Getting back into cooking since 2009.


Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Mondo Wholesale Butcher (Osborne Park)

I like meat. I like small family-run businesses, sharp knives and watching professionals who know what they're doing. I have a bit of a thing for quality butcher shops.

Our little neighbourhood in the inner suburbs of Perth is blessed with several great butchers. Torre on Lake St is maybe my favourite, with steaks cut to order and any cut minced on request. Princi on Fitzgerald St is old-school Italian, with beautiful lamb, capretto, offal meats and an abundance of pork. Princi is also next door to my favourite Italian deli, Di Chiera Bros.

Meat the Butcher (top name) at Dog Swamp shopping centre and Meat @ The Mezz in Mt Hawthorn also know their stuff. They both make top-quality sausages (I think Meat the Butcher has won some awards for theirs), give good cooking advice, and have a decent range of raw, prepared and semi-prepared meats.

Perhaps the most well-known of all Perth butcher shops is Mondo di Carne on Beaufort St in Inglewood, owned and operated by the gregarious and generous Vince Garreffa. His shop isn't just full of good meat but has well stocked shelves of various 'gourmet' ingredients that you might struggle to find elsewhere. They also have on hand a lot of cuts that you might need to order ahead of time elsewhere, like beef cheeks, veal tail, wagyu steaks and the like. According to Vince, the only pork product they don't get in is the uterus (but apparently some butchers in Northbridge sell that).

Everyone in Perth who cares about food knows about Mondo di Carne. What you might not know is that there is a Mondos wholesale outlet in Osborne Park that also sells direct to the public.


View Larger Map

The outlet sells a pretty wide range of cuts, from game birds (frozen, unfortunately, but we can't get fresh anywhere anyway) to premium wagyu to shoulders of pork. The only potential catch is that everything is sold in packages of about 2kg and up, but that isn't much of a problem if you like to cook. It's also not the sort of place to go if you would like to get things cut to order, or if you need to ask the butcher for some cooking tips. It is the sort of place to go if you want to buy big chunks of the best value meat in Perth.

I recently got six deboned quail, two big bags of chicken carcasses, a free range pork shoulder butt and a pack of six osso bucci for around $75 or so, which is pretty stunning value (especially given the fact that the quail took up about half that amount). A copy of their pricelist is here.

Osborne Park isn't that far to travel for cheap, good quality meat. I've posted the map above. It's in a little industrial unit (number 5) down the back on the left, behind Craft Decor.

Mondo Bulk Meats
5/41 King Edward Rd
Osborne Park WA 6017, Australia
(08) 9446 4778

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for the write-up, I've been meaning to get myself there for a while now... should really do so while it's still shank-enjoying-weather.

    Princi always makes me laugh, with the winking pig neon sign. That saucy pig really wants you to serve him up.

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  2. thanks for the tip. i'm vegetarian (don't hate me) but have passed this on to my meat loving family.

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  3. hey im also a huge fan of quality butchers, agree with your points.

    recently popped into victor churchill butcher in woollahra (sydney) - do yourself a favour and check it out next time you're over there. the most amazing butcher shop ive ever seen. think the open kitchen concept but in a butcher shop with amazing produce and extremely knowledgable staff. also since it's owned by vic's meats (who are pretty large wholesalers) their prices are pretty good (cheaper than mondos or torre) despite the location.

    enjoying your blog by the way, have been considering doing one myself but am way too lazy.

    sanj

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  4. Thanks!

    Yeah I just read a feature on Victor Churchill in the new Gourmet Traveller. Looks amazing. Surprised they're able to sell the meat at competitive prices, it sounds like they spent a fortune on the fit out.

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  5. I'd like to add that these butchers are also pretty good in our area:
    Meat the Butcher, Dogswamp shopping centre (bonus points for hilarious name)
    Meat @ The Mezz in Mt Hawthorn
    the other Torre store on Bulwer St

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  6. apparently vic's meats goes through 20-30 MT a day and hold up to 500MT of meat at any one time so their economies of scale must work for them. NQN did a pretty good entry with photos etc.

    check out www.notquitenigella.com

    certainly was an amazing place and u'd give your left nut to go there on a regular basis. was one of the highlights of a trip that included quay, tetsuyas, braza, golden century, bourke st bakery, al mustapha and cafe mint. probably my 3rd favourite thing out of the meal at quay and sausage roll at bourke st bakery.

    actually scrap that, too hard to pick one over the other - brekky at cafe mint was awesome too

    sanj

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  7. yes, true! I forgot! They both make excellent sausages, and Meat the Butcher has a good range of frozen game meats. They're also pretty good at cutting stuff to order (eg. diced shin).

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  8. Wow, I'm jealous. I'd love to go to Quay. Peter Gilmore gave a 'truffle masterclass' at the Mundaring Festival recently, and I was very tempted to go but I just couldn't afford it (saving for the French Laundry and other Californian food attractions).

    The NQN post is here by the way: http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/09/07/victor-churchill-butchers-woollahra-louis-vuitton-meets-a-butchery/

    Looks amazing!

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  9. I edited the post to mention Meat the Butcher and Meat @ The Mezz.

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  10. Um, I think I NEED to go to there.

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  11. Excellent post, keep up the good work. I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I?m glad I found your blog.

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