Chances are, in your search for secondhand paperbacks and vintage LP records on Freeskool Street, you would have not noticed a particularly narrow doorway that leads to a single room. Known simply as Kalman Meat Storage, this little shop is the ultimate pit stop for any discerning carnivore.

Three massive freezers occupy almost all the space in this hole-in-the-wall room and in one corner stands a complex and mutant-looking machine that is used for slicing frozen meat. There are a couple of faded menus taped to the walls and only when you go through the items do you realize that you are not dealing with just another run-of-the-mill meat shop.

Kalmans was started in the mid-1950s by a Hungarian trapeze artiste called Kalman Kohary who, after many years with a traveling Russian circus, wanted to retire in a place lucrative for business. Together with his Burmese wife (the shop still makes her duck liver pâté and spicy sausage filling), he managed this shop till his death in the late sixties. The business was handed over to his assistant Bishnupriyo Dhar, who not only retained the original name of the shop, but also the excellent quality of the products.

From a wide selection of sausages to delicious pork tenderloin to juicy beef undercuts, this shop is a treasure trove of all things meaty and wonderful. Their array of cold cuts and pre-cooked items such as pork hot dogs, meatballs and liver pâté is mouth-watering. From ham and bacon in variations of lean, smoked and cooked, to pork chops to made-to-order steak cuts, Kalman’s has its freezers packed to the gills and the best part is the prices are very reasonable.

Just a little disclaimer: it is advisable to go to Kalman’s early in the day, because by afternoon most of their items get over quickly.