Make sure to try Dunn's poutine! You will absolutely adore it. This is the ultimate spot for delicious smoked meat. I am a huge fan!

We dined at this restaurant last night for the first time and it was fantastic! Everything we ordered was delicious. The staff was incredibly friendly and attentive. We are looking forward to going back again soon.