A&K ReesFamily Butchers

Allen Rees opened this Cowbridge Road East shop in 1981 after training as a butcher's Saturday boy in Rhiwbina and a spell learning pastry work. His son Kevin joined him behind the counter and now handles customers while Allen manages the meat preparation at the back. The shop's handmade pies and pasties are the main draw, and Kevin is blunt about what goes into them: 'it is all about quality, putting rubbish in your pies just to make them cheaper isn't a compromise.' Regulars have included the Wales scrum-half Terry Holmes and singer Charlotte Church, though most custom comes from Canton households who have shopped here for generations, choosing the counter over the supermarket meat aisle despite the extra walk and higher prices.