Save-On-Meat

[maxmillan]

My friend had a very good hamburger platter at this place. I had no idea they served food, let alone offer cheap cuts of meat. Apparently, it cost him only $4.50 for a 1 lb+ hamburger and fries, and they serve steak as well.

Anybody buy meat here?

Has anyone eaten here?

[Coop]

To be honest, even if they were serving fois gras for a dollar a pound, I doubt I'm brave enough to even get out of my car on that block.

[peppyre]

Oh, it's not that bad!! When I used to work in the area (no comments please) I used to stop in for my ground chicken. The use chicken breast and it's ground to order and it was dirt cheap. I think it was half the price of the grey mushy crap that I picked up at IGA.

[Chef Fowke]

To be honest, even if they were serving fois gras for a dollar a pound, I doubt I'm brave enough to even get out of my car on that block.

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Maybe a new thread....Coop is right, the area is not good.

The best meat in Vancouver does not ever, EVER, hit the markets. It can only be purchased through a few of the local suppliers. Though, at this time I do not have a kitchen, restaurant, buying power, etc...if we were really passionate about our meats we could do a bulk purchase. Maybe pick something unusual to start, like short-ribs...Minumum purchase would be 40lbs. We could all pitch in! (aahh, then maybe one day a monthly meat eaters club, eGullet style!)

<OR>

If someone would volunteer a kitchen for a Saturday morning I would volunteer my time and show everyone how to clean a side of beef, then we could divide it up and take it home...I hear it is about 59 cents a pound on the hoof or $2 a pound, hung.

[peppyre]

As a girl who spent my very early formidable years in a butcher shop, I will jump at the chance to play with a side of beef. I still have a few of my Grandpa's knives from his butchershop that my dad would actually part with. Ooohhhh......the thought of playing with a big side of meat is sooo exciting

(Yes, I know, I need to get out more)

[Mooshmouse]

As a girl who spent my very early formidable years in a butcher shop, I will jump at the chance to play with a side of beef.  I still have a few of my Grandpa's knives from his butchershop that my dad would actually part with.  Ooohhhh......the thought of playing with a big side of meat is sooo exciting

(Yes, I know, I need to get out more)

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Dear God peppyre. Step away from the cow.

I'm not sure that the glint in your eyes when you drive past a farm is a healthy thing.

[peppyre]

You mean it's not normal to look at cow in the meadow and actually see the cow roasting on a spit And here I thought I was perfectly normal

[Chef Fowke]

You mean it's not normal to look at cow in the meadow and actually see the cow roasting on a spit  And here I thought I was perfectly normal 

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Do we need to start at the Abattoir?

[Daddy-A]

You mean it's not normal to look at cow in the meadow and actually see the cow roasting on a spit  And here I thought I was perfectly normal 

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Do we need to start at the Abattoir?

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You know ... that might be truly disturbing, but educational at the same time. How many vegetarians can we create in one field trip??

A.

[peppyre]

OOOOHHHH!!!! Can we please!!!!!!!????? I used to love freaking people out by telling them I used to play with cows hanging on hooks

Interesting....I have a lot of friends that are vegetarians. Of course, they are never invited over for dinner.

[Tete Carre]

Let's not give Peppyre a tough time here ! I confess that when I drive by a lovely field full of plump sheep I think of things like: Rack of Lamb, Roast Leg of Lamb, Lamb Pizza, etc., etc.,etc., not to mention Merino Lamb undergarments for hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and visits to the Abbatoir where, I hear, it's very chilly.

Peppyre, can you teach us how to whip a hanger steak off of a dried aged beef carcass in under 15 seconds ?

[peppyre]

Ummm...I did say that my dad was the butcher right? I'm good with a knife, but not that good?

[chromedome]

I used to shop a lot at save-on-meats when I lived in Vancouver, twenty years ago. The quality was acceptable, and their prices were simply amazing. I used to buy chicken necks and backs (for soup) for 8 cents/lb, IIRC; and they had lamb "stew" (aka trimmings) for, I dunno, about 80 cents/lb. And for an offal-eater like me, that place was heaven. All the stuff I liked, and as cheap as any old-school granny could ask.

[Chef Fowke]

First their was; Apocalypse Now….

Then; Apocalypse Now, Redux...

Now showing here; Apocalypse Now, eGullet!

I can hear the sound track.

…up the Fraser River

Jay 'Chef' Hicks played by Neil Wyles…

Peppyre playing the role of Capt. Benjamin L. Willard

[Jeffy Boy]

"Never get out of the boat, man!! All I wanted to do was learn how to f***in' cook, man!!!"

[maxmillan]

It seems like whenever I ask a serious question, my thread gets bombarded with comments which strays from the original question. Sorry guys, but I'm not amused.

Anyhow, I ventured to Save-On-Meats today and had a plain burger with fries for less than $4. The owner of the store rents out the eatery to a family to run their business. The people working there are very friendly and seem to know a lot of the customers.

We chatted with some of the customers and decided that breakfast is something to try, which BTW is served all day for what I think is the best deal in town.

For those daring, I suggest taking a bus or walking it you're close by. Generally, I think you need to venture out to find some good eats. BTW, Cassis is very close by but no one seems to comment on the neighbourhood. I feel safer here than in Surrey.

[montrachet]

Sorry maxmillan but I have not been to Save-On-Meats.

If the store is located in such a "daring" area, who are the target customers? Is it the walk-in clientele or do they sell most of their meat as wholesalers?

[Daddy-A]

It seems like whenever I ask a serious question, my thread gets bombarded with comments which strays from the original question.  Sorry guys, but I'm not amused.

Well, this forum in general has never been very good at staying on topic. Keep in mind too maxmillan that after the Big Night, there is a lot of familiarity between some of the members. However, if we want to discuss butchering or peppyre's obsession with things bovine let's start another thread.

I drive by Save-on most mornings when I take J into work. Isn't there another butcher in the same neigbourhood ... on Hastings I think? Never been to Save-on, but used to buy from the other place all the time. I'll step over a junkie or two for cheap meat

A.

[butter]

Personally, I don't care how cheap or good the meat is there because I don't feel comfortable in that neighbourhood. I have a friend who works with the addicts down there and she advised me not to wander around there either... based on "wrong time, wrong place" theory. I'll pay an extra dollar to eat a hamburger somewhere else.

I confess ever since butchering lessons at culinary school, I too look at cows in a field in a whole different light. Friends think I am a freak. Perhaps my e-gullet friends are my true friends.

[Coop]

I would step over a junkie to get great meat but you can keep the cheap meat, there is lots of cheap meat here in the valley. I love the way this board wonders on and off topic. look where it was a year ago. Always on topic but little used. Now it's vibrant and interesting.

[montrachet]

Yes butter, look at the way Shige-san looks at fresh fish.

Yes we are perhaps your true friends!

[peppyre]

There actually used to be quite a few butcher's on Hastings. You must remember that at one time that was "The" place to shop in Vancouver. In fact, it was the only place to shop. Around the same time that Save-On-Meats opened up, my Grandpa opened his first butchershop at Hastings and Carrall, pretty much right across the street, and did a booming business. In fact, he opened up 2 more locations. When I used to work in the neighborhood, I would go in their quite frequently and truly, the product is OK, but it's not the best and it's certainly, for what you pay, it isn't the cheapest. Now, the chicken is another story. Great prices and if you want ground, that's the place to get it, but I wouldn't get a steak from there.

And really, the neighborhood isn't that bad. I used to work 3 blocks away. There's a reason that people will still drive in from all parts of the city to go to Save-On-Meats. I wouldn't count it out just because the area isn't what it once was. This place, believe it or not, is part of Vancouver's history and it should remain open. I wish our family shops were still around.

[Chef Fowke]

I would step over a junkie to get great meat but you can keep the cheap meat, there is lots of cheap meat here in the valley. I love the way this board wonders on and off topic. look where it was a year ago. Always on topic but little used. Now it's vibrant and interesting.

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I agree 100%

YES!

And to the point...great, keep the cheap meat, I once (underlined) bought meats there for a restaurant I worked for...it was awful. I hope the people who post here are more interested in quality then price...

I will start new threads about:

-eGulleteers get-together: cutting up a cow

-eGulleteers get-together: purchasing bulk prime meats

-eGulleteers get-together: wine and stock party

Sorry to add amusement to your e-post, good luck.

[DameD]

I go to Save On Meats often, i lived in loft there a few years ago, and it may seem a little scary of an area, but the people are very harmless. Save on Meats is also super clean and they have good butchers, will cut anything for you, grind anything and generally good service, never had their chicken or gone over to the processed meat there, but mostly the beef. Never had the burger but not sure if you remeber in the book "Stanley Park", they used to eat there often for the burger, i have heard it is quite good as well. There is also another cheap butcher on Powell street just up from Sunrise MArket

[Chef Fowke]

You know, I have been unfair, I have had one poor experience with Save-on-Meat and I am not being a good eGulleteer. I will do a blind taste test this weekend with a peice of sirloin from Save-on-meat, the Hammy and the British Butcher on the North Shore. With an unbiased panel of chefs we will blindly taste and critic, with photos.

I hope we are pleasantly surprised.

As a side note, I have been reading this other thread...it is really funny and menthions before mentioned establishment:

Inanimate Webpage

"We did what we said we would and hit the downtown eastside for Save-on-Meat hamburgers today. It might be the first place I've eaten at that had a sign that proclaimed "we accept meal tickets".

Our Neve Campbell (party of five) all ordered bacon and cheese burgers which surprised us by housing double patties. Fat, greasy, double patties. A heaping mound of fries came with it, but they were lifeless, tasteless and generally ignored. The burger itself was actually quite good except for the fact that it was possibly the greasiest burger I've ever eaten in my life. When I tilted the burger for my first bite a pool of grease formed on my fries.

We were probably the youngest and freshest looking (and smelling) kids in the joint. Middle class diners out slumming yet again, and enjoying it.

We headed next door to the army & navy where I ate the sketchiest hotdog I've ever met, and smiles were turned upside down by the broken malt machine. My hotdog was pale and wretched looking; a sick dog waiting to be euthanized by the next generous soul. The meat was loose and wet, the polar opposite of a hebrew national kosher beef frank. Sang threw his out after a bite or two, unable to get pass the utter grossness of the situation.

While at the A&N, I was able to pick up a copy of The Crippled Masters in a four pack of dvds for $12. Greasy burgers, terrible hotdogs, and shitty B movies. My day was made. "