Andrew Crowe Butcher

I can’t recommend this old style family run butcher more highly and it seems I’m not the only one who’s impressed.
I was on a search — a search for a particular ingredient not often looked for or stocked in this little island, bone marrow.
I’d recently bough Fergus Henderson’s marvellously sharp and interesting book, Nose to Tail Eating. Fergus in his restaurant, St. John in London (now awarded two mitchelin stars) focuses on modern old school British cooking, utilising every part of the animal, with notable focus on offal.
One dish that caught my eye was their legendary roast bone marrow and parsley salad. But alas, where to get some cow bone.
I tried a few small places in the city centre with no luck until I called in. I asked and he came back with two huge chunks of beef shin bone. Superb, less subtle and dainty than the pictures I’d seen but none the less… bones and, free of charge!

If it’s a traditional, old style butcher you’re after then I can heartily recommend Crowes. They promise ‘grade A meats’ and for the main part deliver. Situated in a striking corner block just at the bottom tip of Gresham St the building stands alone with only a car park and a couple of sex shops opposite for company.
Along with the usual meaty goodness for sale there’s a bit of a grocery counter with milk, bread and some other condiments and they do plenty of good deals throughout the week.
As the previous review notes local butchers have been getting it tough the last decade so it’s nice to see Crowes competing with the big boys, price and quality wise. One other bonus to a visit is that the lads working in the shop always are friendly and have a good bit of banter ready for you, be it sport, weather or women related.
Pros: Great quality, good prices.
Cons: A tiny bit out of the way.