Cardiff - Cocorico Patisserie

Every now and then I come across somewhere which is really exceptional, and Cocorico Patisserie is definitely one of those places.  It's a café situated a couple of miles north of Cardiff city centre:

and well worth a detour. It's over a 140 mile from my house, so we're talking about a significant detour!  It's run by a French man, Laurian Veaudour:

who came to Wales to watch the rugby world cup in 1999 - and is still here!

So you can expect good bread:

which is baked in the shop:

and nice croissants:

and amazing pâtisserie:

Laurian is a perfectionist, so he'll tell you about the farm where he gets his fruit from and all the other ingredients he uses. This cake is called a bit of Wales in the Alps:

because it's based on a Mont Blanc (a French cake), and has a sweet chestnut mousse with a dark chocolate mousse, but it's it’s laced with Penderyn Welsh whisky.

You'll need to allow extra time here, as choosing in this shop can be quite difficult with such a great choice! Do you go for an éclair or a lemon tart?

or a royal, special apple or tarte chibouste:

  Our favourite was this religieuse:

choux buns filled with a lavender flavoured crème, which tasted divine! The Paris-Brest was also very good.

They do a stylish afternoon tea, and it's always nice to take some cakes back home:

Cocorico Patisserie

Niazs House
53-55 Whitchurch Road
Cardiff
South Glamorgan
CF14 3JP

Tel: 029 2132 8177

Web: www.cocoricopatisserie.co.uk