Stand-alone butcheries are a rare thing these days, but The Butcher Man, perhaps, is something even rarer: a butchery with an embedded restaurant.

“It wasn’t intentional,” explains Mimi Winkler, who opened the butchery with husband Gerald and two master butchers, after retiring from the couple’s Southern suburbs supermarket franchise. The idea for an on-site restaurant evolved, says Mimi, from her and Gerald’s visits to Selfridges in London, where they enjoyed the hot beef on rye. “It also gives people a chance to taste the meat that we sell.”

Two master butchers, Peter Lees and Mick Donnelly (no relation to our beloved editor, Abigail Donnelly), with around 70 years of experience between them. wield the cleavers and are busy training up the young block men.

“It’s a dying art today,” says Mimi.

The range of meat for sale is quite staggering. Pick up impala, kudu or ostrich biltong at the biltong bar, or a pack of rabbit or duck kebabs to throw on the braai. Tiny baby chickens, quails, sweetbreads, warthog cheese grillers and turkey are also available, along with more conventional cuts.

Food
Meat is the hero of the restaurant menu. Free-range and organic where possible, it’s sourced from fabulous suppliers including Chalmar Beef, Cape Country Lamb, Karoo Meats and Wild Peacock – and you really can taste the difference. A sirloin steak is packed full of flavour, basted in a sweet, tangy barbecue sauce with none of the cloying, artificial flavour that so often accompanies such sauces. Crisp, golden shoestring fries are the perfect vehicle for dipping in the sauce.

If you’re not familiar with New York deli-style hot beef on rye, expect a tender beef brisket sandwich on soft, fresh rye with crunchy homemade pickles, tangy pickled cabbage and mustard. It’s good, but you might well get food envy if you’re seated next to someone devouring steak and chips, one of the burgers, or the juicy boerewors rolls, served in artisan rolls.

They also offer protein-rich breakfasts such as steak-and-egg burgers, bacon-and-egg burgers and boerewors-and-egg rolls.

Wine
There’s no liquor license yet, so you’ll have to make do with soft drinks, which include the Frankie’s range, or self-service Lavazza coffee.

Ambience
The dining area is light, bright and contemporary, with a long open counter looking out over the Green Point main road. Playful vinyl wall stickers of a bull, pig, sheep and chicken adorn the white-tiled walls. The atmosphere is relaxed and happy – like a summer braai with family friends.

Service
Relaxed and friendly. Order and pay at the counter, and take your number to your choice of table. Timings can be very speedy, though we’ve also had one or two longer waits.

And…
Although they’re currently only open until 7pm (and 6pm on Sundays), plans are afoot to stay open until 9pm in summer, “for late night summer braais,” explains Mimi.

By Katharine Jacobs