Ottawa Foodies

I can appreciate what McMarshal is saying down below. I live in Wellington Village and will occasionally go to Saslove's but I do find them *way* overpriced for what the quality of what they sell... the organic salmon in particular is a bit of an expensive joke.

I asked last summer about ground lamb and was told they can't sell it, it's just way too fatty (ignorant comment). When I pointed out that they were selling lamb burgers, I was told that they were actually mixing in beef as well. Would have been honest of them to label the packages as such, particularly given the difference in price between ground lamb and ground beef.

In 10+ years I have never actually purchased rotten meat from Saslove's but have on more than one occasion found their meat to be much less fresh than I expect for those prices. The only 3 items now that I will buy there are the breakfast sausages as an occasional treat, their pork hocks for making red beans, and the organic chicken wings for the BBQ, and only because I know they stock small quantities that don't hang around for long.

FYI, labelling their meat products as "hormone free" (perhaps to justify their exorbitant prices?) is misleading given than here in Canada growth hormones are banned.

If you're really into paying top dollar and more for meat products then I highly recommend searching out one of the small beef, pork and lamb farmers operating around the Ottawa Valley, particularly those who run grass operations. If you buy a side and split with family/friends you come out way ahead in the cost, not to mention 10x ahead in flavour and nutrition. *MUCH* better quality, much better treatment of the animals and much better for you and our environment than feedlot animal products.

I have been going to Saslove's for years... always top quality. In fact I created this account only to give Saslove's my highest recommendation after reading the single negative posting. I usually do not subscribe to forums, but, Saslove's have always delivered top notch meats. A mistake was made, perhaps by the butcher perhaps by the person posting.

McMarshal....PLEASE tell me you took that meat back!!! That is absolutely wrong and is like selling someone death in a package.

I've personally had it with this place. Horribly overpriced, crowded, slow and even worse, selling meats that are rotten. Not my idea of a good butcher.

First rotten meat...a few months ago, lamb. I balked at getting $88 worth of frenched rack of lamb -- the dinner simply wasn't that important to me. The woman at Saslove's then offered me two frenched racks which were previously frozen, at a slight discount. Took forever but she wrapped them for me and met me at the cash. At the cash, she said "I'm not 100% sure about this cut here, so I'm discounting it more." I thought it was odd, but there was a lineup behind me (always is, at Saslove's) and I was in a hurry to get home to cook the racks, so I left with it. Got home, unwrapped it, and found it was GREEN, SLIMY, and ROTTEN. $45 wasted.

Second time was last week, a package of ground organic veal. Seemed fine 'til we opened it, and the stench hit us. Rotten. $12 wasted, and the New Year's Eve meatballs a lost dream.

I know that Saslove's is an Ottawa institution, but the Butchery down in Bell's Corners has proven to be a way better place to me. And yes, it's worth driving there rather than biking/walking to Saslove's on Wellington. At least I can serve what I bought with confidence.

There is a location in the Market, and also one on Wellington street. I personally prefer the one on Wellington because I find it has more character and the people are more exhuberant and helpful, plus they have more stuff, but I'm biased probably because I used to work there (although I felt the same way before I started working there). Note: I'm not trying to advertise this place, I'm trying to give more information about what is available there.

Very good quality meats - this is the place to go for organic. Game meats such as bison, plus you can order just about anything special. The butcher will cut any cut you need too, so if you don't see it in the counter - ask.

Both locations have a variety of sausages made in-house. My fave at Wellington is the Sweet and Smokey Bison sausage - it's insane. They also have this crazy bad-for-you breakfast sausage which has sausage meat, bacon, ham and maple syrup combined. My fave downtown is the Duck, Pork, Asparagus and Old Cheddar Sausage.

Another reason I prefer Wellington is that they have stuff that downtown does not have:

Deli meat case that has in-house nitrate free turkey, nitrate free ham etc. plus they get the smoked meat from MTL and I personally find it to be the best I've found from a deli in town.

Large amount of pre-prepared food (a woman named Mama does all the cooking)such as cabbage rolls, brisket (there's this one guy who came in EVERY DAY to see if she had made the brisket), tortiere, Morroccan vegetables, roasted potatoes, lamb curry, knish etc. If you don't feel like cooking dinner it's very appealing.

They also have more "pre-prepared" raw meats such as stuffed chicken breasts ready for the oven, marrinated chicken breasts and pre-assembled kabobs.

Fish counter: 5 types of marinated salmon fillets all ready for the grill, in-season fish, organic salmon from Ireland etc.

You can also get various bulk packs of meat for a few hundred bucks if you're the kind who likes to stock your freezer. If you are at Wellington - look on the wall behind the counter for the package deals.

Staff at Wellington are really friendly and also experienced cooks (they all take stuff home to cook it) so if you want advise on what to do with something or how to cook something, just ask.

Word to the wise: It is PACKED on the weekends, so it's a good idea to go during the week instead to avoid lines.

Oh, and you can get smoked marrow bones for your dog.

Saslove's has online ordering, and they even offer to shop the market for any other groceries you might need, ie: fish, cheese, fruit. I love to shop for food myself, - but it's got to be handy for some folks! I wonder what, if any delivery charge is involved...

I'm really impressed by this, and makes me want to go even more now.

www.saslovesmeat.com/

click on "online ordering"

Bought 2 hot italian and 2 spanish chorizo sausages for the BBQ yesterday....the italian sausage I found to be waaaay too salty, but had some nice kick to it. The chorizo I liked much better but I'm still reminiscing about all beef smokies from Saskatchewan! I asked at Saslove's if they had any, and of course they had never heard of them, or had any sausages that weren't pork. Oh well....

Great variety of fresh sausage from breakfast to BBQ and everything in between. A bit pricey but well worth it!

Wellignton:

-Both regular grain-fed and organic chicken available.
-Cornish Game Hen
-Quail
-Duck
-Turkey
-Can also special order pheasant, whole organic turkeys, ducks, geese etc.

If they don't have the cut you want, they'll cut it for you if you ask. (Ex: You want your turkey breast deboned)

Also organic deli meat poultry such as organic roasted turkey.

Organic beef in variety of cuts available
Also, organic ground beef

Nitrate free roast beef in the deli at Wellington.

Pretty sure I've seen packs of Kobe beef the Saslove's in the Market - last seen about 3 months ago when I was last there, but presumably they know a producer/importer and could order it in if they don't currently have it in stock. Dunno if it's "real" kobe beef, or "kobe style" beef - not sure what the rules are for "real" kobe beef...

Haven't seen it at Wellington loaction, but did see it in the Market last week. Small slice was $7, whole lobe was about $75. No grade on package though, so not sure of quality - though if you asked they could probably tell you.