I went to Yardbird on Monday when the place was but 5 days old. Just opposite the Black Box box Yardbird is the restaurant section (upstairs) of The Dirty Onion – Belfast newest bar. As you ascend there is plenty of exposed walls, reclaimed wood and 18th century beams in what claims to be Belfast’s oldest building! The first thing you’re greeted with is a giant wall thats covered in all sorts of welcoming and fun phrases my favourite of which is the New Orleans favourite – Laissez les bon temps rouler.
As you enter the restaurant the style is certainly in keeping but ramped up even more as the centre piece is a giant high table of wonderful wood, wonderful’s not usually a word i use when describing wood, but in this case it’s so darn impressive I feel it’s apt.
So I sat (with my wife) at the bar and perused the menu. The menu however has but one thing on it – Rotisserie chicken – it’s very much a do one thing but do it right kinda restaurant. All birds are free range and dry rubbed before being cooked over the rotisserie. They have a few sides as well so I order the Quarter Chicken, fries and corn to share. I also have a Yardbird Craft Ale which is an American style IPA thats light and refreshing whilst still holding the body that you’d expect. We’re sat opposite the massive rotisserie where it seems everything except our skin on fries is cooked. We watch a burly man cut it up with clever and within about 5 minutes waalaa, Dinner is served!
The chicken came in baskets (as chicken should) and it was delicious and plentiful, i had worried about portion sizes but needn’t have been as we couldn’t even finish what we got. The chicken itself was moist and tender had very tasty skin and a great use of seasoning, with just a hint of heat. The skin on fries were crispy and well browned they had a rustic texture and taste that complimented the chicken. The corn was sweet and well cooked, the garlic butter that they poured over a nice touch.
There were also 2 sauces on the table a Hot and a Smokey BBQ. The hot was my favourite – a spicy tomato based sauce to give the chicken a little more kick. The BBQ slightly too sweet for my taste but my wife really liked it.
The bill came at a very reasonable £20.20 for both of us, the staff were polite and friendly throughout also and we were made to feel at home. This is definitely a welcome to the cathedral Quarter and a feather in the cap for Belfast as a whole. As the sign on the way in said “Let the good times roll!”
