The Butcher

I mean, wtf people. How can a local butcher with one very handsome manager get less than 5 stars? I thought Unilocal filtered out ugly horrible people with chips on their shoulders but I guess not.
If the skins are in, ask for a lamb sausage freshly made in a lamb casing. I can safely say it’ll be the best lamb sausage you’ll find anywhere. Also, whats the deal with portlandia and that kenny c?

While it may be true that on occasion you may hear a person asking «Portlandia» –style questions about the meat, this is an excellent butcher shop. Meat is carefully sourced, and extra care is given to food handling here. Staff are well versed on all products, advice on cooking is always good, even for the experienced cook. Just ask and you may learn something new.
Elk and bison are available, sometimes fresh, nearly always in the frozen section– and its dee-​lish. As are all the varieties of sausage. Shopped here for years. Selection of cheeses is interesting, always changing, and excellent. Yes, pricier than safeway but far from ordinary. Between this shop and Top Ten Produce, we rarely went into the neighbouring Safeway.
I order organic holiday turkey here. One taste, and our guests were convinced as we are. This is as good as it gets.

Buyer Beware:
I just bought some meat cuts in «The Butcher». It was an not so common cut of meat, and I figured ok, I will pay premium price to get it. When I got home and I opened the meat package, the meat had a bad, off smell. I should have stopped there and returned the meat. Instead I decided to cook it. What a mistake, It was awful, tasted rotten, and I was extremely disappointed. I stopped eating at the second bite not to risk food related illness.
Needless to say I will never go back to The Butcher again.

To get an idea about the type of people I meet that rave about this place, search on Youtube, «Portlandia Is The Chicken Local».
People like this place because it’s in a yuppie neighbourhood, and they have labels on their store window with the words «local», «sustainable», and «free range.» And in this neighbourhood, with the right storefront you could probably sell a piece of gum from under your shoe to a hipster for $ 50 if you slap a «local Vancouver» and «sustainable» sticker on it.
(For a lot of Chinese people who know their way ’round the kitchen, free range chicken is nothing special, you can get it at a pretty cheap price. We’ve eaten free range chicken regularly for a very long time, and don’t feel the need to pay a premium for it. Ask your Chinese homies, they’ll hook you up.)
I came here at the advice of some college buds to buy steak because none of us have Costco memberships anymore. Their steak is solid, but it’s not much different than steak you can get at Costco and it’s more expensive. And the USDA prime steak I’ve gotten at certain Costcos are much better at that price point. And this is coming from a dude that eats steak at least once a week, so I’m a red meat addict.
Sometimes I’ll come here to buy chicken if I need a specific, small amount of chicken. But that’d be the only reason I’d feel the need to drop by. They sell a lot of chicken, and push the white meat because «white meat is better.» Even though really, most people not fresh off a Portlandia skit would disagree.
Have to concur with another reviewer here that the selection here is around the same as Safeway’s meat counter. One of my friends originally from Texas described the selection of game meat here as weak. I’m guessing they don’t really have the market for it.
The service is good, I’ll give them that, they’re always nice. But the store’s nothing special.

This year, my valentines days plans were to cook my boyfriend and I some sort of weird meat. I know I know, weird doesn’t usually equate to romantic, but I wanted to express our weird personalities into a dish (that was the theory anyway). I did some online research, and The Butcher was pretty close to my work and home. I stopped by on my way home from work, and walked into a beautiful space with glorious ingredients! I was like a kid in a candy shop (of meat lollipops!). Unfortunately, I was a little uneducated on the whole exotic meat concept, so I was more like a bull in a China Shop…
The men behind the counter were absolutely wonderful! A dark-​haired gentleman with glasses helped me alter my initial request, «I want weird meat», into the decision to perchance minced kangaroo meat!
My next thought, «what the heck am I going to do with kangaroo meat?!», was transformed into delicious kangaroo sliders with the help of the men at The Butcher.
My valentines day was a success! Not only does this business provide exciting new meat for Vancouverites to try, but it also teaches us how to create culinary treasures!

I know… I know.
I just wrote a review for *the butcher*.
But how could I not write another when *the butcher* just taught me how to cook steak? Never would have expected it.
I walked in one afternoon and spent some time mulling over which one of the beautiful slabs of meat to take home, and finally divulged to him that I had never cooked steak on my own before. I’ve been privileged to be on the receiving end of many beautiful filet mignons — medium rare is my preference — but I finally wanted to give this cooking thing a try.
*The butcher* whom I’ll call Michael patiently explained what cookware to use (cast iron or oven broiling), how to bring the meat to room temperature before cooking (adding salt, pepper, and olive oil), and when to remove it from the skillet (the way chefs do it) — by identifying the juice color that escapes from the meat (red: raw, pink: rare, grey: medium, clear: well done). Undercook it a tad, he said, and place it on a warm plate cause it’ll continue cooking and so the juices’ll return to the steak.
And he even ran through all my steak options, and which ones would be particularly «forgiving» should I overcook it. I settled on something smaller and easy this time — a 10 oz. grass fed NY strip steak, with lots of marbling. Yum!
Soo easy peazy… and delish! I can’t believe I made it! Next time, I’ll pick up something a bit more challenging.

Went in here a while back as part of my quest to find the best meat in Vancouver…
What’s different about this shop, is the fact that the majority of their products are sourced locally– like so local I could drive over and examine the living conditions of my lamb, pork, or chicken before I decide to buy and eat it… This pleases me.
I got some frenched rack of lamb, although I originally wanted a leg of lamb, the thought of trying to create a meal that looks as good as it tastes overcame me. It was delicious– but it didn’t look pretty for long, as the exposed bone just gave me additional leverage to ravage that lamb rib like the savage beast that I am.
Good thing I reserve my best meat eating adventures for when I’m at home (alone), or I would likely scare off any potential dinner dates ;)

I must confess I only go in here (I am faithful to my local meat shop — see Tango’s Gourmet Meats) for the amazing beef jerky. Vacuum-​packed and smoky for about 4 $ each, it is a great treat for someone like me who loves to gnaw on chewy meat (don’t judge) and who’s gut does not like carbs. It’s worth the money.
Alas, when I went in yesterday they didn’t have any. Could not have been more disappointed. But I got some farmer sausage and while it was pretty good, I dunno, I was a little underwhelmed.
Also, I was left at the till wondering if I was going to get my receipt because the guy had already moved on to the next customer (and it wasn’t that busy) before my transaction was even done being rung through. Not super impressed. With these small shops I think customer service is key and a «have a nice day» should be part of the deal.

I was actually really disappointed with this place.
I came here to get some sausages and they were frozen, really oddly thinly shaped and had really little flavor. There’s normally just some flavor if the quality of the meat is decent, but I don’t think they put they’re good stuff in there.
They had a decent selection of typical safeway cuts if you want a precut, premarinated organic chicken breast or something, but nothing too special.
Besides that, I have gotten some beef bones here to try making stock and I guess its nice that they hold them. They don’t have them in a consistent size for roasting if you’re looking to make roasted bone marrow and they’re all frozen.
Overall, I thought it was kind of disappointing. The sausages really turned me off. Its a slight notch above safeway. I won’t be returning.

I love food specialty shops… I think that’s the way it should be when it comes to food… one shop for cheese… one for candy. one for tea and coffee and so on… you know that you can trust that they are fully knowledgeable on what it is they are selling. and you are getting the best quality… why we as a society got away from this shopping experience and went to the big box everything in on store concept I’ll never know…
Anyway.back to the butcher… they have done a great job taking a classic style butcher shop but giving it a modern edge to appeal to today’s client… they have a great selection of ALL meats. some all ready prepared and ready to cook… they have free-​range, organic, grass feed, good olé real non-​hormone injected meat! Any home chef is bound to find what it is they need for their next culinary delight!
The staff are all very friendly and eager to help you find what you need… and incredibly knowledgeable about what they are selling you. and so they should be!

My favorite is when somebody takes an old idea and makes it new again. I discovered this butcher on 10^th today with some friends and was pleasantly surprised. At first glance I noticed the signage, particularly the font which really spoke to my senses…(man I think I am a loser because I get excited about fonts… can you blame me tho?) The little use of asterisk symbol on the meat signs. kinda took me back to 1999 when wallpaper magazine hit the news stand and their use of the now legendary asterisks.
The meat looked great and the assortment was a little different than your usual butcher shop. things like Fraser Valley free-​range chicken and pork, Salt Spring lamb and rabbit (when available) and grass-​fed beef. Special sausage requests, such as wheat-​free are also on the menu.