Vic’s Meat Market @ Sydney Fish Markets, Pyrmont
I heart meat, especially ribs. By golly how good are ribs?! Vic’s Meat Market opened at the Sydney Fish Market in Pyrmont about 9 weeks ago and it’s looking like a winner with both the locals and tourists.
Ribs can sell out early and I hated the thought of being deprived of ribs so I set my alarm to wake up early and managed to trek over just before the lunch crowd hit.
I’d been following Anton on Instagram (EDIT: Anton is now over at Bovine and Swine in Enmore) for a while now, drooling over all his pics of glorious smoked meats. The smoker at the back there is Kong, a 2 tonne monster custom built for Vic’s Meat Market by Yoder Smokers in Kansas City and can hold 200kg of meat!
The Pork Ribs (Full rack $40) are fricken awesome. There’s no shame in diving on in and picking up a rib with your hands and sinking your teeth into the smoky goodness. Sure it’s messy but you’ll be filled with a carnivorous glee! Actually you barely need to use your teeth because the meat is so damn tender it’s insane how easily the meat falls off the bones. The ribs are the perfect Kansas style- sweet, sticky and smoky. If you’re of the drown-in-sauce type you can always ask for a bit of the house made sauce on the side.
The Beef Short Rib ($25) is one helluva beast. At first I was all, no worries I can finish this easy! The meat was tender with an edge of fat that had a nice smokey char. I would’ve liked it to be a bit more juicy (I’m not saying it was dry just that I like short ribs juicy) but it’s nothing a swipe of the house made tomato sauce couldn’t fix.
So there I was, happily munching away. I made it about halfway before the meat sweats began and tried alternating bites of palate cleansing slaw but alas! Defeat! I ending up getting my remnants in a takeaway box because no way was I gonna let meat go to waste! The pickles, onions and jalapenos were a nice touch, I would’ve liked a bit of bread to mop up the sauce maybe?
Then there was a visit mid week with eating machine Ramen Raff.
The Chicken Wings ($8) blew my mind. I mean, normally I’m not too keen on wings if they haven’t been deep fried. There’s something about the bumpy bits that makes me think of cellulite on a chicken… ANYWAYS. The skin! It was so crisp! It was almost like eating chicken crackling! And the flesh within was tender and smokey that I was in chicken wing heaven.
I could watch brisket being sliced alllll daaaayyy
The Brisket Sandwich ($10) is the bomb. I sort of wish I could eat this brisket every day. We were asked if we wanted the fatty or lean brisket to which we immediately shouted fatty brisket please! Bring on the fat! And hot damn it was good! Unctuously soft and melt in the mouth tender, this brought back memories from last year’s trip to Texas. There’s also some slaw in the sandwich just to keep you from keeling over from meat overload 😛
The Pulled Pork Sandwich ($10) was pilled sky high with ridiculously tasty pork but my focus was taken away by the dill in the mustard pickle slaw, the one herb that I can’t for the life of me stand so I uh had to eat the pork separately but hey it was still tasty!
There’s also a Wagyu bar in the corner set up teppanyaki style with a chef manning the hot plate. Pick a cut from the menu- there’s Blackmore ($50/150g, $90/250g), Marble Score 11 ($35/150g, $65/250g), Tenderloin ($40/150g, $70/250g), Vic’s pick ($35/150g, $65/250g) and Emperor’s Cut ($60/150g). Watch while it’s then seared and sliced, Japanese-style, and served with a daikon and cucumber garnish and a soy-based dipping sauce. They’re waiting on their liquor licence and once that kicks in they’ll open for dinners which would be tops for those who absolutely hate the horror that is the car park on a weekend.
Next door is the retail side, a room that is basically a giant cool room with row upon rows of meeeeeat.
Noods’ eyes glazed over at the sight of all the steaks! There were grass fed and pasture fed t-bones, scotch fillets, sirloin, ribeye and beef cheeks and of course, gloriously marbled wagyu steaks! We couldn’t resist and bought a couple of AACO F1 Wagyu striploin BMS10+ for dinner along with some bone marrow oh baby oh baby. Don’t worry my heart only skipped a beat or two.
Sausages galore!
There’s Vic’s merch available, as well as a whole wall of cooking utensils, sauces, salts and a section they’ve dubbed the ‘Meat Candy’ bar for all you salami and biltong lovers out there.
So yeah, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who’s ever wished for a butchery at the Fish Markets so I could get all my shopping done in the one spot and I foresee many a visit to Vic’s Meat Market for the ribs and the brisket sandwich!
Sydney Fish Market,
Sydney,
NSW
Trading Hours:
Mon – Sun: 8am – 5pm
Side note: Things are about to get a lil cray in ChocolateSuze land because we’re attempting to pack up and leave Parra and move into the city before Xmas so apologies if I don’t reply to your emails/tweets/dm’s, you can stalk me over on Instagram instead!
