I've been visiting George's for over eight years after first being introduced to them by a local friend promising something 'very special'. He was right. This small family firm butchers and sells some of the very finest meat you will find anywhere.

Over the years I've learned the reasons for this: They've well over 100 years of skill, wisdom and heritage. You just won't find this sort of thing anywhere near a supermarket or practically anywhere else. They are one of the few traditional butchers left and slaughter on the premises; this means a very, very high level of care and humane slaughter. This in turn means less stressed animals which results in beautifully tender and tasty lamb, beef and pork. Bryan, the head butcher, knows his animals and personally selects what they will buy. He's supported by a wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable team who really know their cuts and will joyfully recommend 'just the thing' for your Sunday roast. All their bacon, sausages and such like are made by hand without additives, preservatives - just as they should be. Their deli is a cornucopia of local delights from the cheese to the freshly roasted coffee; it has all the extra produce you could ever want to grace your dining table.

My visits were initially infrequent, as I lived over 200 miles away. It's no exaggeration to say that one of the top ten reasons I now live in the area was because of George's. It really is that good! I now have a regular schedule of foodies from London and the rest of the country visiting, just for the beef and lamb!

What more can one say? Except perhaps to mention that all this quality will cost you far, far less than a supermarket visit. If you are in the area, I can only urge you to visit. To go once is to fall in love with them!

We bought fillet steak ,burgers and sausages. The steak was the best I have ever tasted, also such a reasonable price.

Very nice helpful staff too, I highly recommend this place. Well stocked with all types of normal butcher shop goods plus all types of cheese and delicatessen items

Fabulous family butchers evoking memories of days gone by. Personal service and conversation about current affairs which you won't get in any supermarket! Fillet steak was "melt in your mouth sublime". Will report on leg of lamb tomorrow!!

If you want a butchers where you get the personal touch then this is the place to go.

We visit regularly to buy our meat, oils and vinegars. The pork pies, home made sausages and bacon cannot be beaten. The meat cannot be faulted. Everybody who works there is friendly, helpful and you leave with not only your goods but a huge smile on your face.

A massive thank you for the amazing range and quality of meat you sell. The Tomahawk steaks are to die for.

We have stopped here several times since accidentally discovering this butcher/deli. It is too far away to make it our 'local', but fortunately we pass through the area every few weeks and has become the perfect place to stop on the way home to pick up a few things and the pies are packed with beef and are the perfect hassle-free dinner.

It was a great pleasure to meet you and the rest of your family team yesterday. I really enjoyed my brief visit. You are exactly the sort of top quality local food business that I tried to support and champion when I was Secretary of State for Defra. I am only sorry that I could not stay and talk to you all for longer. I am also most grateful to you for the splendid steak which you insisted I take as a present. This was most generous of you and I look forward to it tonight.

I felt compelled to write to you and express just how pleased we were with our Christmas order.

The turkey was definitely one of the most succulent birds I have ever tasted. The edition of the red 'cooking tee' was extremely helpful in preventing the meat from drying out (something I have been guilty of serving in past years!!).

My husband was keen to try a rib of beef this year, but I, unfortunately had no knowledge of how to order or cool this kind of cut. So it is with the greatest of thanks I pass on to Chris, who gave me foolproof instructions on how to cook this most delicious piece of beef.

I would also like to make a complimentary nod to all the staff who were working on Sunday 21st December. Whilst standing in the queue there were some very happy and joyful people working in the shop. They were all knowledgable and extremely helpful – a complete credit to your business.

We would also like to express our gratitude to Georgina who supplied and iced a box for us to transport our order on a very lengthy return journey home. Having lived in London for almost 20 years and sampled what many, many butchers offer, I can say without doubt that we will be returning each and every year for the family Christmas meat supply.

W.J. George is not just a high quality butchers serving the picturesque market town of Talgarth, it is also a champion of local artisan produce. Originally established as a butcher’s over 135 years ago, W.J. (Billy) George took over ownership of the Butchers from his uncle in 1935 and it still remains in the family to this very day.

But it is not just the ownership of the shop that has been handed down, invaluable knowledge of local farms, produce and seasonal variances was also passed down which is why all the meat in the butcher’s section is fully traceable; because each animal is hand picked mostly direct from the farm and brought to the abattoir at the back of the shop before being prepared for display or packaging. It is very difficult for any butcher to compete with this level of quality control and this reflects in the very high standard of the meat.

The family business is run today by Bryan and his son Chris George whose expertise is in enormous demand as many of the most high profile restaurants and caterers in London as well as other culinary experts are customers of W.J. George. I cannot overstate the quality of the meat sold here.

Living in the Brecon/South Powys area I am spoiled for choice when it comes to butchers. Both Brecon and Abergavenny in (the latter in neighbouring Monmouthshire) have award winning butchers that stand out in their own rights as exceptional. Each with it’s own specialty, but the overall quality of produce from W.J. George is why I myself and my family use them as our primary source of meat and associated produce.

Such is the quality that it may effect any future decision to move from where we currently live because at present we literally eat like kings and have grown very accustomed to it. So moving out of close proximity to Talgarth is now out of the question.

But eating like a king does not mean we need a king’s financial position to afford such luxuries, we have found the prices to be most reasonable by anyone’s standards, because aside from the demand from London for W.J. George’s meat, the local customer is always treated well and prices reflect this adherence serving the community.

If I fancy a steak I will always ask Bryan or one of his highly trained staff, which cut they would recommend on any given day because I know that they will sell me a cheaper cut if the quality of the meat of said cheaper cut is above that of a more expensive cut, say a rib-eye for instance.

Trusting your butcher is something which has become almost unheard of in the 21st century Britain, but here in Talgarth it is alive and well. The personal touch means so much more in this day and age. To see 74 year old Bryan George standing there in front of you in rude health with forearms suggesting a grip that could crush walnuts fills you with confidence in his produce, I mean how much spinach did Popeye sell?

I am not alone in appreciating the quality of produce. Renowned novelist and travel writer, Duncan Fallowell (who has impeccable taste in pretty much everything that can have taste attributed to it) also frequents W.J. George. I recently asked Duncan what he thought of this butchers, his reply was most enthusiastic and complimentary saying it sells “The best leg of lamb in the world“, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

One thing I have noticed is that every time I go there to buy my meat there are 2 people in front of me in the queue and two people behind me when I leave which is quite revealing considering population of Talgarth town is no more than 1,700. This is because people travel from all over the country to buy their meat from George’s.

I recently spoke to a couple who drive 50 miles every week from Chepstow to do their meat shopping at George’s and it is common knowledge in the surrounding towns and villages that people have been known to travel from afar to south Powys to spend the night with the expressed intention of stocking up on meat from W.J. George to travel home with.

The family business has taken another monumental leap building upon their reputation of selling quality food by opening a delicatessen adjoining the current butchers. Georgina George (Chris’s wife) is at the helm here and this move towards high end delicacies has proven to be a huge success with local and foreign produce mainly from artisan producers being championed once again. The range of cheeses, oils, vinegars etc will have your mouth watering like a reservoir overflow and the other services like bespoke hampers add to a complete quality of service.

Simple things like the short back bacon has to be experienced to be believed, the fillet steak (all grass-fed) and lamb are out of this world and unlike anything you will ever purchase from a supermarket. There is nothing else I can say except when I first tried the produce here it was like trying meat for the first time. 

All roads should lead to Talgarth.