City Weekend's dining columnist Phoenix Torrijos shows you where to find Beijing's best meats for your own gourmet home cooking.

My husband and I have very different preferences in food. My favorite things to savor include black-and-blue filet and foie gras, while he favors more rudimentary foods, like chicken nuggets and waffle cut french fries. One thing we agree on is our carnivorous leanings, and nothing beckons our epicurean urges more than the carnal combination of meat and fire. To buy the best primal cuts of meat in the city, options range from specialty butchers to wet market shifu.

French super butcher Boucherie Michel has long held a reputation for carving the some of the finest delicacies in town. The most popular sellers include the well-trimmed beef filet (¥17.9/100g) and lamb chops (¥14.5/100g), though I prefer French traditions like pork pate (¥12.8/100g) or goose liver pate (¥85/100g). BM always seems to have a rack of discounted wines, but the recent addition of a wine club, which allows participants a special price on featured wines, makes a visit especially rewarding. For instance, Veuve Cliquot drops from ¥545 to ¥445 with the purchase of a ¥50 membership card.

Schindler’s Food Center offers standards like Hebei beef tenderloin (¥15/100g) and spiced pepper steak (¥13.5/100g), but the sausage selection is where Schindler’s really shines. Favorites like pork bratwursts (¥7.5/100g) and Munich white sausages (¥7/100g) are made in-house. Chef Too gets their hot dogs (¥7/100g) here. Schindler’s also pre-marinates meats like osso buco (¥9.5/100g) and veal goulash (¥9.5/100g) for an effortless foundation to a gourmet home-cooked meal. Don’t forget to grab the best brezel (¥6) in town while perusing the fresh baked goods.

For a more local (read: economical) option, Sanyuanli is the original Beijing uber-market. Sellers hawk everything from goat cheese and wine to rosemary and avocados. Booth 037 sells beef tenderloin (¥29/jin) and ribeye (¥20/jin) from Hebei, as well as five-pound legs of lamb for ¥20/jin. The Beijing pork tenderloin and chops from booth 054 are freshly sliced to order. Later this fall, booth 041’s imported Norbest turkeys will be available for ¥20/jin. Proprietor Mrs. Li says, “our domestic turkeys (¥18/jin) are also quite good—we get them from a farm in the suburb of Pingguo.” Fear not, many shopkeepers speak rudimentary English, but basic Mandarin skills go a long way.

Whether you like your steak medium rare or well done, or prefer your meat on a sesame seed bun, a diverse offering of specialty shops makes grilling up a taste of home easy and accessible.

You've got the meat, now it's grillin' time. Check out this exclusive free recipe for carne guisida from Tim Hilbert of Tim's Texas BBQ in Jianguomen.