The Bird Southern Table And Bar – Really Good, But Really Expensive Fried Chicken

Comfort food is known for its restorative powers – not so much for your physical health, but they can certainly soothe emotional distress and negative feelings. There is no better way to treat yourself when you’re feeling down, than with favourite culinary comforts. For some, it could be a bowl of silky congee, while for others, it could be a tub of ice cream. But most would agree that there is little fried chicken cannot solve.

Enter The Bird Southern Table And Bar, the first international outpost of restaurateur John Kunkel. With a strong focus on Southern-style cooking, expect to get your hands greasy with their time-tested fried chicken recipe of over a hundred years. This place might leave a dent in your diet plans, but the end-results will be well worth it, we promise.

They were running an Executive Lunch menu (available from 11am to 4pm on weekdays) when we dropped by. The lunch set comes with three courses ($40). For the first course, we gave the Devilled Eggs a skip and headed straight for the fried stuff: the Fried Green Tomato & Crispy Pork Belly. We liked how the green tomatoes and lemon vinaigrette lent a slight tang to the otherwise greasy starter. The smokiness from the tomato relish complemented the pork belly nicely.

While we aren’t discounting the Butter Lettuce & Grilled Mango Salad (chargrilling the mangoes really brings out the sweetness, and the nutty pecan made this a texturally interesting dish), or the Crunchy Bird Sandwich, we knew that we had to get their Lunch Set Special, which came with two pieces of Lewellyn’s Fine Fried Chicken, chilled Spiced Watermelon, and house-made Classic Buttermilk Biscuits.

Brined for over 27 hours, the meat retained its moisture, and fell off the bone with ease. However, the star of it all had to be the golden batter, which is deceptively light and addictively crispy. The watermelon was also a good palette-cleanser. The sweet juice of the watermelon, together with cool mint, and the slightest hint of spice made for a refreshing, but still savoury, side. Served with honey butter and house-made jam, the crumbly and buttery biscuits were lovely.

As if these weren’t sinful enough, we had a side order of their Macaroni & Cheese ($14), which is made with five different types of cheese and topped with a crispy herb crust. It was gooey, rich, and milky, and had all the makings of a post-meal food coma.

And to cap off this ultimate comfort food experience, we opted for the Fried Oreos for desserts. Served with house-made marshmallow, crushed oreos, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, these sugary treats were encased with a rice krispies exterior, which made for a lighter coating that’s nothing like the pasar malam variant. Those who wish to keep things (slightly) lighter can try their Salted Caramel Bread Pudding – warm custard bread pudding, whisky anglaise, dragee pecans, chantilly cream, and gooey salted caramel.

So, you must be thinking: should I be paying that much for fried chicken? After all, the Lunch Set Special (with two pieces of chicken) goes for $18 on the a la carte lunch menu. And the famous trio of Chicken ‘N’ Watermelon ‘N’ Waffles will set you back some $45. Well, we’ll probably come back for their Executive Lunch Set, during occasions when only the best and most sinful comfort food will cut it.