good meat around downtown Toronto

[yuli]

Anyone who lives in Toronto...can you tell me if you know good places to just grab some good meat.
I already found a few but I want to know if you know something I don't know lol

I am not talking about ordering meat from good farms, but something I can grab on the go! Like when I am biking around and get hungry or have run out of supplies and didn't get my pay yet so I have to just buy a small quantity like 2 steaks.
Also whats a good butcher to get organs from in Toronto?

Also ordering big quantities of meat will mean that I have to freeze it, I don't want to freeze it, I don't like frozen things, hence why I ask where to get smaller portions so I can have them 'fresh'.

[yuli]

low and behold, just went to COSTCO (this is a cheap giant superstore with food, butcher, furniture, electronics, everything)....and they had fresh WILD salmon fillets! And these looked way better then the ones at the health store (which looked old / not appetizing so I never bought them and got the farmed there instead)...the flesh is scarlet red, so bright, almost looks neon lol.
The taste is amazing, forget about adding any condiments, I have been having farmed salmon for 3 days - with this one the taste difference is wow, its like a fruit (yes I am a salmon addict, soon mercury will pour out my ears  ).
Didn't see any worms it looked very super clean...This steak should last me 2-3 days...along with the New Zealand lamb chops I got there, the lamb I was not sure about (my sense of smell is over-sensitive and it had an oddness) so I threw it in hot butter both sides for exactly 3 seconds...that made a 1 mm cooked layer, so my lamb is 1-2% cooked lol (I think that makes little diff)...plus gramma was over and watching me so I did it to please her ha ha 

I think COSTCO is my new place to shop, I must check more of these big/bulk stores instead of going to those little healthfood store who have their stinky meat sitting there for god know how long since no one buys it because of their rediculous prices!

YUM now I am stuffed with wild salmon and fatty lamb...and I feel like running circles around my house

[yuli]

PS: and thanks for the messages with suggestions!

[michaelwh]

Some above-average butcher shops in Toronto that I know of:

Cumbrae's
The Healthy Butcher
Rowe Farms
Bloor Meat Market (they have some organic meat, but not a lot)

Rowe Farms often have organs, marrow bones, and suet in their freezer.

Also, if you like fish, there's a good fishmonger, called Snapper's Fish Market, somewhere between Jane & Bloor and Runnymede & Bloor. His prices are high, and he only has the best-quality fish.

And if you don't mind getting your hands dirty, you can get fresh Canada goose at the waterfront

[yuli]

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll try them all!

[ys]

I would not eat raw meat from Costco.  Beef is surely grain fed as it is pretty fatty and i'd suppose it has the standard stuff like hormones and antibiotics.

Lamb is imported usually from Australia, it is grain finished.

I buy Comte cheese there, it's made from raw milk.

[kurite]

low and behold, just went to COSTCO (this is a cheap giant superstore with food, butcher, furniture, electronics, everything)....and they had fresh WILD salmon fillets! And these looked way better then the ones at the health store (which looked old / not appetizing so I never bought them and got the farmed there instead)...the flesh is scarlet red, so bright, almost looks neon lol.
The taste is amazing, forget about adding any condiments, I have been having farmed salmon for 3 days - with this one the taste difference is wow, its like a fruit (yes I am a salmon addict, soon mercury will pour out my ears  ).
Didn't see any worms it looked very super clean...This steak should last me 2-3 days...along with the New Zealand lamb chops I got there, the lamb I was not sure about (my sense of smell is over-sensitive and it had an oddness) so I threw it in hot butter both sides for exactly 3 seconds...that made a 1 mm cooked layer, so my lamb is 1-2% cooked lol (I think that makes little diff)...plus gramma was over and watching me so I did it to please her ha ha 

I think COSTCO is my new place to shop, I must check more of these big/bulk stores instead of going to those little healthfood store who have their stinky meat sitting there for god know how long since no one buys it because of their rediculous prices!

YUM now I am stuffed with wild salmon and fatty lamb...and I feel like running circles around my house

Just make sure they aren't dyed.

[yuli]

ys:

I din't eat beef from costco, it didn't look very good I agree! Only their wild salmon (tasted amazing) and lamb.
I don't care if it ate some grains, I am doing pretty well on a mix of grain fed organic, some grassfed as well, and wild (mostly) fatty fish.
BUT - If I get problems with it though I shall stop, and I'll let you guys know.
I supplement with very good cod liver oil when not eating salmon, that keeps my omega-3 in check.

Never had the Comte cheese, have to try it next time!!! Mmmm cheese, I haven't had it for so long now I want a piece!
I also saw a raw old cheddar that's always sold in Sobeys, forgot the brand will check next time, but I had it before and it was pretty good.

kurite:

I didn't know if that one was dyed or not, but they had the pale farmed salmon beside it - why would they dye one and not the other, and other kinds of wild fish were looking like their normal colors, so I am not sure. The flesh is a even color and the white fat is white (not look dyed). I have seen wild salmon before extremely red, trout too sometimes. What would they dye it with? Hope its food-based coloring... if its from dye vegetables like beets then its ok w. me.