Sandwich Timatin vs. Egg McMuffin: In the rest of Canada, the breakfast sandwich that Tim Hortons introduced a few months ago is called on the menu, imaginatively, "Hot Breakfast Sandwich". In Quebec it's called a more pun-y "Sandwich Timatin" (C'est fun, non? Oui. Which is why I only refer to Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches as Timatins). I have already publically proclaimed my love for the classic Egg McMuffin **, but now that I've had a few Timatins to compare it to, let's make it formal:

- Reason why I have had more Timatins than Egg McMuffins in the past few months: Tim Hortons makes their breakfast sandwich available until noon on weekends. McDo stops at eleven. While I can always easily make the noon cutoff for a Timatin, eleven on a precious weekend morning is cutting it close. 1 point for Timatin.
- The Timatin doesn't come with any frills attached - no hash brown, no orange juice. This means you can order decent coffee to go with it. Or a cafe mocha with extra whipped cream. Or a Coke. Or a side order of Timbits. The opportunities are endless! But, do you really want extra whipped cream with your breakfast? Or donuts? Because I don't, really. The hash brown in a paper sleeve + orange "juice" is such a classic, infaillable sidekick. 1 point for Timatin, 2 points for the McMuffin.
- The egg in a Timatin is scrambled. McDonald's is more poach-y. I like the clear distinction between egg white and yolk - it's prettier and somehow feels less greasy. 1 point for McDonalds.
- I was impressed by the little kick in the Tim Hortons sausage. There's like, pepper in it or something. Nice job! 1 point for Timmy.
- The combination of egg+sausage on a biscuit is so heavenly and decadent, but I remember travelling down south in the United States and being vaguely disapointed by the biscuits - they would always disintegrate; their crumb isn't strong enough. But the Tim Hortons biscuit is a solid cake, dry, but it never breaks. How do they do it? In theory, biscuits will always trump English muffins. 1 point for Timmy.
- For a long time I was very against ketchup on any breakfast food other than homefries. But I eventually realized that the ketchup is such an important part of a breakfast sandwich experience - the precarious balancing of the sandwich on my knee as I try to squirt the ketchup on cleanly as Andrew pulls the car back onto the highway so that we can continue on our journey to wheverever we happen to be going. And it tastes good. The Timatin biscuit seems to absorb the ketchup like a sponge - I don't know where it goes. And I don't feel like searching around the paper bag for a fresh packet. So, 1 point for McDo.
- On the whole, the Timatin is much less greasy than the Egg McMuffin. You don't get that slick of oil staining the paper the sandwich is wrapped in the way you do at McDonalds. Comendable. 1 point for Timmy.
- The cheese is gross on both, but necessary. No points each.

Based on that list, Timatins are narrowly beating Egg McMuffins by 1 point. But, on a pure taste basis, it's pretty hard to beat an Egg McMuffin. 2.5 points McDonalds.

Winner: McDonalds!

(Although it should be noted that I've had better, more satisfying egg + sausage + cheese + muffin/biscuit experiences at non-fast foody places. One of my most sublime breakfast experiences, for instance, was just outside of Charleston, North Carolina, eating a sandwich made at a corner store before hanging out at the beach for the rest of the day.)

** Okay, I suppose technically the classic Egg McMuffin has Canadian bacon instead of sausage, but who orders those? In my culinary dictionary, the true classic Egg McMuffin is one made with sausage, or the "sausage Egg McMuffin".

Bagel Etc (4320, boulevard Saint-Laurent): One of my more charming breakfast experiences from the past winter was this one snowy Sunday morning - Andrew and I had decided to have breakfast together before heading in separate directions. The snow was really starting to stick and most people were smart and stayed at home, but we braved the outdoors anyway (i.e. the only way to survive the winter in Montreal). Once at the restaurant we were told that while Bagel Etc was still serving breakfast, their electricity was cut for some maintenance work on the street and the menu would be limited to whatever they could cook on their gas stove. The restaurant was dim, but remarkably busy for a place that greeted its customers with the fact that they had zero electricity and that there would be no coffee refills because it took too long to brew without regular power, so we just stomped the snow off our boots and sat down. I could still order what I wanted (some kind of poached egg-y kind of thing, or maybe it was the omelette that comes with bananas and raisins) and I still got a good toasted bagel and that one cup of coffee was just what I needed.

Nouveau Canada Chien Chaud (2200, rue Beaubien E.): I've been living in Montreal for a few months now, and Nouveau Canada is the kind diner you can find in any neighbourhood - the one with an ugly sign and the ubiquitous "chien chauds...spaghetti...sous marins" tagline that makes you wonder who are all these people that actually order spaghetti at a diner. I've been to a few of these already (off the top of my head, Bonne Bouffe Souvlaki at 2301 Rue Ontario E, which is technically a Greek place, but they also sell a $4.25 breakfast and plates of spaghetti). This type of diner makes for an okay/mediocre breakfast. There's always a table available, the food comes quick, and it's cheap. But not very fulfilling.

I had higher expectations for Nouveau Canada based on a blurb I read in this month's issue of En Route Magazine, the Air Canada monthly. There was a feature on "Canada's Next Great Neighbourhoods", and for Montreal they focused on Beaubien street. These articles need to be taken with a big chunk of salt, but I'm always up for a new diner recommendation, so on Saturday morning (or, early afternoon since we slept in) we went up to Beaubien to check it out. There were at least 2 old ladies in fancy hats, a group of men that ordered 3 steamies each, and an older couple beside us who got an order of fries and 2 coffees. I like that kind of thing. Ate 2 eggs over-easy (requested over-medium, but they were pretty yolky), greasy sausages and home fries. Andrew got his with bacon and regular fries, which was better. There were some actual orange and banana slices on the plate, which I don't expect from a diner like this.

Overall, not great, not bad, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you were in the neighbourhood.