Biiiiink

I'm not sure about that here, but it certainly would be hard to tell as they hide them behind blinds. If you're not looking for them, you wouldn't know they even exist, which is I suppose the point. Is this "no cigarettes to be visible" legistlation cross-Canada, or just MB?

Judy in Calgary

Don't know about the rest of Canada, but in Calgary they're visible. However, you can't reach up to a shelf and pop a pack into your shopping basket. There is a counter at which you have to ask for them.

Souvenir

They are extremely visible here.

AnyaT

St Lawrence Market is incredible. It claims to be considered one of the world's top 10 markets and, while I get very tired of Toronto's constant claims to "world class" status, this is one instance where it is warranted. HB refuses to buy meat and cheese anywhere else now. There are also some great places to eat on the basement level - our favourite is a Ukrainian deli that makes sausage rolls that surpass any I had in England.

dbd33

The chicken sandwich place upstairs at the front by Paddington's is good too as is the Carousel for peameal sandwiches. My OH speaks highly of some egg plant sandwich thing available in the basement but, really, how good can eggplant be ?

I like the "pig guys". When we first wanted a Boston Butt for pulled pork we went to all the usual stands and asked. They sneered at us. Eventually Manos at the Manos stand said to try "the pig guys", they're in the north market on Saturdays only and they have every piece of the pig. I guess they're at the bottom of the butchery trade but they have some wicked good butts.

Manos has very good kebabs but they charge a buck a bag for dog bones which seems a bit much to me. I avoid Whitehouse, that's the most expensive stand, I just can't taste the difference over the meat from the other vendors. Downstairs I like Rube's the rice, flour and meal place. Surely nowhere else offers so many types of flour or grades of corn meal.

Where are you on the cheese vendors ? I've been going to Olympic for fifteen years but am tempted by that new place on the west wall.

neill

In Quebec, Loblaws, IGA, Maxi and Co, Super C, Metro are your main big-box supermarkets...There's not much to choose between them, perhaps Loblaws is a little more 'upmarket' but the others have been refurbishing in my area.

We also have the ever-popular "Deps" - Deppaneurs - yes even the English here call them that - your equivalent of a corner store, but no way near as good. Most of them are full of junk food, fags, booze and a few essentials.

In Quebec, you can buy wine selections from the Supermarket (Selected by the SAQ - Quebec Liquor board). Since the Liquor is controlled by the province, selection tends to be limited. We have "Selection" SAQ outlets which are the equivalent of your off-licences in the UK.

daft batty

. these sound vaguely obscene? what on earth are they??? :scared:

dbd33

A Boston butt or pork shoulder is a cheap chunk of pig. Pulled pork is a dish made by smoking the butt for hours, pulling it apart by hand and dowsing it in a vinegar based sauce. Despite my description it's wonderful. Here's a recipe :

http://bbq.about.com/cs/porkpulled/a/aa042404a.htm

daft batty

Thanks! my education has expanded again - will consider making this once we finally get to ON

dbd33

It's not very Canadian I'm afraid, but you could always serve it with Maple Syrup or poutine.

daft batty

poutine puzzles me,
chips and cheese+excellent
chips and gravy not bad
all together?? plus have been told the cheese is either curd cheese of plastic orangey cheese.

but i will give it a go................... as long as its gluten free

britishvixen21

Thank you so much for low down i cant wait to go now!!

AnyaT

OK, I had to look up the names for some of these – I remember the location but often not what they are called. We also go to Olympic for cheese. I tried what I think is the new one but wasn’t too keen, though that is only based on the one block of cheddar I got that day. We’ve gotten a couple special things from Alex’s like jars of Stilton, but if I want to go to Alex’s I could go upscale and buy from his Manulife Centre location – it just doesn’t seem like a “market” type store to me.

We get most of our meat (beef, lamb, chicken, stock bones) from Uppercut. The quality is good and the staff is some of the most helpful in the market – no matter what size you want they will cut it, which is useful when you are trying to find a prime rib roast for only 2 people. We’ve gone to Whitehouse a couple times to try some of the different stuff like ostrich and venison, but after our Christmas turkey fiasco I don’t think we will be going back. HB has been searching for a wild turkey ever since we had one in Halifax, and Whitehouse told us they had some. We ordered it and turned up 3 days before Christmas to pick up what turned out to be an entirely smoked wild turkey, which didn’t go over well (we found a real turkey at another stall instead). Probably the best meat we have tried came from La Boucherie, on the west side near the Front St entrance, however they are also more expensive and tend to give you more than you ask for.

We get bacon from Manos but haven’t tried the kebabs there yet – maybe we will take a look. For seafood Domenic’s is good, very fresh stuff. I don’t like pork but HB does, so I will mention the “pig guys” to him. There is a coffee place downstairs that we like, it has a good selection of beans. I found the name of Ukrainian place – Dina’s Deli. Besides sausage rolls, it has a lot of Eastern European fare – latkes, perogies, stuffed chicken, shredded salads. I guess you have to be in the mood for heavier food!

I have yet to try a peameal sandwich. There just seems something odd about rolling bacon in cornmeal.

iaink

Has to be curd to be authentic. and edible. I think that why KFCs is good (despite dodgy chicken gravy) and Burger Kings is execrable.

dbd33

I mostly concur. La Boucherie is the best for bones, they're free and cut to size if you buy a sensible amount of meat there. Have you tried the mustard from the guy outside the Olympic ? Koz-something, just a mustard stand anyway, the Russian mustard is just great.

I lived for years on that block and thought I had a pretty good rapport with some of the vendors, but my OH is taking a cooking course, the attention she gets in the market when wearing any piece of uniform is a whole other thing. It might be worth buying a pair of shapeless dog tooth pants just to aide in negotiation.