- +1 (718) 784-1078
- helpbutchersblock@outlook.com
- 43-46 41st St Sunnyside, NY 11104
Black pudding and rashers in NYC are two of the hardest things to find outside a proper Irish butcher. At The Butcher Block in Sunnyside, Queens, both have been part of the counter since 1995.
A rasher is Irish back bacon, cut from the loin rather than the belly. It carries more meat than the American strips most New Yorkers grew up on, and it holds its shape on the grill instead of curling into lace. Time Out has singled out The Butcher Block’s version by name, noting it is meatier than the belly cut and best crisped up on the grill.
Black pudding is a blood sausage, made from pork blood, oats, and seasoning, sliced and pan fried until the edges catch and crisp. White pudding uses the same base without the blood, for anyone easing into the flavor. Neither is common outside Irish and British grocers, which is part of why the search for them so often ends in Sunnyside.
Noel Gaynor opened the store in 1995. A fire next door damaged the original space in 2003, and the shop rebuilt at its current address, 43-46 41st Street. Press coverage has followed the counter ever since. The New York Times profiled it under the headline “Love, Bacon, and a Bit of Ireland.” Eater New York wrote about the Irish breakfast sandwich built from this exact counter. The Infatuation named the shop among the best restaurants in Sunnyside and Woodside. Time Out gave the back bacon its own callout in a shopping guide to the neighborhood.
The pudding range includes Glen Ri and Donnelly’s, both black and white, alongside rashers cut fresh at the counter rather than pre packaged. A full Irish breakfast plate at the deli pairs both with sausages and eggs, the same combination customers have been ordering for thirty years. Noel Gaynor, who co-founded the shop in 1995, is still behind the deli counter regularly, and walks first time customers through the pudding range for anyone who has never cooked it before.
Customers who order through the store’s DoorDash listing describe the black pudding and bacon in similar terms: fresh, and full of flavor rather than flat or overly salty, the two complaints people usually have about a packaged version.
Rashers and black pudding are fresh counter items, so they are available for pickup in store or local delivery around Sunnyside and the surrounding Queens neighborhoods. The store is open daily from 8AM to 7PM at 43-46 41st Street, and online orders can be placed for same day pickup or local delivery.
Shelf stable Irish and British groceries, teas, biscuits, and preserves ship locally from the same site. Fresh meat and prepared foods, including the pudding and rasher range, stay within local pickup and delivery for now, since keeping them fresh in transit is not something a shipping box can guarantee.
Is black pudding the same as blood sausage? Yes. Black pudding is the Irish and British name for the same style of blood sausage found under different names across Europe.
What is white pudding, and how is it different? White pudding is made from the same base of oats and seasoning, without the blood. It has a milder flavor and works as an entry point for anyone new to pudding.
Can black pudding and rashers be shipped outside New York? Not currently. Both are fresh counter items and stay within local pickup and delivery around Sunnyside. Shelf stable imported groceries from the same store do ship nationwide.
Where in Sunnyside is the store located? 43-46 41st Street, Sunnyside, Queens, between Queens Boulevard and 43rd Avenue, a short walk from the 7 train at 40th Street.
The counter stays stocked with both, the same way it has for thirty years.
