Review
The Village Butcher is in Ranelagh Village, at the Sandford Road end of things. It’s a joint labour between Sarah Kelly and Michael Madden; Michael is the butcher while Sarah is responsible for the culinary goodies stocking the shelves and nesting on the counter, in fact, popping up anywhere you look.
There has been a renaissance of small independent shops popping up in Dublin and the suburbs. Perhaps people are finally getting sick of supermarket shopping, or maybe two tasteless chickens for a fiver isn’t that appealing anymore. Whatever the reason, shops like the Village Butcher are arriving on the high street, and thankfully thriving.
We love their streaky smoked rashers, which are just as nice to smell as to eat, and their free range pork is a piggy delight. Last Christmas they supplied the turkey and ham, and both were as good as we have ever had, were all free range and came in at a very reasonable price.
There is now a separate section for dry aged beef, and if you have a dinner party coming up, or fancy making a serious Sunday lunch with roast beef and cauliflower cheese, this is the place to buy it. The flavour experience for beef treated this carefully is well worth the effort.
The shelving are literally groaning under the weight of jars and packets of gourmet goodies; there is local honey from Dublin hives, the chap up the road makes the best Harissa, while a girl around the corner makes some seriously lovely flavoured butters.
You can also pick up fruit and vegetables, most of which is sourced from \dublin growers and is fresh with no air miles. For those in a hurry there are some pre prepared cuts and marinated this and that that can be shoved straight into the oven.
Shopping should be fun, even food shopping, and here it is so much nicer that traipsing around a supermarket with a trolley and a dodgy wheel . There is something lovely about buying from people who are passionate about what they do.
