If you have never had a Montreal bagel, then the ideal way to have one is to go to Montreal and walk over to St. Viateur or Fairmount Bagels. Sometimes, though you just can’t get there.

If you are new to the Montreal bagel and you are not headed to Montreal any time soon then just know this: You must toast your bagel since you are not eating it fresh.

I just learned, thanks to Richard over at Boston Burger Blog, that Montreal bagels were spotted at Whole Foods. Today, I tracked them down and found a nice big bag of REAL Bagels.

It also turns out I just polished off the last of my hand delivered bag of REAL bagels this morning so in the name of research I toasted myself one more bagel to compare. My bagels were brought to me on Friday, and it was nice to see that these ones I bought today were fairly fresh, more so than my week old bagels.

If you miss bagels from home, and home is Montreal, then these are a great option. Walnut Market in Newton also gets fresh deliveries from St. Viateur. If you want something locally made the simit at Sofra Bakery is a bit sweeter but a great alternate!