here’s a turf war afoot here in Montreal, and it involves elements not of Hells, but Hellas. I speak of the battle for Best Souvlaki of Montreal, and the warriors are not the restaurants, but their rabid fans and their best-of lists. About Montreal souvlaki, there are more conflicting opinions than at a Bloc-Alliance luau.

I quickly realized that it was hopeless to try to visit all the restaurants on everybody’s lists; there were just too many, and very few lists overlapped the others. Some leaned towards the chains, and some to local joints. I decided to try a mix of the two.

Marathon Souvlaki started off with four seats in Laval, but now has four branches in the Montreal region. The one I stopped at was near Decarie Square. “That’s a sitdown place, not fast food,” admonished one of my friends. Still, the name kept coming up on lists of “Best Souvlaki in Montreal,” so I had to give it a try.

It was indeed a “sitdown place.” There was nothing fast food about it, although they have a waiting area for takeout. It was decided to use as a yardstick just one dish: a chicken pita souvlaki with whatever came on the platter, usually a salad, rice and/or fries.

Marathon's chicken pita platter

Marathon’s arrived in about ten minutes, and all the players except the salad were piping hot. The pita was wrapped tightly in pink butcher paper and contained a generous amount of chicken, onion, tomatoes and tsaziki – lots of tsaziki. “There’s too much tsaziki,” was one complaint at the table, but I liked that just fine. Not being a souvlaki habitué makes me non-tsaziki-picky. Marathon’s version was not only velveteen, but boldly garlicky – definitely a plus. The chicken was spicy and moist and the tomato was ripe and not bitter. The pita was the way I like it, pliable but with a slight toasted “chaw” to it.

It went downhill from there.

I had heard some vague mutterings that a place called “Village Grec” on Decarie “kicked Marathon’s ass”, so down I went. Village Grec’s version of the chicken pita came with both rice and fries in addition to the salad for about a dollar less than Marathon, but it was exponentially on a lower rung of the culinary ladder. The indifferent converted rice was cold, the tsaziki was insipid and the chicken was underspiced. The fries were the only saviours of the meal: non-greasy butcher-cut wedges that were crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Knowing that souvlaki in Montreal is frequently eaten via delivery or takeout, I wanted to see what a souvlaki platter was like after being cooked, shoved into a container and beaten around the back seat of a delivery car for about 20 minutes, so I ordered from Arahova Souvlaki, a small but popular souvlaki chain. It’s impossible to tell whether or not this particular delivery came from the chain’s flagship store on St. Viateur, as I ordered through a delivery service rather than direct from the restaurant, but nonetheless the order arrived within 40 minutes or so within the downtown area.

Just as I had anticipated, the food was considerably the worse for wear. The salad was limp, the rice was lukewarm and the souvlaki itself was steamed into submission. Since there is no logical way to reheat a souvlaki, I dove in immediately. The tsaziki, while creamy enough, lacked the garlic and cucumber punch of Marathon’s. The chicken was appropriately tender, but was almost crowded out by what looked to be a half a tomato, beefy and uncut.

Not content to judge Arahova on the one meal, I ordered again a few nights later. This time I was to discover I had made the mistake of not specifying chicken in the souvlaki, and the mystery meat that was within – I couldn’t tell if it was pork or beef (could have been lamb) was tough, resilient and very, very unhappy.

“Elatos on Jarry is pretty good,” came the recommendation of a foodie friend, but I knew he was a big fan of holes in walls. Sure enough, this tired old taverna-type joint was in serious need of some Dap.

When the platters arrived, however, we knew we had struck neighbourhood gold. The fries were crisp, hot and grease-free, the salad was perky in a savoury vinaigrette and the souvlaki, plump, juicy chicken in a garlic-cucumber extravaganza of tsaziki, equalled or even surpassed Marathon’s. Eureka!

The result of this souvlaki quest? Another list, of course. -- Reviewed by Chef Nick

• Marathon Souvlaki, 5365 des Jockeys (at Décarie & Jean-Talon) | Tel.: (514) 731-6455
• Souvlaki Village Grec, 825 Décarie | Tel.: (514) 744-0220
• Arahova Souvlaki, 256 St. Viateur West | Tel.: (514) 272-4681
• Restaurant Elatos Souvlaki, 550 Jarry St. West | Tel.: (514) 273-5358