Bird’s Nest Yakitori & Bar

Décor — really cute and lighting is very easy on the eyes.
Service — wait staff are accommodating, knowledgable and warm. But you have to get their attention first! They serve quick and breezy, kind of like in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of way.
Food — We went there for Saturday lunch sets. YUMMMO! I had the Mixed Yakitori special and the day’s chef selections were chicken thigh, chicken (meat) balls and pork belly. You get four skewers, bowl of steamed rice, miso soup, green leafy salad and tasty deep fried tofu; for $ 25. The yakitori was smokey, super tasty and tender. I didn’t want it to end at all!
We were told you can order skewers individually but apparently they cost $ 3-​$ 6 (depends on vegetarian or certain meat cuts). Pretty expensive I reckon.
Overall — Loved this restaurant, I’ll definitely come back again and have more yakitori. Looking forward to trying BBQ offal as I think they would do it perfectly.

We were stuck finding dinner after most places were closed. Bird’s Nest was a surprisingly good experience for their late kitchen hours. We both got the $ 30 set menu and left happy. The wasabi mayo-​drizzled chicken was a favorite for both of us.

Don’t get me wrong — the food was absolutely fantastic.
My only complaint was the completely substandard service that we got. From the get go although we had to wait to get a table — we asked if we could have some drinks whilst we waited — but then it took another 10 minutes, when we asked again — that someone actually was willing to take our drink’s order.
Once we got to our table, it only got worse. The waiters/​waitresses seemed to completely forget we were there — taking a long time to come speak with us to get any food or drinks ordered. The majority of the time, we had to simply wait for something else of ours to arrive to ask them for anything.

Birds Nest is a great fun concept restaurant /​bar serving traditional Japanese yakitori (grilled chicken).
As a first timer, let the helpful and enthusiastic staff talk you through the menu. They stepped me through with recommendations for food and drinks — right down to the flavour preferences for the sake.
We ordered the 7 piece to share between two people as well as an additional pork belly skewer and some edamame. The meals come with a lovely complimentary chicken broth which is sweet with a hint of ginger.
Wash down your hands with the moist towels provided and prepare to dig in to skewers served directly onto a slate at your table. My favourite a were the tomato wrapped in pork belly, chicken tail, wasabi chicken and chicken with asparagus. All very different flavours but so moreish!
Our meal was paired with a dry crisp sake. Our server explained the dilution process to us — the sale is either diluted with purified water or bottled fresh without any dilution. The later is a couple dollars more expensive but a better, fresher taste he explained. We opted for that — at $ 19 a jug we each got around 3 to 4 stipple sized glasses out of the jug. Good value!
Last but not least is the atmosphere. We were really lucky to be seated immediately in front of the grill. It’s encased in glass so you won’t get smokey or hot but it’s great to watch! The «yakitori sensei» as we deemed him had amazing concentration and precision — and only broke his focus to smile at me taking photos of his grill.
Great night out and good value at around $ 59 for two including drinks!

«Irasshaimase!»
Walk off Boundary Street, West End and transport yourself to a hip Tokyo Yakitori bar. My dining partner and I didn’t book a table and thought we’d wing our trip to finally explore the menu on offer here. «It’s a Monday night,» we said to eachother. «We’ll be fine without a reservation.»
Well, more fool us because for a Monday evening, Bird’s Nest was fully booked except for one table that we were so graciously seated at. By the time we walked out the door some two hours later, the restaurant was still packed and more diners coming in. I do wish we’d been sat at the bar to watch the chefs in action creating the skewers.
For the unfamiliar, Bird’s Nest offer a range of traditionally-​cooked Yakitori skewers which are, when translated, grilled bird skewers. Expect to see plenty of chicken on the menu but know that it’s balanced with pork belly, vegetables and tofu.
We jumped straight into ordering the strangest items on the menu: the chicken hearts and arteries. Don’t be put off by the words on the page. These little guys are tasty and far more «meaty» in texture and taste than either of us expected. The rest of our evening’s dining was far less Bear Grylls as we worked our way through sides of cabbage and Yasai sticks (keep the vegetable sticks for the daikon alone, but leave the cabbage), yaki onigiri, shiitake, pekorosu (pearl onion, and a personal favourite of the night), okura and atsuaga (tofu) yakitori skewers. All were delicious and all will leave you with a very happy stomach.
Washed down with a Whisky Highball (Nikka Japanese scotch whisky, soda and fresh lemon) it’s a dining experience where the wait staff are only too happy to help and to explain the menu to the uninitiated. Food is delivered in a tapas style and my pro tip is to order in small batches. It’s easier to order a few more pieces than look starkly at the plates before you and realise you cannot eat another thing.

Late night friday … the perfect stop off for a bite to eat. Transported to Tokyo with the opening of the door in the set up, the décor and the oh so lovely staff.
Everything was sublime and fresh, grilled in front of us with tender care.
NEGIMA Chicken Thigh with shallots, SHIITAKE Locally grown Shiitake Mushroom, BUTA BARA Moisture infused pork belly, ATSUAGE Deep Fried Organic tofu, AND the best till last YAKI ONIGIRI House Specialty, Grilled Rice Ball, Brushed with Tare. Do not pass this over.
Washed down with full glass of frothy Asahi Beer, followed by what else, Saki — not sure which it was but it was chilled and it was the soooo drinkable.
And the price was so reasonable we left not only pleasantly replete to savor the West End night life but with change in our pockets. Win Win

I agree with Tanja K. I was soooo impressed by this place. And that it’s in West End just gives it more brownie points!
The staff were attentive and very competent.
The fit out (being able to watch them cook — and the communal dining) made the experience theatrical and cohesive.
The food was very tasty and well cooked.
We tried the Chicken Arteries and they were amazingly tasty! You really must try them.
We would like to keep coming back here — I think it would be a really fun place for a large group. Bird’s Nest Yakitori offers banquet style menus for large groups which I think would be an awesome idea.
Fun Fun Fun. Big Thumbs up!

Birds Nest is a new Japanese addition to West End.
Upon entering you can see people around a bar watching the chefs preparing their food and all the staff welcoming you with a loud «Irasshaimase»! I instantly fell for this place! I do love Japanese food and have never tried yakitori before so this was the chance!:)
As said on their homepage «yakitori» means grilled chicken. Grilled over charcoal. And as far as I understood it’s white charcoal they use. Their menu is not extensive but you’ll definitely find a lot of different flavors on there and a couple of vegetarian skewers as well.
So first they will provide damp towels to wipe your hands. Shortly after, they served a cup of complimentary chicken broth, which was really nice. Only 10 minutes after ordering the waitress came and served the first chicken skewers — chicken tenderloins with wasabi mayonnaise and some with umo and shiso leaves. That’s when it really hit me!:) The chicken was tender and so juicy and the flavors where absolutely nice! We also had the chicken balls and some shitakii mushrooms and zucchini. All of it had a very unique flavor and I loved it! if you still need some more punch, there’s some chili and himalayan salt on the table. And they serve their food on raw handcrafted ceramics!
The place itself is quite small and it looks like it’s made for big groups as once you step inside you have huge tables and only 3 small tables available. And as said before there is a bar around the kitchen so you can watch them preparing your food.
The staff was so friendly and accommodating. We were in a rush as i mixed up times and after telling them they tried everything to deliver the food as quickly as possible and they were really looking after us! Such as shame that we couldn’t stay longer, but I will definitely be back for more!
This experience is a little bit on the pricier side as skewers are $ 4 each, but it’s well worth the price.