From getting helpful tips on your Sunday roast to having an extra sausage thrown in after a good counter chat—there’s nothing better than forging a good relationship with your local butcher.
Forget the deli section of big chain supermarkets; we’re talking about the independent and family-owned shops. Gourmet butchers who put sustainable practice first and supply Sydney’s best restaurants alongside the folks in their suburbs.
Here are Sydney’s best butchers.
LP’s Quality Meats
Chippendale
Since opening his doors in 2014, LP’s Quality Meats owner (and general Sydney hospo legend) Luke Powell has tread the line between smokehouse restaurateur and wholesale butcher, crafting meaty smallgoods for his Chippendale eatery and eventually for the rest of Sydney. In fact, he closed the restaurant in 2019 to refurbish and focus on the latter. With both the restaurant and the butcher now roaring again, the LP’s brand is one of the most trusted in the Sydney meat game. From the mortadella, which garnered the initial interest from restaurants aplenty, to meats like saucisson sec, salami, boudin noir, and pigs head sausages, which you can purchase in-store or via their market stalls. A must-visit in Sydney.
Feather And Bone
Marrickville
Feather and Bone takes sustainable practice very seriously. That means only selling pasture-raised meat from regenerative farms—each personally visited by the Marrickville butchers with information passed onto you. It also means using every single part of the animal to avoid any wastage. This is probably why big culinary names like Neil Perry, Kylie Kwong, and Luke Nguyen are all supplied by these guys. You can even book in for butchery classes to better understand the entire process and feel more in touch with the products you buy—something we could all do more of.
Ardi’s Block To Grill
Surry Hills
Down the bottom end of Crown Street, amidst endless restaurants and takeaway shops, you’ll find a lit-up yellow sign hanging over a couple of small outdoor tables, chalked-up specials boards, and eye-catching dark blue doors. Run by lifelong butcher Ardi Edgu and his family, Ardi’s Block to Grill is a butcher and restaurant with some serious class, from its produce and service to the bowtie getups behind the counter. "Block to grill" means you can stop in for dinner, order a glass of wine and watch your chosen meat cut on the butcher’s block before it’s cooked. Or choose from the front display case to take home premium cuts of meat and ready-to-go fridge goods like lasagne, salads, and pies.
Australian Meat Emporium
Alexandria
If the saying goes "quality over quantity", Australian Meat Emporium’s response is ‘why not both?’ Located in Alexandria, this butcher shop is literally one giant cold room, with coats offered on entry so you don’t freeze. Meander through this meat supermarket for everything from deli goods, sauces, and BBQ equipment to every kind of wagyu, sausage, lamb, pork, and poultry (basically, everything). Finally, the Meat Emporium is conveniently located next door to the giant bottle shop Liquor Emporium, so you can really stock up for your BBQ.
Macelleria
Bondi and Newtown
The Italian word for "butcher’s shop", Macelleria blends together a butcher and a proper steakhouse restaurant, basically amounting to a carnivore’s dream. Simply put, it’s “the butcher that cooks for you”. First opening in Bondi and now also found in Newtown, you can pop through the shop to grab a few steaks, some sausages, and everything in between to take home and fry up yourself. Or sit down and choose a cut of meat to be cooked by people far better trained than us. Just add a few sides, sauce, and a glass of wine to pair.
Victor Churchill
Woollahra
The name Victor Churchill carries some real weight in Australia’s butcher game. Owned and operated since 2009 by fourth-generation butcher Victor Puharich and his son (both of whom also established Sydney’s Vic’s Meats), the Queen Street shop first opened its doors in 1876 as Churchill’s Butcher. From the shop’s jaw-dropping interior design to fine cuts of meats stocked in some of Sydney’s best fine dining restaurants—luxury and quality define Victor Churchill. In fact, the late, great Anthony Bourdain once described the Woollahra location as “the most beautiful butcher shop in the world”. High praise.
Black Forest Smoke House
Marrickville
With four generations of butchers behind them, the Deignan family-owned Black Forest Smoke House is a favourite to Inner West locals and Australia-wide restaurants alike. Looking to purchase and cook up your own smoked brisket? Easy, just pop through for some of the finest meat in Sydney and all the start-to-finish advice you’ll need on technique and ingredients from the experts behind the counter. You’ll find any and all meats, but definitely opt for their mixed family packs if you’re preparing for a big event.
Whole Beast Butchery
Marrickville
As the name suggests, this Illawarra Road shop doesn’t care much for wastage. Head into Marrickville’s Whole Beast Butchery for “whole carcass artisan butchery performed the old school way”. That means walking in to choose your dinner from Marcus Papadopoulo, with everything cut to order, like whole carcasses of beef, pork, and lamb. You’ll also find advice on any kind of cook and perfect house-made additions like preserves, pickles, pâté, and black pudding. Keep an eye out for their products around town at your favourite eateries like Redfern’s Good Ways Deli in Kangaroo mortadella form, or at Pub Life Kitchen serving up Marrickville dry-aged meats.
Hudson Meats
Cammeray and Mosman
When Hudson Meats opened in 2007, it did so with some serious pedigree under the ownership of Colin Holt, a three-time two-hatted chef with his former restaurant Bistro Pavé. With partner Jeff Winfield, Holt looked to bring a high-quality deli back to his local community. Today, this paddock-to-plate philosophy butcher offers everything from pasture-raised beef, lamb, pork, veal to deli meats and goods, holiday-specific online recipes, and ready BBQ packs.
Vic’s Meat Market
Pyrmont
Vic’s Meat is a name that needs no introduction across the Sydney food landscape as one of the best-known wholesalers in town and provider of meats to big names like Quay, Bennelong, Woodcut, Sixpenny, Aria, and more. You’ll find a huge range online, with everything from stone ax full-blood Wagyu to Beluga caviar. But if you can, we highly recommend dropping past the in-person outpost open every day at the Pyrmont Fish Market. There, you can pick up any meat you desire from some of our city’s best butchers, plus you can order a burger or a plate of 10-hour smoked wagyu brisket straight from the Smokehouse.
Prefer to leave it to the pros? Check out Sydney's best steak restaurants here.
Image credit: Victor Churchill, Feather and Bone, LP's Quality Meats, Macelleria, Victor Churchill, Vic’s Meat Market