Paper Bird

Dimly lit, great service, filled with good times to share with others! Entrance is on Crick Avenue - saying it again because it took me a few minutes to find it. Good size restaurant with the interior mirrored throughout with shelves of bottles. Looks nice. Staff were extremely friendly and they felt warm throughout the night. Food wise, we tried a good mixture of foods and some were hits but no flavours stood out or were memorable. Karage was nice. Eggplant was oddly great. The small starters (tacoyaki and prawn toast) didn't have any distinguished flavours. Flounder was the waiter's recommendation and it really stood on its own - soft fish, nice crispy skin. The absolute highlight of the night was the desserts. I usually can't say no to Japanese cheesecake and tonight was no exception - loved the bright yuzu flavour. And the bingsu was very very refreshing. Loved the shaved ice mixed with brown sugar custard. Dessert was definitely the saving grace of the night of Paper Bird and I'd go back again for another bite.

If you yearn for that shrimp brined fried chicken from Moon Park, look no further than Paper Bird, with the team re-forming to open an their all day diner in Potts Point. Sitting just off Macleay St, we were able to walk in and grab a table at the start of lunch service. The lunch menu is split into 2 sections. The left section features a selection of snack sized offerings, from which you would need to choose between 2-3 to not leave hungry. The right side of the menu are more substantial offerings include the 5 pieces of that famous fried chicken. I really enjoyed the crispy scallion pancake with Jamon. Bocconcini katsu with a smoked eel glaze elicited looks of delight with their umami flavour coming through. Menbosha which is a refined looking prawn toast, was a little flavour bomb too featuring delicious prawn and a refreshing slaw. Finally the fried chicken lived up to the billing. Crispy, moist, and perfectly cooked through. Just outstanding. If you crave something sweet there are 3 on offer at lunch. Japanese Cheesecake with preserved kumquats was my choice. A soft cheesecake, with subtle flavour. The preserved kumquats were outstanding. More sweet than sour, where do I get bottles of it? While many cafes feature all day breakfasts especially on the weekends, Paper Bird's breakfast finishes at 11:30 and their lunch menu kicks in after 12pm.

Paper Bird is a local gem in Potts Point, and is a place I regularly dine at for this reason. I’m fairly sure everyone knows that the team from MoonPark made seriously tasty food in a relaxed, ambient space; The story is no different here at their new venture! My favourites so far have been the Pork Katsu sando and the gnocchi fritti with XO sauce, which are, in my opinion, good value for money. The prawn toast and taco-yaki, although delicious, are a little cringeworthy at $8 a pop - for what is essentially a delicious finger sandwich and a “fusion” canapé. If you’re after something a little more filling, the tartare is actually huge, seeing as how pricey the starters are in comparison I was expecting something a lot smaller, but it’s super delicious so I wasn’t complaining about the portion.. Service is warm and friendly, although could be improved slightly, by having cutlery set before the food goes down for instance and refreshing the water carafe a little sooner. Cocktails can be hit and miss, I had the Lady Vengeance today that started off tasting like the cough medicine of my childhood, that aside, it ended up being quite pleasant and I had no trouble finishing it off - won’t be ordering that again though. All in all, I love paper bird and recommend it to anyone willing to try approachable Korean/Japanese fusion.

The food was good overall but some dishes, such as the bibimbap, were underwhelming compared to similar dishes around Sydney. The highlights were the green tomato jangajji, the chicken karaage, and the teriyaki duck breast. The service is great.