La Fromagerie Hamel

I have long been a fan of the Fromagerie Hamel in Jean Talon and was excited to check out the Atwater location. It is smaller than Jean Talon with less selection, particularly in the specialty food area. There's still plenty of bread and cheese. I also adore their reusable bags featuring large pictures of cheese (I bought three of those). I also picked up some nice cheese accompaniments including one made of Sauterne wine, one made of rose petals (exceptional with goat cheese) and one made of tomatoes. Service was quick and bonus points to the cashier for complimenting my French!

They have almost every cheese you can think of.

Meat as well.

Staff is friendly but was in a bit of a hurry so wasn't really liking how slow the guy was taking.

Asked for not spicy salami got spicy even after he said u can smell it and know it's not spicy... Rightttt lmao it was still delicious but found it a bit funny.

Only thing they're lacking is good onion jelly and the they would have the whole package.

I love this place - though I don't take advantage of the diversity of cheese it offers. I basically limit myself to their selection of small batch goat cheese rounds (to slice and toast on bread - goes GREAT with a simple spring mix, olive oil, preserved lemon, and aged balsamic salad). And their aged manchego cheese with quince jelly (goes great on thin sliced baguette - sweet, salty, and nutty goidness). In any case, there's a good variety and the price is ok. And Atwater is generally a nice and pleasant place to go to. Happy this is all in my neighbourhood.

Great selection of just about everything you would need, we tried 5 different Quebec cheeses and 5 different cured meats (Italian and Spanish, sorry Quebec) along with two breads from La Fromagerie Hamel and everything was excellent (including the nicely matching Quebec wine from the SAQ across the street - just bring your own glasses and corkscrew!). The service at La Fromagerie Hamel was amazing and we tried every meat before we bought it plus the guy helped us pick out the 5 perfect, local cheeses. They apparently don't have raw milk cheeses anymore (which is normal for us in the States) but everything we were able to buy was amazing.

It's smaller than Fromagerie Atwater in the lower level of the Atwater Market but seems more personable and after an initial visit I won't go anywhere else on future visits. Plus the pricing is amazingly reasonable for the quality of product you're buying - I would have to pay about double in New Orleans to get similar meat, cheese, & bread of the same quality.

I bought cheese each day and in the beginning of our visit started with the big ones in Jean-Talon including Hamel. After a few visits I gravitated towards Hamel at Atwater more than the others.

Much less commercial than Jean-Talon, the Atwater location's staff was really passionate about cheese. The have a stash in the back that goes beyond what's displayed. Don't hesitate to challenge them if you have experience and inclination.

I followed along as one guy asked a series of questions trying to match a cheese to his meal & wine. After some tastes another employee overheard and stepped in with a perfect suggestion. It was an artesian raw milk cheese fresh with just 30 days of age. Made by a small family farmstead in Quebec I grabbed one too. The producer, Au Gré Des Champs makes 5 cheeses and this one, Le Pont Blanc was exceptional,

This is the cheese you search for and can only find in the best fromagerie since it requires the patience of both the buyer and seller. No fast transactions here so if convenience is important there's always IGA.

This was my favorite of all fromagerie's in Montreal and Atwater Market seemed just the right size for me too.

I would really to give 4 stars and say that I am a fan but I always get a bit frustrated by how much is it difficult to have a selection of raw milk cheese here (and anywhere in Quebec now). Also, they are ripening their own brand of cheese and since then the selection of other cheese seems to have shrink. For instance, it seems that their is no other choices of raw milk camembert than their own and this is a cheese that benefit so much from the raw milk.

So whose to blame? Regulations? The market demand? Hamel pushing their brand? I don't know but I have always that frustration there. Regardless, it's still my favourite place to buy cheese at the Atwater market as they carry the best selection, even if somewhat limited.

After comparing prices with the other popular cheese place at Atwater, I decided this place is the go-to one for imported Swiss products (fondue and raclette cheeses, Viande des Grisons). Other places are like 20% higher for basically the same imported cheese.

I find the service is also less pretentious!