I was sad to see the demise of Nook. I  should have gone there more often, but if I am honest natural wines are generally not my thing, and I have more than enough wine at home than I know what to do with and which (for the most part) I know I will actually enjoy drinking. As such, taking a punt on the natural stuff (that Nook use to focus on) that may or may not taste like cheap scrumpy made in a rusty bath tub was never high on my list if I am totally honest (must be a market for the stuff, I am just not it). The food was pretty good (although it did seem to suffer identity crisis at one point) and sad as it is to see a business go at least the site is not being left to rot.

This brings me to the sites shiny new tenants. I have always loved the cooking of the two chaps behind Hiraeth, which never fails (at least in my experience) to deliver clever, inventive and above all (and most importantly) tasty food. The pub they had near Cowbridge was a great place, but a little out in the sticks and with me nearly always being the designated driver it meant no booze, generally, for me.

So, despite the demise of Nook, I was pretty ecstatic at the prospect of Hiraeth bringing their creative food to Vickie Park, which is a pleasant stroll from my gaff in Llandaff.

I tend to walk Dick the dog (AKA Oscar) in Vickie Park in the mornings (he is like a pig in clover at the mo as it is conker season and Dick loves to chase a conker – only way I get him running around these days) and I have looked on each morning with eager anticipation as the works on the site started and continued at some pace.

Inside it is a nice cosy set up, with a warmth of welcome and expectation of something special that rather exemplifies the fulfillment of the Hiraeth need/longing.

I love an open kitchen and both the Hiraeth chaps are out and about in the dining room presenting and explaining dishes. I like this, as you can really see the passion they have for their food

They operate on the basis of a set tasting menu (there is a shorter and cheaper lunch menu),

For an initial menu I thought (at first blush at least) the one on the night we visited (their first Saturday) looked pretty bold and (with the likes of smoked eel – I love it, but many baulk at it, although not sure why) not a little brave.

It shows a quiet confidence from the  kitchen.

First up were a set of two top notch snacks.

A croquette type affair of beef (can’t remember what cut, but maybe shin) had a rich beefy interior, that only comes from low and slow cooking of top notch beef in a quality braising stock, encased in a light, crisp shell and adorned with nutty (reminiscent of aged gouda) old Winchester cheese.

A siracha (I think) infused emulsion added a well touch of piquancy to proceedings.

The second snack (one each) were some intriguing takoyai (Japanese snacks made of a wheat based batter usually encasing minced octopus) style balls.

The octopus had here been replace with squid, which was lovely and tender, all encased in a light batter ball. Crisp on the outside, with a soft, ever so slightly gooey, interior studded with liberal amounts of squid. These were very moreish and even Mrs. SF, who can be squeamish about these sort of dishes, loved it.

I sometimes rail against the concept of bread as a course in its own right, but when the concept includes a chicken tea, chicken skin butter and a chicken parfait (as was the case here) I am much more comfortable with the concept.

The shokupan, a bronzed bunned beauty,

was buttery and slightly sweet  The addition of chicken fat and herbs adding richness and freshness respectively. 

It would have been lovely eaten on its own, but things were rather amped up by the chicken skin butter and parfait.

The former had that glorious taste you get from the best crispy roasted chicken skin, with the smooth butter liberally infused  with salty crunchy skin. Move over marmite butter there is a new sheriff in town!! Could eat this stuff each and every day until I shuffle off this mortal coil (death row dish this).

The chicken (liver – we really should eat more of these) parfait was equally as good, with a smooth, light texture and full on flavour. Lovely spread on the bread or simply shovelled into the gob solo.

The quartet was completed by a chicken tea,

which was crystal clean and full on with an intense, very essence of chicken, flavour. I would call it a consome, but it was top tea(r) whatever.

Tea or consome, it was a distillation and concentration of the flavour of that really good chicken you had once. I would happily drink this stuff out of a trough or bath in it (with a straw to hand).

The next course was rather dainty by comparison, with a distinct Jackson Pollock vibe to it.

A pleasing nuttiness to the squash (still retaining a touch of bite) was amped up by hazelnuts, with miso providing a umami hit. The goat curd added tanginess, which worked well as against the deep savouriness of the miso, All the flavours melded together beautifully, with the added benefit of nice contrasts in texture.

Spankingly fresh raw wild bass was immersed in a celeriac dashi type concoction with anis and  a slightly unexpected zing of citrus (which complimented the fish rather than overpowering it) .

Raw discs of celeriac provided a further  hit of anis and nutty crunchiest. A nice textural contrast to the soft yielding raw bass flesh.

Frongs of rock samphire added further texture and a salty contrast to the slightly sour anis (rather than the usual full on umami flavour) of the dashi. Really refreshing dish, which was a breath of bracing sea air that operated to enlivened the palate.

I tend to think that rabbit is a very underrated and underused meat in the UK, which contrasts with China (and closer to home Spain and France), where it is massively popular. This is a shame as it is very sustainable, especially when wild rather than farmed (the same amount of food and water to produce 1 pound of beef produces 6 pounds of rabbit meat). Many people seem to be put off by the “but they are so cute” probably as they tuck into a lamb roast dinner!

As such it is nice to see the use of rabbit here as the main element of the next dish.

A key problem with rabbit meat is it lacks fat and thus can dry out if not cooked with care.

This was addressed here by wrapping it in another fatty meat and also through the use of fat rich smoked eel. The inclusion of the latter in the dish did rather raise some worried eyebrows with a couple of our party of four, but it bought buttery, smokey, richness to the party without overpowering the delicate gaminess of the rabbit. Clever stuff this and all four of us were sold on this dish.

A super flakey rabbit filled empanada/pasty added nicely to the mix, as did an intense jus (a bit more of the jus would have been nice). Can’t remember what the puree was, but I do recall it was very nice.

Rather unexpectedly, a portion of mashed potato arrived with this dish.

Silky smooth with copious amounts of butter and a good level of seasoning this was a great mash, with my only slight quibble being that with this dish it would have benefited from a bit more of the jus being on the plate. I think the dish was fine without the mash, but I wasn’t complaining when it arrived.

We moved on to the sweet stuff next and boy did the first dessert hit that oh so sweet spot.

Billed as lemon solera tequila, it was like the love child of a solera lolly and a margarita.

Really zingy sour citrus flavours, melded seemlessly with the spicy, sweet, fruitiness of the tequila. Lovely dish this and perfect for cleansing the palate.

The final course, with palates suitably cleansed, was advertised as a hay ice-cream with white chocolate and fudge. What I got seemed to be more dark chocolate in nature, with honeycomb and hay ice-cream.

The hay ice-cream (not had it before) was really rich with cream (did seem just a bit lacking in the ice/frozen element) and had a sweet honey and cinnamon flavour to it. This sat on a mix of intensely flavoured freeze dried berries, honeycomb and chocolate nibs/ rubble (bit more course than soil). Nice contrast of sweet and sharp here.

All in all this was a very fine meal, with nay a bum dish.

On the booze front, there is a short but not without interest wine list. Nice to see a good mix of countries and grapes (not just the usual suspects), as well as Welsh wines in three of the four categories.

They offer £40 per head wine pairing option with the menu, as well as a cocktail pairing one. Later not really of interest to me, but I suspect one that may find favour with others (with cocktails so de riguer these days, it seems a good idea).

Looking at the list I decided to go with a red and a white rather than the pairing (which would have been £160 for the 4 of us).

For the white, I went with Greek assytriko/sauvignon blanc blend (50:50) as I am a  big fan of Greek wine and the assytriko grape.

At £56 (retails at around £22 mark) it was the most expensive wine on the list.

Nice drop this with the nose heady with citrus, as well as touches of quince and pear. On the palate, there was lots of refreshing acidity, with citrus and pear to the fore.

Worked partucularly well with the bass and squash dishes.

On the red front, Beronia rioja is an always reliable drop with which you can’t really go wrong.

Lots of rich dark (cherry and plum) fruit as well as spice and a touch of leather and coconut on the nose 

On the palate, there was black cherry and plum, baking spices and a touch of liquorice.

Good food wine this.

£48 on the list, it retails at around the £16 – £18 mark (Ocado seem to have a good offer for it at mo).

One of the pinots on the list may have been a more conventional choice with the rabbit, but I (and more importantly Mrs. SF) am a sucker for a rioja and it worked well enough.

Looking elsewhere on the list, the Welsh wine looks particularly good value, with the Yr Afranc white retailing at £27 – £30 and on list at £46.

The verdict

Opening and running a restaurant these days is a delicate balancing act and you need to be brave, skillful and quick to react. Personally I think Hiraeth have knocked it out of the park with the overall package at their shiny new, by the park, gaff.

With the food excellent and a lovely ambience in their new home, Cardiff is lucky how things have panned out for the Hiraeth guys. They seem to have met  various bumps in the road with stoic fortitude and this place seems a perfect venue to showcase their talents.

What I had here was my most enjoyable meal this year to date and it will be hard to beat. It reminds me a bit of Wilsons in Bristol and those that have been there will know that is some compliment.

What makes it all the more remarkable was this was only their third day of opening. To get everything so bob on so soon is no mean feat.

My next trip there will be for lunch,

which looks good value for the £35 (inc a glass of wine). I have also booked the place out for the Mystere Wine Club’s annual dinner in October –  can’t wait!!

The details

Address:  587 Cowbridge Road East, Victoria Park, Cardiff m, CF5 1BE

Website : https://www.hiraethkitchen.com/ – need to click on the picture to get in rather than there being an initial drop down menu.

Opening hours: