Chicken joints bridge the gap between fast food & healthy home cooking

If you want tasty, home-cooked food without actually cooking it yourself, Sea Point is ahead of the game. 

Forget any preconceptions of fast food, these two new chicken joints offer healthy eating on the go with free-range chickens (both source their poultry from Elgin Free Range Chickens), cooked with a whole lot of love and care.

THE CHICKEN SHOP

Inspired by the neighbourhood chicken shops in Australia, where locals pick up a whole roast chicken and sides for an instant take-home dinner, the team behind Jarryd’s Espresso Bar and Eatery in Regent Road partnered with chef Scott Walker to create The Chicken Shop on Sea Point’s Main Road, bridging the gap between fast food and home-cooked meals.

“We just don’t believe that fast food needs to be unhealthy,” says co-owner Jarryd Segal. “It can be ethically sourced, it can be of amazing quality, it can be conscious.”

Customers are spoilt for choice at a counter brimming with tempting hot sides and colourful salads, behind which there's a huge charcoal pit roasting spatchcock chickens and a wood-fired pizza oven for cuts of lamb, vegetables and pizzas.

You can eat in or get a takeaway (packaging is either biodegradable or recyclable) piling plates high with roast vegetables, rich potato bake, cauliflower cheese, beautifully varied salads (including beetroot spiced with dukkah), lamb that falls apart and mouthwatering chicken marinated overnight so that it's tender and full of flavour.

COCOTTE

At this tiny rotisserie shop next to Mojo Market in Regent Road, owners Delphine De Beer and Catherine Lauria recreate the quality and simplicity of their favourite Parisian rotisseries.

Their recipe is simple: the best chickens are slowly cooked in a specially imported French rotisserie oven, with a secret blend of herbs and spices. Basted frequently, the chickens are mouth-wateringly succulent, ready to take home with a side salad or a little tub of luscious home-made mayonnaise or fresh herby yoghurt. You can also get a generous chicken baguette sandwich on the go.

Ring in your order 90 minutes ahead of collection and a beautifully bronzed chicken will be ready, piping hot, in a purpose-designed and insulated bag to keep it warm and moist until you get home.

For summer, Cocotte will add more eat-on-the-go options such as chicken wraps and chicken salads.

This article was originally published in one of the Sunday Times Neighbourhood: Property and Lifestyle guides. Visit Yourneighbourhood.co.za