Montreal, SQLCE, and Smoked Meat...

Been in and out of Montreal speaking about Mobile Applications and SQLCE to user groups, and having a great time. This is part of the cross-Canada MSDN User Group tour.

After the meeting, we went to Ben's for some authentic Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches. This place is a landmark in Montreal. Same building (and decor) since the mid-40's. Had a lot of fun with the waiter. Good fella. He'd only been working there for 17 years, the "newest" waiter. There's one waiter there that has over 50 years of service. True to form, the smoked meat was awesome. Funny enough, they still do every little thing by hand. Even totalling up the bill at the end. Each waiter also has a ration of Ketchup for the day (5 bottles for the entire restaurant), and if they run out, that's it. During the day, they can go up and ring a buzzer to get into the storeroom for more. They have to fill the ketchup bottles, and sign for the amount extra that they use.

Was happy to see the menu on the table when I sat down, they had a bar menu there. It had Rye. Heaven after a long day, so I ordered one, only to be told that they don't serve alcohol from the bar for the last two years. So I asked why the bar list was still on the table, only to be told they've been there for two years, nobody's bothered to pick them up.

Neat experience, had a blast!