Have you heard about Absurd Bird?
Located in the heart of Soho, there’s a new bird in town and it takes you into the heart of the American South. Upstairs features an open kitchen where you can watch the chefs at work while downstairs has the feeling of a cosy cocktail bar where you can wile away the hours over a drink or three.
Absurd Bird have an impressive cocktail menu, many of which feature Absurd Bird’s very own distilled moonshine. The Moonshine Mary is a take on the classic Bloody Mary but has a fiery kick from their secret Soulsauce. The Hillbilly Iced Tea, with its mix of moonshine, peach iced tea, syrup and lemon juice, is light and refreshing and is a great accompaniment to the meat to follow!
The menu, unsurprisingly, features a lot of chicken but it also has a good selection of small plates and sides. The Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Fried Tortilla Chips is extremely moreish and a great item to get your appetite going. We would also highly recommend the Jalapeño Cheese Biscuits – crumbly, cheesy and a spicy finish make these a must order!
The sides are also impressive, you can never go wrong with a Jalapeño Mac and Cheese and for the adventurous among you, try the Sweet Potato Bake topped with Roasted Marshmallows. We know this is a staple over the pond, but we’re not sure it’ll become a family favourite with us just yet!
But now to the main event – chicken! All of the chicken used at Absurd Bird is free-range and comes from Fosse Meadow Farms, so you can trust the quality of the ingredients. Their wings come in five flavours including the super spicy Buffalo wings and the crispy BBQ Chicken Wings. For something a little different, we would recommend the Popcorn Chicken Waffle Cone. In a combination that works surprisingly well, crispy bites of fried chicken sit in a savoury waffle with a tomato salad and topped with spicy mayo. Pick it up and eat it like a wrap!
The one we’d been waiting for however, was the Chicken and Waffles with Smoked Sweet Gravy and Maple Syrup. We’re a convert to this dish, there’s something about the sweet maple syrup mixed with savoury chicken sitting on top of a soft waffle that we just can’t get enough of! And this version didn’t disappoint, for starters it was huge (which is always a winner with us!) but the chicken had a great flavour on its own and was perfectly cooked.
If after all of this you still have a little space for something sweet, you must try a dessert. The Crack Pie is as addictive as it sounds, freshly-baked Chocolate Chip Cookies (served with a glass of milk!) are warm and hard to resist, but for us, the Peanut Butter Cheesecake is a winner! It was rich and packed with flavour but wasn’t too heavy, which is difficult to achieve.
If you’re in the mood for chicken, get down to Absurd Bird and fill your boots!
