Tiny Cardiff restaurant sells one dish and it's perfect

A small Cardiff bakery cafe is switching it up by opening in the evenings to serve up just one dish - and luckily it's a really good one. Heathcock Bakery on Llandaff High Street is taking the concept started by its Cowbridge sister venue, Hare & Hounds Bakery, and opening up on Friday nights - restaurant style - for roast chicken platters.

The rotisserie chicken evening service takes place between 6-9pm at the Cardiff venue and serves a fresh, slow-cooked chicken with a select number of tasty starters and sides. And that's it.

Hare & Hounds Bakery, found in a former garage building on a Cowbridge back street, has been opening up for their simple fare supper since late last year and it's a strong move to bring the concept to the Cardiff suburb. Just around the corner from sister pub The Heathcock, the bakery's one-item menu takes the concept of well-sourced ingredients brought together and prepared to make its simplicity shine.

If you ask me, there's nothing better than a good roast chicken. Versatile, sure, but even alone it's delicious when done right. I've been lucky enough to have a Friday night dinner of the rotisserie chicken and, like the Cowbridge bakery version, the Heathcock plate comes with chicken fat roasties, salad leaves, aioli, gravy and bread from the bakery.

Unlike the Cowbridge you also get an option of a pot of romesco sauce. Starters are Welsh rarebit and croquettes, currently ham hock in Cardiff, mussel, laverbread and leek when we tried them out in the Vale venue.

What follows is my take on the Hare & Hounds' chicken night which you can now experience in Cardiff at Heathcock Bakery. Their rarebit is as good as I've tasted, the cheese and beer combo on a huge hunk of H&H toast is the type that makes your cheeks tingle and the touch-less-than-subtle booze flavour was immense.

They'd also nailed the croquettes for crispness and oozy, lovely filling. Then, the platter arrives, heaped with the chicken, a good double handful of roasties, that and the bird is covered in gravy while the salad leaves and bread take up the other side of the platter. I'm straight after the white meat, while, luckily my dining pals are all over the legs and darker meat, thank goodness.

The breast meat was juicy and plump with the delicate taste of the house seasoning, but not too much. Switching up between the creamy, garlicky aioli and the brilliant salty and thick gravy, full of the meaty flavour you absolutely want.

The roasties were nice, too, not too greasy and a nice crisp edge on most of them. No hard ones, either, always a bonus. We liked the cut through of the crisp, fresh salad.

If this is tickling your fancy for a Friday, know something even better. The Heathcock Bakery's chicken night menu comes in slightly cheaper than the Cowbridge one at the Hare & Hounds.

In Cardiff it's £29 for the whole chicken and accoutrements and £16 for half, while sides are still £5 each. The Welsh rarebit was slightly cheaper too at £6 rather than £7. Either way, at either venue you're getting a pretty excellent quality dinner for a decent price.

I should add that right now, due to a fire at the Hare & Hounds pub, the bakery is running a different, vaster menu on Friday and Saturday nights of smaller plates such as steak frites, lamb kebab and Kentucky fried quail. Bookings are recommended for Heathcock Bakery's Rotisserie chicken nights, Friday only.