If you’re lucky enough to have your own barbecue, or you’ve perfected another way of cooking a great steak, there’s nothing more important than having top-quality meat to work with. This list of Singapore’s best online butchers has you covered for exactly that. You can order superb beef, lamb, pork, chicken or fish sourced from around the world – including organic and grass-fed meat. Fancy having a good wagyu rib-eye or a delicious beef wellington cooked for you instead? We’ve included a great Aussie steakhouse in Singapore too!
Sasha’s Fine Foods
Sasha’s Fine Foods is a go-to online grocer for food-conscious shoppers who want high-quality, ethically produced food delivered to their doorstep. Sasha herself meticulously sources and personally vets all the produce on the website. Customers can read all about the food they’re buying, too. In fact, there’s an entire “Meet Our Producers” section dedicated to telling the stories of Sasha’s suppliers – that means you can have full transparency and confidence in what you’re purchasing.
The store’s range of New Zealand lamb is our current obsession. It hails from the South Island’s oldest sheep station; at this Marlborough farm, lots of sunshine, coastal landscapes and careful farming practices combine to give the lamb unique flavour characteristics. Each lamb is hand-selected and pasture-raised without genetically modified feed or hormones. The result? Exquisite taste and consistency. So, make your weekend lunch or dinner extra special with tender lamb leg on the bone (available fresh or frozen, from $48.50) – perfect for roasting!
Meat Co
Shop a wide range of steaks from this online butchery, which has been supplying top quality meats to hotels and restaurants for more than 20 years. What sets the company apart is the quality and consistency of meats that they import. Apart from premium cuts of beef, Meat Co also offers a fab selection of fresh and frozen chicken, lamb and pork.
New on the site is Wanderer beef, a free-range, barley-fed beef raised in Southern Australia. This cattle is allowed to roam freely on the fields, and are barley-fed, resulting in a superior flavour that’s richer than most grass-fed beef. This unique and modern farming method provides a relaxed environment with the highest animal welfare in mind, and achieves year-round quality and consistency in marbling and tenderness. Wanderer Beef has no added hormones or antibiotics, and the cattle are never confined to feedlots.
Enjoy free next-day delivery when you spend above $80 and when you order before 2pm.
Open Taste
Open Taste is an online platform that gives consumers in Singapore the opportunity to shop perishable products from around the globe at wholesale prices. Prices here are often 30 to 50 percent lower than in supermarkets and specialty online grocers; plus, they’ll deliver your items within 36 hours of ordering. That means access to everything from Thai coconuts, Italian pasta and fresh milk from small Aussie farms to all kinds of meat, poultry and seafood from Australia, the US, Malaysia, Brazil, Norway, Chile and also Singapore.
So, what’s on the must-try list? Firstly, the grass-fed wagyu beef from Open Taste’s private label of quality steak cuts. For $39.99, shoppers can get a two-pack of rib-eyes (400g total) with a marbling score of 3/4. It’s flown fresh from Australia, chilled and ready to cook. The meat is free of hormones and antibiotics, and also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin A.
Ryan’s Grocery
Specialty gourmet butchery and grocer Ryan’s Grocery is a great go-to for those seeking healthier alternatives to the average supermarket selections. You’ll find a wonderful array of organic and free-range meats, and gluten-free and preservative-free foods. Items are sourced from small producers and farmers who are committed to ethical production. Order online at ryansgrocery.com, or visit one of the two store locations. The original shop is in Bukit Timah at 29 Binjai Park; the larger, recently opened branch is at Great World City (#B1-144/145, 1 Kim Seng Promenade) – complete with a restaurant, Ryan’s Kitchen!
Borrowdale pork is one of the bestsellers here, and for good reason. All the hogs have plenty of room to roam around as they’re raised. This low-stress environment not only gives the animals a better quality of life but also allows them to live longer – that means more time for natural flavours to develop, resulting in juicier, more delicious meat. Another fan favourite is the 100-day grain-fed Five Founders dry-aged beef, aged in Ryan’s Grocery’s own dry-age chiller at Great World City. Customers can choose their cut and desired ageing duration!
The Fishwives
With a “no nasties” ethos, it’s all about unadulterated, sustainable food here. Whether you shop The Fishwives’ online emporium (thefishwives.com) or in-person at the Cluny Court storefront (#01-05B, 501 Bukit Timah Road), you’re guaranteed a great selection of quality, additive-free meat and seafood, sourced from New Zealand and Australia. All the red meat is grass-fed, the poultry is free-range, and the seafood is sustainably harvested with low impact on the environment. Founder and owner Rebecca Forwood deals directly with all the farmers. This ensures the brand meets her non-negotiable criteria of ethically grown products by way of animal welfare, and no chemicals or genetic modification throughout the supply chain.
You’ll want to add the shop’s 100 percent grass-fed Roaring Forties Lamb to your must-buy list. The Southern Australian lamb is antibiotic- and hormone-free, carbon neutral and free-range; it’s available as racks, eye of loin, boneless legs, boneless shoulders and shanks. Also popular is the melt-in-your-mouth, grass-fed wagyu from Altair. This is available in rib-eye, eye fillet and porterhouse cuts – and house-made burgers on weekends!
Farmer’s Market
Online butcher Farmer’s Market specialises in succulent steaks, along with all your other everyday meat and seafood needs. So whether you’re craving a sizzling, juicy rib-eye, want to wow someone with a mouth-watering tomahawk or award-winning wagyu, we know you’ll love their selection of 100 percent grass-fed Aussie and New Zealand beef. Farmer’s Market was created by Australian mum of two, Emma Pike, who personally scrutinises the sourcing of the produce to bring families in Singapore affordable, naturally farmed meat and seafood. You won’t find any unwanted additives such as hormones or antibiotics here.
Planning a BBQ? Their rich, tender premium rib eye steak always hits the spot. Throw in some New Zealand king salmon, sustainably farmed in pristine Marlborough waters, and some perfectly seasoned pork & fennel sausages, which are handmade in Singapore. Farmer’s Market delivers islandwide from Monday to Saturday, with free delivery on orders over $150. Order before 12pm on Monday to Friday for next-day delivery.
Top-quality meat
Wooloomooloo represents the laid-back, food-loving ethos of Australia. This popular steakhouse at Swissôtel the Stamford (2 Stamford Road) offers premium steak selections and Aussie-inspired picks. The whole experience starts as you walk by the restaurant’s impressive chiller, where beef cuts are stored and on display; afterwards, you’ll get to see the culinary crew in action from the open-theatre kitchen. It definitely adds some extra drama to the meal!
Though the menu features prime cuts from Idaho to Ireland, what Wooloomooloo really prides itself on is top-quality Aussie beef. We recommend starting with the Australian wagyu beef tenderloin carpaccio ($26), thinly sliced and finished with rocket, Parmesan and seasoning. It’s the perfect way to sample the butter-like consistency and flavour of wagyu in its purest form. For the main event, opt for medium-rare with the Australian rib-eye ($79/340g or $105/450g); the 150-day grain-fed and four-weeks wet-aged cut comes from Stanbroke, Queensland. Also a hit is the bestselling beef wellington ($83/220g) with mushroom duxelles, Parma ham and foie gras.
For reservations, call 6338 0261 or visit woo-steakhouse.com.
This article first appeared in the April 2020 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase a copy or subscribe so you never miss an issue!