Location
Let's face it, as down-towners, St. Lawrence is rather convenient for us on all but the laziest or coldest of days. Door to door in less than 30 minutes.
Marche Jean Talon is not quite so handy. It is in Montreal where I occasionally live. But even from my place in Montreal it's still a solid hour to get there and is not exactly downtown.
Public transit options about equal to both markets.
Edge St. Lawrence
Layout/Size
St. Lawrence is probably physically bigger, but Jean-Talon felt a lot more spaced out and not so overwhelmingly busy. I liked the mix of indoor & outdoor at Jean-Talon vs the two buildings at St. Lawrence.
Edge: Jean Talon
Fish & Seafood
Definite edge to St. Lawrence. Not a heck of a lot of seafood at Jean-Talon.
St Lawrence
St. Lawrence
Fresh fish on the way to St Lawrence
Edge: St. Lawrence
Meat
St. Lawrence - lots of regular steaks, ribs & poultry.
Jean-Talon - smoked meat and charcuterie in general seemed superior.
Jean Talon
St Lawrence
St Lawrence
St Lawrence
Edge: Equal
Quebecois Specialty Food
Toronto really doesn't have a distinct food genre, instead we seem to have stolen good stuff from other cultures. The only moderately good thing in Toronto is the peameal bacon sandwich.
Jean Talon - good stuff like crepes, smoked meat, meat pies, sugar pies, maple syrup etc available.
Jean Talon
St Lawrence
Edge: Jean Talon
Produce
Perhaps about the same variety & pricing, but Jean-Talon had lots of nice looking displays and vendors seemed to spend more time on presentation.
Jean Talon
Edge: Jean-Talon
Flowers
Are there flowers at St. Lawrence? Only a meager amount as part of a produce store.
Jean Talon
St. Lawrence
Edge: Jean-Talon
Dry Goods
St Lawrence has a super cool store downstairs with lots of bulk & specialty dry goods downstairs. Add in a rice & bean store and it's an easy choice.
Edge: St Lawrence
Criminal Element
St Lawrence has cops for helping people cross the street, Jean-Talon had cruisers driving through presumably looking for criminals.
Jean Talon
Edge: St Lawrence.
Pasta
Whole stores dedicated to the making of fresh pasta at Jean-Talon. At St. Lawrence, merely a small table.
Jean Talon
St Lawrence
Edge: Jean-Talon
Cheese
Surprisingly, St Lawrence appears to be superior with a couple huge cheese shops. Nothing too major at Jean Talon.
St. Lawrence
Edge: St. Lawrence
Bakery
Future Bakery vs sugar pies. Who can really make a call between these two.
St Lawrence
Edge: neutral
Housewares
One extremely cramped store at St. Lawrence and a few other little guys. Jean-Talon has a few places, just as well equipped but a lot nicer & spaced out.
Jean Talon
St Lawrence
Beer
St. Lawrence has the LCBO down the street, Jean-Talon has specialty wine shops & local beer by the bottle.
Edge: Jean-Talon
Final Count - 2 up Jean Talon, but really they are about equal.
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