David Oakman & Sons, Butcher, Catford

Location: 28 Muirkirk Rd, Catford, London SE6 1BE

Website: https://www.facebook.com/davidoakmanbutcher

Unfortunately decent traditional English butchers have been in decline for a long time in the UK, the problem being the convenience of picking up your meat in the supermarket. I personally am not a fan of supermarket meat, it is usually not of the best quality and not a lot of care has gone into choosing the best cuts. The best place to buy meat is an independent local butcher who will go the extra mile to make sure that they are selling you an excellent quality product, David Oakman is one such butcher.

Located on Muirkirk road in the Corbett Estate in Catford, David is a purveyor of quality meat and fish. We have been shopping with him since we moved to Catford and are extremely fortunate in that the shop is about a 1 minute walk from our house. David has an great range of meat including the usual lamb, beef, pork, chicken but he has a much greater selection of cuts than you would ever find in the supermarket. The rashers are particularly good, once you try one it is very hard to go back to supermarket quality bacon. He also does game animals from time to time, we had a delicious pheasant for dinner a few weeks back which we purchased from him, he also usually has guinea fowl. And of course my favourite product that he sells, whole sides of pork ribs which are amazing when slow smoked on the BBQ. It is not just meat though, he also has a good range of fish, we have previously purchased salmon and lemon sole from him and were very happy with both. The prawns are also of a particularly good quality. If there is something niche that you need that he doesn't have in stock he will usually be able to get it in for you if you pre-order, he goes to Billingsgate fish market quite frequently and is usually happy to pick something up for you.

All in all, David Oakman is an excellent family butcher, always with a smile on his face when he welcomes you into the store. And I think everybody on the Corbett Estate in Catford will agree that he is the best butcher for miles around.