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Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Where's the beef? Here it is (I hope...)

I wrote about this problem in February - the lack of decent beef fillet steak in Warsaw. Alma's rather sad efforts in this area should be avoided (over-priced at 105zł per kilo, and stringy - not something I'd call 'premium beef'). Auchan's fillet is cheaper (90zł/kg) , and better presented (on a tray, so you can see whether there's gristly bits streaking through it or not. But even so, this is not what you'd get in a restaurant. The cuts are meagre, thin. Most butcher shops will get you fillet steak to special order; lesser cuts of beef are readily available, but though they look nice they are very tough unless beaten for hours with a mallet and marinaded for days in something acidic.

But now, to my great surprise, I've found it. The perfect beefsteak. Here in Warsaw. It comes from Lidl (yes!), priced at 80zł/kg, in the chiller cabinet. That's a whole 25zł/kg less than the stuff they sell at Alma! The brand is BeefMaster, (owned by Zakład Przemysłu Mięsnego Biernacki); in a pack for around 30zł (six quid) you get two lovely steaks (nice and thick and juicy) like you'd find at Butchery & Wine or any other quality restaurant in Our City, vacuum packed and gorgeous. They cook well too. Here it is; mmmmmm! (yes, it does look as good as this in real life).


A little Googling and it transpires that Lidl (not a retailer famed for its continuity of supply) is not alone in selling BeefMaster products. Aldi and Kaufland carry their stock too. And indeed, at the weekend, I found in my local Lidl BeefMaster beef for rolade, steak Tatar, whole fillet pieces and others - but no fillet steak. Looking at BeefMaster's product line-up, I note that my local Lidl has but a small fraction of what's on offer.

And while at Lidl, I can also recommend their 250ml bottles of wine, in particular the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, at a mere 5zł. Decent stuff if you don't want to crack open a whole bottle.

Steak and red wine - the ideal combination (plus, of course, a large salad to go with).

This time last year:
W-wa Zachodnia spruced up for the football, W-wa Stadion reopened

This time two years ago:
Literature and biology

This time five years ago:
Old Nysa van spotted in Grabów

This time six years ago:
The oats in the neighbouring field rise high

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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 June 2013 at 09:40

    best beef and meat and fish in general is found in Makro on Jerozolimskie street - plenty of beef fillet as well as that rare meat for Poland - lamb!

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  2. Michael Dembinski26 June 2013 at 12:38

    @ Anon - I guess this is the cash and carry at Reduta? Do you have to be a VAT-payer or something to use this facility?

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  3. Anonymous26 June 2013 at 14:00

    Thanks for the Lidl tip, they have some good products when you can sort the wheat from the chaff. My Australian friend has consistently complained of unsatisfactory fillet steak in Poland (he told me that it is because the same cattle are used for dairy and meat production, though don't know if this is the case). Anyway, he highly recommends the Podkow Lesna Wine Depot/ Argentinian Grill for some of the best steak he has ever tasted in Poland (though I'm yet to verify this myself).

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  4. Anonymous28 June 2013 at 18:22

    Get your BPCC admin people to get in contact with Makro - they dish out cards now to employees of companies - the one I use is in Wlochy - great fresh fillet, lamb is frozen but excellent quality and fish is super - go once and you are hooked

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