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Birdcage Kitchen & Bar

Review by Georgia Waters

Contemporary$$

The word ''birdcage'' means different things to different people, depending on whether you’re a Robin Williams fan, an avian rights activist or an aspirational Melburnian.

To Bulimba locals, it now means the small bar that replaced the unexciting Chill on Oxford Street several months ago.

Mother-and-son restaurateurs Lyndon and Leanne Perry (of Woolloongabba's Bistrot Bistro) have turned Chill into a bird's paradise, resplendent with naked bulbs in birdcages hanging from the ceiling and a whimsical mural of feathered creatures along one wall. The theme is fun but not, ahem, over-egged.

We decide to have a couple of drinks and shared plates, rather than dinner. It’s 9pm on a Friday and the place is half-full of middle-aged couples and groups of well-dressed mums catching up over cocktails.

Cocktails are $15 to $18 and many are vodka-based: there’s martinis of green apple, espresso or lychee along concoctions like the ''Pink Diamond'' (vodka, watermelon liqueur, lychee liquor, mint and Chambord). We skip past these for something less sweet, and settle for a mojito ($16) and ''Yellow Sparrow'' ($16) - gin, Cointreau, Aperol, Grand Marnier and lemon with a honeycomb garnish.

Both are too sweet for my taste - the mojito needed another few good squeezes of lime - but they’re not bad at all, and, I imagine, quite popular. There’s also a decent, if predictable, choice of wine by the glass or bottle and a very good range of beer (such as White Rabbit dark ale on tap).

Inspiration for the 13 ''small plates'' on offer has been plucked from everywhere - from southeast Asia (pork belly with star anise and nam prik sauce) to Spain (chorizo with potato salad and fried egg).

Oysters with shallot dressing ($3.50 each) arrive beautifully briny and, happily, still attached to their shells, while garlic and gruyere bread ($8) is wrapped in foil, crusty and cheesy and very garlicky - exactly as it should be.

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Chilli and coriander dusted baby squid with garlic aioli ($10) tastes not much of either spice, and is too salty, but the squid is tender. Battered zucchini flowers with roast capsicum and ricotta are crunchy and light - perfect to nibble on with a drink.

Service was a little hit and miss - three different waitstaff approached us within about two minutes as we pondered the menus, but were otherwise faultless.

The Birdcage isn’t breaking new ground on the Brisbane bar scene but it’s a good addition to a flourishing suburban strip.

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