Vienna’s new bold and brave bird bar and restaurant - Vienna Würstelstand

The English speaking magazine. Making the most out of Vienna and life.

Vienna’s new bold and brave bird bar and restaurant

Since this bar and restaurant’s opening, crowds have been flocking here and chirping about it – bird puns intended. Flock yeah! Ahhm, sorry… And so, like after watching an awesome movie trailer, the movie now had a lot to live up to. The movie being Birdyard… and no, it’s not the sequel to Birdman. But you can draw a similarity here – both brave to be different.

The creators of the widely-acclaimed Chinese hot pot restaurant, Mama Liu & sons are behind it. Liu’s sons are the quiet pioneering type in Vienna’s culinary scene, pushing it’s boundaries to form a new, more curvaceous and cosmopolitan shape. So you could say we expected big things from The Birdyard.

Therefore, we entered wanting a rule breaker, but found a sophisticated and good looking place like any other. The open kitchen on the ground floor eatery part of this bar and eatery is the centrepiece, along with the small plates coming out of it.

The atmosphere is casual, while what they’re doing here is sophisticated and special. You can watch the kitchen from above in a more lounge-like area upstairs. When we do, a dreadlocked guy in a smart chef’s outfit is taking great care preparing impressive looking dishes. Another is at the final prep’ counter, applying the finishing touches. There’s little chatter, lots of focus on the food. A hive of food nerds at work.

There’s a distinct air from every dish served up here that they’re striving to be innovative, to invent food that you want to poke your eyeballs at before you do your fork.
The waiter’s announcement that they’ve brought us pig’s snout chips is the stuff of parody, and we giggle until we realise he’s serious.

It’s a small plate, tapas to share concept here. They advise 3 to 4 will satisfy your hunger. Dishes range from 5–10€ in price. You do the math. The portions are small, but the prices are not. It’s the price the intrepid diner has to pay, we guess.

The menu changes every 3 weeks so experimentation in the kitchen sees stuff of the imagination turning up on your plate. The Tartar (named with the not so appetising name, Die Alte Kuh) gives a new meaning to the concept of from-farm-to-plate – it comes served in a bonafide bone balancing over a bowl of straw. It looks pretty, but being the messy eaters we are, we find ourselves picking the tartar that has fallen overboard out of the straw.

The slithers of fermented Saibling (char fish) served up neatly go down swimmingly, while die Taube (pigeon filet) with it’s side of mashed potatoes, something like a deep-fried pigeon nugget and chocolaty sauce that reminds us of a Mexican mole sauce is the dark horse of these plated delights.

And while starting your evening with these small plated treats for the eyes and tastebuds is not a bad idea, you won’t understand the hype around this place until you go downstairs.

Going down the dark staircase leading to the bar is like venturing into a dream, or a place in your subconscious where colourful giant birds leer down at you from everywhere. It’s hard not to be seduced by the place, especially when you know that those magnificent vibrant giant birds on the wall were hand-painted. For some reason, we feel like we’re in a pop song while sitting at the bar, watching the craft cocktail crew behind it whipping up their original creations.

There are also experiments happening here, with ingredients sourced from all over the world and the creations concocted from all corners of the imagination, like the cocktail, ‘One for the Money,’ which involves splashes of pumpkin seed oil, along with lemon, bourbon and port. This is a place for cocktail connoisseurs and baby boozers, alike. Or those simply seeking a bar that feels like it’s out of some uptown slickster neighbourhood of New York.

The bar and restaurant don’t really belong together at Birdyard, so it almost feels like you’re heading into a speakeasy deal when descending into the dark tunnel leading to the bar.

But there’s no doubt that this bird bar is one of the best-looking places in the city for date night (the booths are the right amount of dimly-lit for schmusen), or a treat yo’self drink with friends.

Get content that you love in your inbox!

#nospam - only the good stuff that makes you smile and helps you make the most out of Vienna...and life!

We’re committed to your privacy. We will use the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content and services in the form of a newsletter. For more information, check out our Privacy Policy.