For the last umpteen years we've bought most of our beef from online supplier Donald Russell. I love their stuff, superb quality. (We buy our mutton and lamb, and Pork, from other specialist suppliers). We've tried other suppliers of beef,from time to time, but have always gone back to Donald Russell because of the quality of the product and the excellent service.
This year we were at the Good Food show at Olympia, and tasted some slow roasted silverside from the Traditional Beef Company, a supplier we hadn't previously tried. The beef was excellent, and we bought various items. - a silverside joint, some Ribeye steaks, some shin for slow cooking The chap on the stall was the farmer, Robin, and he was lovely. Very passionate about his product. Having followed his instructions on slow roasting the silverside, resulting in the most juicy and tender non-Christmas cut we'd ever eaten, (and absolutely incredibly moist when cold as well!) we decided to buy our christmas beef from them this year.
I ordered early, and explained that it was a Christmas order, so elivery was scheduled for w/c 20 December. I emailed them on Friday last week, to check that everything was OK, and I received an email back saying that delivery would be on Monday or Tuesday. I found this a bit odd - how could meat be delivered by courier on Monday, as there wouldn't be a pickup on Sunday. However, I just assumed it would be Tuesday.
On Saturday, the snow which had already reappeared in parts of the country, reached us.
No delivery on Monday (which wasn't a surprise), and at lunchtime Tuesday I decided to phone them to check. Just to make sure. I was thinking that, worst case, I could probably drive there and collect - but if I was going to do that, I'd need to knowso I could make suitable arrangements . Or if that wasn't going to be possible, at least we'd know and would have time to go and buy something.
Phoned - no answer. Not worried - they were probably busy.packing orders. Phoned later, and got Robin's wife on the phone. Asked about my delivery, and she said they were a day behind because tit snowed heavily on Saturday and theywere snowed in at the weekend.... but Robin is doing the deliveries himself. I expressed surprise at this, and said I had assumed they would use a courier - she explained that normally they do, but they are so remote that they haven't been able to get a courier to come, and at the moment the couriers can't guarantee a timely delivery so even if they got the boxes to the courier, they couldn't be sure it would get delivered in time.
Thinking she meant Robin was making local deliveries, I said where I was, and offered to meet him somewhere. She explained that they've borrowed a landrover so they can get off their farm and out of the village, and Robin is doing all the deliveries. Everywhere. And not to worry, my beef would definitely be here by Christmas.
And it is. It was delivered, personally, today
What a fantastic couple!
This year we were at the Good Food show at Olympia, and tasted some slow roasted silverside from the Traditional Beef Company, a supplier we hadn't previously tried. The beef was excellent, and we bought various items. - a silverside joint, some Ribeye steaks, some shin for slow cooking The chap on the stall was the farmer, Robin, and he was lovely. Very passionate about his product. Having followed his instructions on slow roasting the silverside, resulting in the most juicy and tender non-Christmas cut we'd ever eaten, (and absolutely incredibly moist when cold as well!) we decided to buy our christmas beef from them this year.
I ordered early, and explained that it was a Christmas order, so elivery was scheduled for w/c 20 December. I emailed them on Friday last week, to check that everything was OK, and I received an email back saying that delivery would be on Monday or Tuesday. I found this a bit odd - how could meat be delivered by courier on Monday, as there wouldn't be a pickup on Sunday. However, I just assumed it would be Tuesday.
On Saturday, the snow which had already reappeared in parts of the country, reached us.
No delivery on Monday (which wasn't a surprise), and at lunchtime Tuesday I decided to phone them to check. Just to make sure. I was thinking that, worst case, I could probably drive there and collect - but if I was going to do that, I'd need to knowso I could make suitable arrangements . Or if that wasn't going to be possible, at least we'd know and would have time to go and buy something.
Phoned - no answer. Not worried - they were probably busy.packing orders. Phoned later, and got Robin's wife on the phone. Asked about my delivery, and she said they were a day behind because tit snowed heavily on Saturday and theywere snowed in at the weekend.... but Robin is doing the deliveries himself. I expressed surprise at this, and said I had assumed they would use a courier - she explained that normally they do, but they are so remote that they haven't been able to get a courier to come, and at the moment the couriers can't guarantee a timely delivery so even if they got the boxes to the courier, they couldn't be sure it would get delivered in time.
Thinking she meant Robin was making local deliveries, I said where I was, and offered to meet him somewhere. She explained that they've borrowed a landrover so they can get off their farm and out of the village, and Robin is doing all the deliveries. Everywhere. And not to worry, my beef would definitely be here by Christmas.
And it is. It was delivered, personally, today
What a fantastic couple!
