Mrs. SF regards me a being a tad careful with my money (Gen X thing, I think). She calls it being tight fisted.

The jalopy is a case in point, with my reasoning in keeping it so long (J maintains it was used in the Keystone Cops films before I got it) being that it serves its purpose of getting me from A to B in relative (very relative) comfort and (more importantly) in one piece at little annual cost (road tax, insurance, MOT and service, with no pesky monthly payments as it has long since been paid for in full) and as such doesn’t need to be replaced.

Apparently, there is a word for this in the form of bangernomic (I actually prefer my iteration, jalopenomics, which has a better ring to it).

Also, despite what the seeming imbeciles (surely it can’t be by design) who dictate our transport policies (I use that word “policies” very loosely) tell you, a banger/jalopy is to my mind pretty environmentally friendly relatively speaking. Think how much more resources are used getting a brand new car (no matter how eco friendly it may on the surface seem) every couple of years as against keeping one for 10 years + (also the making of bangers like mine back in the day didn’t involve child labour in lithium and cobalt mines). My car has done less mileage in the 15 years I have had it than my brother in law does in each 2 year cycle before he gets a new (company) one, yet his car usage is regarded as being much more environmentally friendly than mine which makes no sense whatsoever. 

This parsimonious attitude to spending money does tend to fall by the way side when it comes to wine and I have quite a few bottles that are worth quite a lot more than the jalopy (actually not that difficult when the jalopy is probably in Two Buck Chuck territory, value wise, these days). Thinking about it, I probably have tins of soup that cost more than the (very much in no way souped up) jalopy is now worth, yet it still admirably meets my transport needs.

As such I am quite partial to a saving and that applies equally to lapping up a food bargain. So the set “saver” menu at the Heathcock (newly inaugurated into the Estrella  Damm Top 100 Gastro Pubs 2026 at 74) rather caught my eye, as a result, with a price of £25/£30 for 2/3 courses being pretty competitive these days.

A skim of the sample “saver/early evening” menu (which fits in nicely with J’s Florida retiree style of eating – I swear she’s already eaten her Sunday lunch before I usually get up) on their website rather enticed

with some interesting dishes (must admit I thought eating mackeral was verboten these day) and only one example (a rather hefty one mind for the cheese board) of the dreaded supplement (my view is and always will be that if it has to attract a supplement then simply don’t put it on a “fixed” price menu).

A table was thus booked for Mrs. SF, J and I for an early dinner.

The on the day menu was slightly different

and we had to specifically ask for this menu having been presented with only the standard one intially,

which is a fair bit pricier (albeit with a wider selection).

Assume just an on the day omission, as all available options at the time really should be presented to the diner.

To get things started, we shared a generous portion of bread (£4 extra), between the three of us.

Both breads (sourdough and focaccia) were very good, but the clear winner of the two was the focaccia. Nice crisp crust, replete with sea salt and rosemary, and a soft olive oil rich interior made for a compelling offering. Top tier (loaded with sea salt) butter added nicely to the mix

In terms of the starters, I always think soup is a rather underrated dish on menus (probably because “soup of the day” sounds so boring and soup is sort of seen as a winter warmer) and I rather liked the sound of the asparagus (even if marginally out of season) and wild garlic (very much in season), with the Brucie bonus of a confit egg yolk and hafod cheese.

Mrs. SF and J ordered this so I decided to break the consensus and go with the sardines.

A hearty,  heads, tail and all, dish with three decent sized sardines. The skin was nicely crisped up and the flesh came away easily from the bones. Good flavour to these, with an almost buttery richness and a non aggressive fish flavour.  What I would call a gremolata (green sauce on the menu) provided a nice level of acidity and freshness, which was very welcome in terms of cutting the richness of the fish. The only slight bum note was the slice of sourdough the fish sat on, which I found to be too oil infused for my tastes. I would have been happier if it had not been there.

Both Mr.SF and J enjoyed the soup,

which again was a decent portion. 

From the taste I had, there was a good hit of earthiness from the asparagus which was nicely complimented by the freshness of the wild garlic. Both the confit egg yolk and hafod cheese added a pleasing richness to the dish.

This dish didn’t come with any bread and I think we would have found it rather wanted had we not already ordered it as an extra “snack“.

On to the mains and we all decided to go with the pan fried hake (better than cod and much more sustainable) option

Excellent dish this, with it being (again) a very generous portion.

The hake was cooked on point, with a nice crispness to the skin and big, just past translucent, flakes of meaty flesh. Excellent bit of fish cookery this.

Contrary to the seeming (carbs. and veg. are extra) fashion these days, the dish included accompaniments. A rather substantial portion of very buttery crushed new potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli (touch over for my tastes if I was being uber picky) were welcome “in the price” additions.

I really enjoyed this dish.

It may seem all a tad simple, but it was really tasty with an excellent bit of fish.

I was pretty full at this stage and thus probably should have skipped pud, but I am a pig so I didn’t.

Good light sponge and a nice caramel made for a pleasant desert with the icing on the cake a very moreish praline ice cream. I usually favour custard with a sticky toffee pudding, but I really like this ice cream. In hindsight, as I waddled home, I slightly regretted not going for the (undoubtedly would have been lighter) buttermilk pudding option.

Mrs. SF decided to go off piste with her desert ordering a rhubarb and almond desert off the main menu (which bumped the price up by an extra fiver)

This was probably the only real bum note of the meal, with the rhubarb curiously bland in flavour (possibly falling between the forced and outdoor seasons) and the expected hit of almond rather missing from the creme pat. filling thus doubling up on the blandness. The pastry was good mind.

0n the booze front, with fish to the fore, we went white.

with a Italian number in the form of the Angello grillo (£33 on the list  – retails at just over a tenner, so a slightly leery mark up, especially as it was on the  bill at £36).

Nice crisp acidity (think green apples, with a lick of lemon) to this wine, which worked particularly well in cutting through the richness of the sardines

Looking down the list, the Conde Valdemar white rioja retails at between about £27 and £33 so not a bad mark up with it £66 on the list. Overall I thought the list offered enough of interest and seems at first blush pretty fairly priced, for the most part, for the UK.

The verdict

The bill came to over £146 for 3 of us (including booze, service and some add ons) and we ate and drunk very well. As such, we all thought it good value.

It is nice to see that they don’t skimp on the “saver” menu, with very generous portion sizes. The hake portions, in particular, were all whoppers.

Good flavours and good portion sizes at a very fair price is always a good combo and I thought the Heathcock rather nailed it here. Oddly, the only disappointment (the rhubarb tart) was when we went off the saver menu.

The “saver” menu is available on Wednesday and Thursday evenings between 6pm and 7pm and on Friday lunch times.

The details

Address:  58 – 60 Bridge Street, Llandaff, Cardiff, CF5 2EN

Website: https://heathcockcardiff.com/