Emilia reviews a chicken and chip joint with a twist

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Fried chicken and cocktails. 

I could stop the review there. I mean this quite seriously, I can’t think of two things I love more in the world. The love and cult status of anything means they have a long way to fall from all the way up there. Having eaten Bird as a bit of a hangover cure in the past, I was keen to experience their food with all my taste buds intact. Scorcher has found his love for Bird too, he says it’s his favourite restaurant at the moment- so with that in mind, the stakes were high.

When you walk into the neon light-laden restaurant the first thing you notice is that it doesn’t feel like a chicken and chip joint you’re used to. Tucked in a side street off Lygon, Brunswick East, Bird finds themselves across the road from the Brunswick Aces Gin Distillery, Temple Brewery and Messina just down the road. They also have Noisy Ritual which is an urban winery just down the road, you see their local wines pop up on the menu lots. So not only have they got a quick supply to the goods, they’ve found themselves the perfect little corner of the world to attract a cross section of those looking for a fried feed, families and people looking for the perfect ‘girl next door’ restaurant with a bit of spice (literally).

Being a local, I’ve watched Bird since they opened in September starting as a quiet, tucked away date spot, slinging cocktails from 4-6pm for happy hour (which they still have).

To be honest, I didn’t really ‘get’ it, were they a fried take away place? Were they a cocktail bar? Did they only serve chicken? 

Dining there this week proved me wrong on almost all accounts, it wasn’t quiet by any stretch – the table filled as I was leaving – full of groups of friends, families and yes, still the occasional date. They didn’t just serve chicken, in fact I made sure to order lots of their vego options to put them to the test. And the best news for me, almost everything on their menu can be made gluten free- not that you could tell if I didn’t tell you.

Right. The food. We got the Bang’n’bird combo which has 3 tenders, 3 thighs, 3 drumsticks, pickles and 2 sauces. You can decide what level of spice you want, my notoriously bad-at-spice brother in law can handle the mild, so you can too, but word of warning — the hot and hella hot are not for the faint of heart. The chicken was so moist, sorry it’s truly the only way to describe this chicken. This is what is getting Bird all the hype at the moment online, people are describing it as the best fried chicken in Melbourne. It varies slightly from visit to visit, but this time – I completely agree. I’m on the bandwagon. They can accredit the juicy chicken to being soaked in buttermilk before being fried, making the skin that perfect not too thick and greasy but coated with the slightest bit of crumble to the touch.

My picks in this are the thigh, blue cheese buttermilk sauce and chipotle mayo.

I would actually pick the vego options / sides again as well. We got the popcorn cauliflower which was on a bed of labne and tamarind chutney, charred corn, chopped broccoli. The popcorn cauliflower is getting even if you’re vegetable-averse. I tried the chicken sanga as well, which was great but I felt like I still just wanted the chicken out of it. So, I would say K.I.S.S. to myself, don’t try and over complicate a good thing, still a good option if you feel like a chicken sanga in particular. Their only option is a basque cheesecake, it was great but if you’re a sweet tooth there’s a Messina 50m away too.

The one thing my niece was impatiently waiting to order was the chippies. Crinkle thick cut chips with crunch, my kind of chip. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you can tell a lot about a restaurant by its chip. This chip is saying Bird isn’t straight cut and they know what they’re doing.

Prices: 

• 3 x chicken choice is between $16-19
• Burger is $18
• Sharing plates are between $10-19
• Sides are all around $10

Hot tips: 

Give their pickle chickita cocktail a mix if you’re a fan of pickle brine

Their 4-6pm happy hour on weekdays and 12-6pm on weekends have cocktails for $12, pints for $9 and wines for $7

Stay light on the spice if you’re not a spicyophile

Utilise the location! Go get a drink at the Quarry Hotel afterwards, get on the tram into the city, or just pop across the road to the local brewery

Bird
179 Weston St
Brunswick East VIC 3057