The buzz around town recently has been the opening of this place called Yardbird tucked in a small street off Hollywood Road (behind The Press Room). The chef, Matt Abergel, previously at Zuma Hong Kong takes chicken to a new level. Although we were never huge fans of Zuma, we must say this was impressive. Their specialty is chicken and you can get yakitori with just about any part of the bird that you can imagine. They claim that their birds are fresh from the market every day.
When we tried to book a table, they said that apart from being closed on Sundays, they don’t take reservations. Seems like there are more and more places adopting this in Hong Kong. IMO, I’m not sure that it works here. People are impatient and this favors the patrons either living or working nearby. Nevertheless, we went early and managed to grab a seat downstairs next to the open kitchen. Our whole party had to be present before they could give us a table, so our friend had to wait at the bar on the ground level. The decor was neat and simple, but maybe because of the loft-like high ceilings, everyone’s conversation bounced off the walls left right and center. We almost had to shout to hear ourselves. Maybe we’re just getting old.
Yakitori notables were the Thigh (HK$38/US$4.87), which was very tender; the Oyster (HK$42/US$5.38) – the hip joint, named for its resemblance to an oyster and the Knee (HK$38/US$4.87), the soft bone. But the highlight were the Meatballs (HK$42/US$5.38), which were juicy, soft and tender. It went extremely well with the sweet soy sauce mixed with a delicious raw egg yolk.
Some non-chicken items were also very good. The Sweet Corn Tempura (HK$85/US$10.90) was excellent. Even better than Inagiku. Each individual kernel was crispy and sweet. Yummy. Another interesting dish was called KFC (HK$75/US$9.62), and from a restaurant specializing in chicken, you would think the obvious. But it’s actually Korean fried cauliflower with a hint of kimchi but not too spicy. To get your fiber, the Yardbird Caesar (HK$90/US$11.54) was very unique. An oriental twist to the Caesar salad, with deep fried anchovies and miso sauce.
Although stuffed, we still couldn’t resist the fragrant Chicken and Egg Rice (HK$128/US$16.41) with crispy skin and peas. And of course there’s dessert…Peanut Butter Ice Cream (HK$40/US$5.13), not really our cup of tea though. It’s kind of like foie gras ice cream, you either love it or hate it.
Overall, Matt has done a great job and we would certainly be back for more. There are still parts of the chicken that we haven’t tried yet.
– 18/20
Yardbird
33-35 Bridges St.
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
T: +852 2547 9273
E: info@yardbirdrestaurant.com
W: www.yardbirdrestaurant.com
Hours: 6pm till late | closed on Sundays
110913 Yardbird - Main entrance
110913 Yardbird - Table setting
110913 Yardbird - Matt Abergel
110913 Yardbird - Breast
110913 Yardbird - Thigh
110913 Yardbird - Corn Tempura
110913 Yardbird - Oyster
110913 Yardbird - KFC
110913 Yardbird - Caesar
110913 Yardbird - Liver
110913 Yardbird - Skin
110913 Yardbird - Neck
110913 Yardbird - Meatballs
110913 Yardbird - Meatballs sauce
110913 Yardbird - Wings
110913 Yardbird - Knee
110913 Yardbird - Fried Chicken
110913 Yardbird - Chicken & Egg
110913 Yardbird - Peanut Butter
