If your idea of a meat market is Saturday night at a pub or nightclub then this article is not for you. If you've graduated to the finer things in life, like cooking up a storm over a BBQ or a bottle of red, then this Meat Market could become a favourite haunt.
I've driven up and down South Road ad infinitum since moving to Adelaide. The teenager in me has had a little giggle every time I've seen '
The Meat Market' sign in Edwardstown. Finally I stopped for a look-see, and what I found was almost orgasmic in a purely culinary way.
Unsurprisingly perhaps there is meat everywhere. What is unusual is the range and styles of meat that are available, all sourced directly from the producer. As well as your standard cuts, you can buy caveman-sized slabs of meat big enough to cater for Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble and all their crew.
Perfect for entertaining a crowd. Ask the butcher if you'd like it sliced.
Fancy a side of goat? $7 per kilo when I was there. A venison roast perhaps? I've got one in the fridge ready to cook tomorrow night. Or a pig's head? I wore out my shoe leather in Melbourne looking for pig's heads after seeing Chris Badenoch and others cook them on Masterchef, only to be told that ' pigs don't come with heads any more'. The mental image of a sty full of headless pigs is hard to shake, but at last I can fulfil a culinary goal. Order in advance if you want a pig's head: apparently they walk off the shelves.
Quality Controller or waiting to be served?
Why buy lamb, beef or chicken dice and a jar of indian marinade when you can buy pre-marinated meat for the same price? Not just a bland supermarket-style marinade, but with an authentic spice mix that The Meat Market buys in bulk. I can vouch for the Tandoori chicken. Straight into the oven and its done.
There's more than just meat at The Meat Market. They have the widest range of specialty BBQ spice rubs and sauces I've seen, and mega-sized catering packs of basics like potato chips, wedges, frozen peas and so forth, all for competitive prices. I even found a freezer pack of the legendary South Melbourne Market dim sims, to the delight of my partner, who moved here with me this year after 35 years in South Melbourne.
You get an idea of the sort of place this is when you see on their website that they run a footy tipping competition. Despite having the pizazz of a mini-megastore, and selling what equates to more than 31 million meals per year, it's an old fashioned butchery at heart. Long may it remain so. They promise restaurant quality meat at rock-bottom prices. I'll let you be the judge of that.
The Meat Market is at 1074-1076 South Road, Edwardstown. It's open seven days a week:
Monday to Friday 9 am to 5.30 pm
Saturday 9 am to 5.00 pm
Sunday 11 am to 4 pm
