ottawa foodies

I just saw that there is a new coupon deal for Aubrey's meat market!
Kahoot.ca is selling $109 worth of meat products for $39!

ottawa.kahoot.ca

Kind of surprized they are doing this so soon after saying they have issues with people ordering?

coupon details:

No cash value. Cannot be combined with anyother offer. May redeem one voucher per visit, in-store. Can carry over balance in store credit (No cash back). Taxes not included. Does not expire. Pre-Orders Required. You can buy up to 10 for yourself and unlimited as gifts. Not valid for holidays. The voucher cannot be used until April 13, 2011.

thought this sounded good, but when I tried to purchase kept getting query problems.
Do you know if they only use Visa and not any other card? Tried to ask, but couldn't get a response from kahoot.

I just bought 2 different buys using 2 visa cards (one in my name and one someone else's) and no problems there.
Not sure if they only accept Canadian billing address?

one of my cc it is Canadian issued,but I put a US billing address...so can't use it in Canada much ;)

I was using amex, which they don't accept. It can be visa or mc.
My first instinct is to use the phone number when they offer one, and didn't get a response, but then tried the email and they answered my question.

Got 3 in the previous deal and just purchased another 3 in this deal of which 2 are for gifts.

Thanks. Picked up 4.. hopefully they won't go bankrupt before I get to use them.

Aubrey's had a sign up when I went in yesterday. From Wednesday April 20-Monday 25, no coupon or store credit allowed being used.
I guess they are trying to minimize the Easter rush, which makes sense.

I am a big fan of Aubrey's and have defended them before but the new coupon policy for Easter is something I think they should have stipulated as a condition when the coupons were sold (I just checked mine and it says nothing about these dates). Its not an unreasonable condition, just one that they should have stated upfront.

I have tried to call them twice with no answer. My question is not a rush, so I decided to use email. The email they have listed on their website does not work.

Does anyone know if they have a new email?

I saw that Aubrey's checked the forums also, if so, can Aubrey's supply an email?

I had a problem with Aubrey's, The very first groupon deal, I got 6. I thought i would use it for my Catering gigs. (i have no probs. giving orders in advance) 3 different times i called to place an order only to hear "we are not taking groupon orders today" ok thats fine. I want it for a week from now.. "sorry you will have to call back". lucky for me kahoot refunded my money. just a heads up. The meat was good tho.. I just think they bit off more then they can chew on this groupon thing.

I have a small problem with Aubrey's.
I emailed them about the ingredients in their bacon, as there is some I can not eat.

What I got back in response was an very badly spelled email (sounded unprofessional) and also that they would ask their supplier and would get back to me.

Never heard back.

Usually I buy a natural bacon that is packaged and has the ingredients on it..it is from a farmer/producer in gatineau.
Or else I go to Bank St Sausage where they make the products in store.

So looks like I won't be getting any bacon from Aubrey's store.

Aubrey's bacon has curing salt or "pink salt" as it is often called on this site - do not buy it if you cannot eat that

Does the curing salt contain nitrites or phosphates?
that is what I have been trying to find out or if there is any chemical ingredients or artificial colouring added??

I'm guessing the pink salt is dyed pink and not naturally that way??

the bacon I usually get now they use beet powder for the "red" colour

You know what I wonder, why does it have to be red or pink? Why use natural or artificial dye at all? I mean, I know that first we eat with the eyes, but does the colour of the bacon before it was cooked really matter once it's all brown and crispy?

We get our bacon made nitrate free and it looks like bacon, but has a distinct smoked smell and smoked look to the edges of it when right out of the package, compared to the uniformly pink store bacon. (By 'smoked look' I mean there is a brown, smoked appearance to it.) When you are done cooking it, it is brown, crispy and tastes better than any store bacon I've had so far.

I guess because I like the nitrate free so much, now I don't really understand why there is a need to add colour, unless of course the meat looks really crappy with out the colourings. lol!

For those that smoke their own side pork, I'd be curious to hear if you use nitrates or not, and what difference you find between the two. I haven't tackled smoking in my own back yard yet. Well, I should clarify, I haven't tackled smoking side pork in my back yard. ;-)

Organicgirl, you are right.

I don't really care about the colour that much as I always cook my bacon to be very crispy and it is usually in a sandwich,omelet or quiche-but even just on the side I don't care about the colour too much.

The people at the Piggy Market- they actually told me their bacon looks "more grey" because they do not add chemicals to it.
I bought some of their bacon at the farmer's market last year.
It was good, but I like a thinner sliced bacon,but I would still get their product again if they bring any there.

The Piggy Market bacon had a more grey,light pinkish kind of shade if I remember.

Also I know one bacon I used to buy had quite a bit of red on it....it was a paprika smoked bacon, so they used a lot of different spices on the outside of it (I used to get that at Bank st Sausage,but have not gone there recently).

Maybe I will start photographing all my foods and bacon and post online sometime :)

Yes it has nitrates. No, the salt is not actually pink here in Canada at least, but law in the US requires it to be coloured pink, and a lot of people on this site buy it through US sources and call it "pink salt" as a result.

I make my bacon with and without and really do not find a difference.

latest on aubrey's - no idea which thread is the current one.... anyway, picked up 3 steaks, 3 lbs ground pork, 2 lbs ground beef, total $102 (i have the $55 for $175 coupon). anyway, in the store they now have signs for coupon holders...

for all coupon holders:

"starting monday may 23, all coupon holders must email their orders by wednesdays, they are to be picked up no later than friday. no walk-ins and no weekend pick-ups allowed."

Thanks for the update. We've a couple of these to use up, so this is very good to know as getting down to the Market is a bit out of our way.

I guess I was in Aubrey's before that sign. It must have been the 19th. I hadn't phoned ahead, but should have as I wanted veal bones /shanks.
I picked up 2 rib steaks (15./lb) which were VERY good, but hubby balked at the price. No trouble using my coupon, but I don't think I would buy the steak without it.
There were 3 of us in the store, all clutching our papers.
One fellow ahead of me asked for $109. worth of bacon. They couldn't accommodate that order but did give him 1/2. (Is the bacon that good?)
I still feel the coupon is a good deal.

The double smoked bacon was quite good.. But not sure I would get $109 of it..

I bought one of the coupons but living in West Carleton (between Kanata and Arnprior) definitely wouldn't have bothered if I knew the details--I almost never go into downtown Ottawa on weekdays--I do work! Won't do it again. And haven't cashed it yet. Sigh.

Just an FYI, I walked in and used my kahoot coupon without preordering via email. They said as long as you aren't getting "too much" then you can just walk in and use it. I had four items, and the person who was helping me said this would be about "the max" they would allow via walk-in.

Like everyone else has said, I just wish they'd laid the rules out before doing more coupons. I only have 9 bucks left there, and then after that I think I will start going elsewhere.

That's good to know, Kiwiw; I was hoping that if you were getting a few things that they wouldn't turn you away.

I wonder if they'd let you get a pork shoulder or a brisket via walk-in?

"starting monday may 23, all coupon holders must email their orders by wednesdays, they are to be picked up no later than friday. no walk-ins and no weekend pick-ups allowed."

I tried placing an e-mail order yesterday (11 AM Wednesday) but was told I was too late. I need to get it in by Sunday or Monday next time.

The parameters change yet again.

It sounds like, in this case, "by wednesday" would be better worded as "before wednesday" or "by the start of Wednesday".

What they're saying is still correct--but easily misinterpreted to be "by the end of wednesday"

Understanding of the word "by" has been tainted by common use of COB (e.g. "by close of business on Wednesday"). The reason COB is specified is because it is not implicit. Wednesday starts at midnight on Tuesday night. "By Wednesday" happens at that time.

By next year, the current year will have ended. ;-)

Placed an order on Tuesday at 10 am and got this reply

"Thank You for your order however it is too late for this week,You are welcome to walk-in and pickup these few items. The pre-ordering is based on wanting large amounts of meats but small amounts as yours you can walkin."

I've tried calling in before I left home and never had problems with that-but i am just getting 1 lb chicken...so very tiny order.

I think if you wanted a roast chicken it is better to pre-order as they do not seem to make many of those.
ordered one last week, very tasty.

But can someone here tell me why their chicken is not browned at all?
It is very good, but just odd to get a chicken that still looks "white" on the outside.

Do they steam them? or just cook in a covered dish?
-Aubrey's chicken has tons of white meat, I think I would continue getting these at regular price as there is tons of meat on these!

Thanks FF. I knew I was leaving myself open to that type of response. ;)

In any case, as the reply I received states and as Yan's experience demonstrates, I still wouldn't have got my order in under the letter of the law. ;)

Haha... quite right, quite right ollie. :-)

So is it even worth bothering with these coupons then? Their prices are high so the discount is reduced and in my case I want a full subprimal.. using only one coupon at a time means I still have to spend $200 in addition to the coupon so not much of a saving. I guess I could order a few steaks at a time but you now need to order it before Tuesday.

I'm tempted to ask Kahoot for a refund..

walked in today, ordered a flank steak, some beef tenderloin and bacon, without an order and had no problem... I was told that the new restriction are only to discourage people who are taking advantage of the coupons by cleaning them out of some ideas... I.e the person who tried to pick up 109$ of bacon using his groupon