AFTER a busy weekend we decided to eat out on Sunday night at the newly-opened Chicken Shack takeaway/ restaurant in Winton which specialises in rotisserie chicken.

Sunday is traditionally a quiet night for restaurants and this eatery was no exception, with only a handful of customers.

Decorated with bare wood and a few pieces of blues music art, the interior could best be described as minimalist, or uncomfortable.

The menu is again kept to the bare minimum; choose rotisserie chicken whole, half, quarter or in a wrap.

There’s the option of four house sides (hand cut chips, homemade coleslaw, spicy rice or corn on the cob) and four special sides (sweet potato mash, New Orleans greens, sweet potato fries and avocado salad).

For families with children, kids’ meals are available containing a main, a side and a drink for £5.

The waiter was polite and friendly and we settled on ordering the shack pack ‘meal for two’ to share consisting of a whole chicken, two sides, two sauces and two drinks for £16.

Despite it being a quiet night there seemed to be a slight problem with our order and after a 30-minute wait the manager offered us some complimentary drinks to apologise.

When the food finally arrived more than 45 minutes later, the chicken was beautifully cooked with a sublime subtle smoked flavour. The chips were soft on the inside, crispy on the outside and had a satisfying crunch.

This was much tastier than any chicken we had experienced in the national chain restaurants.

It also represented excellent value for money and the two sauces we had (southern and smokey) were delicious.

Whilst my dining companion declined dessert, I ordered the chocolate brownie that was on the specials board.

I was advised this was sold out and opted instead for the apple pie. This was sadly very tasteless, perhaps the high standards set by the previous offerings showed this item up.

The food mains were faultless and exceeded both our expectations, but the delay in getting our meals slightly dampened our experience of ‘fast casual’ dining.

We also found the loud blues ‘background’ music more of an annoyance than an addition to the atmosphere in Chicken Shack. We both agreed that we’d definitely eat from Chicken Shack again as the rotisserie cooked chicken was textbook, but next time as takeaway rather than our slightly moribund experience dining in.