OLD BIRD || Neighbourhood Restaurant with Modernized Chinese Eats Rooted in Tradition
Tastes like home.
While some would refer to Old Bird's menu as 'Chinese food with attitude', we feel that a more fitting description would be 'Chinese food that tastes like home.'
Whether it is the all-new Brisket Lo Mien menu item with slow-braised beef brisket and traditional jook-sing noodles (usually found in Hong Kong), or a twist on the traditional Gua Bao (a popular street food item in Taiwan) by using juicy pork cheek instead of fatty pork belly, or the Hong Kong Panna Cotta using Chocolate Malt made from Ovaltine (for all the Hong Kong kids who would instantly recognize this breakfast staple), owner Sophia Lin has handpicked her favorite flavors from across China and consolidated the multi-faceted flavors under one roof to share it with the Main Street neighborhood.
The menu is a blend of notable dishes from various parts of China: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and beyond, and is continuously evolving as the team experiments with flavors from regions like Sichuan and Yunnan.
The interior decor is instantly recognizable as ‘the restaurant with the giant lanterns’
Originally from Shanghai with fine art and business background, this is Sophia’s first endeavor into the restaurant industry. She didn’t let her background keep her from realizing her dream of opening a restaurant. She shares that she spent 2 years researching the various flavors offered at other Chinese restaurants, from studying their menu items to give her insights and inspiration on how she would shape her menu, to spending time in each of the neighborhoods to identify where a market existed for what she wanted to offer.
"I wanted this to be a neighborhood restaurant," shares Sophia, "I want this to be a place people can come to with their kids, couples can go on a date, and it's a cozy, welcoming space where they can enjoy tasty, authentic Chinese flavors that we have updated with our own twist."
We would agree that the Old Bird team has managed to update traditional flavors to make it their own. The Braised Pork Ragu updates a Taiwanese comfort food favorite, called Lu Rou Fan (Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bowl) with pork ragu, and is best experienced by mixing everything in the bowl. Burst the egg yolk on the fried egg, mix it all in with the pork ragu, sauce, and rice, and feel a smile cross your face as you take the first bite. As Sophia says, "It's different, but it's not so different that you can't recall or relate the dish to the original."
Compressed cucumber with tamari, sesame oil, chili oil, cilantro and pickled fresno
With so many choices, the question becomes — where do you start?
We suggest beginning with a few snacks paired with tasty cocktails. The compressed cucumber with tamari, sesame oil, chili oil, pickled fresno kickstarts your appetite with its sour yet refreshing flavor. The Marinated Eggplant topped with a lotus root chip is both gluten-free and vegan and offers similar sweet and sour notes.
The potstickers are made in house from scratch and are brimming with fresh local vegetables when you go for the vegetarian option. We also recommend trying the chili flavor Old Bird Wings, as the sauce is nothing short of perfection with just the right amount of kick.
Potstickers are made from scratch in house to ensure authentic flavours
The Old Bird Wings with chili has just the right amount of kick
BBA Pork Gua Bao with house made bbq pork & Chinese slaw
Once you have settled in with some snacks, you will want to pair these snack bites with innovative cocktail creations from the drinks menu. With names like ‘Boss Bird Negroni’, ‘Impeachment Fizz’, and ‘Miss Wong’, you can already tell that each drink comes with a healthy dose of attitude.
We opted for The Old Bird, which is made with wild turkey bourbon, Grand Marnier, ginger, cinnamon, bitters, and finished with a salted plum. The plum is great to balance the stronger drink and activate your appetite for the tasty meal to come.
Main Street 75
The Old Bird
The hearty share plates on the menu are perfect for a cold winter day. The Braised Pork Ragu rice bowl features pork ragu that has been braised for 6 hours (old bird style and made with Canadian pork), and is topped with a sunny-side fried egg, pickles and steamed rice. Mix it altogether and you are in for the most satisfying meal yet on a rainy day.
Another comfort food favorite that is new to the menu is the Brisket Lo Mein. It’s a staple meal to instantly brighten up a rainy day. For those unfamiliar with Lo Mein, it’s a dry variation of noodle soup, which means you get to stir and mix the noodles with the delicious sauce from the beef brisket; just thinking it makes our mouths water!
The Pork Ragu is based off of a traditional Taiwanese comfort food dish
The Brisket Lo Mein is a new item on the menu
Mix the piping hot noodles with the beef brisket essence and dig in!
Just as we were carrying our bellies and sitting low in our chairs after enjoying the tasty dishes that remind us of the various places we have visited across China, our server announced that we must try the dessert as well. Of course, we quickly made room in our second stomachs for the Hong Kong Panna Cotta, which is surrounded by ‘chocolate malt soil’ made from Ovaltine powder, sprinkled with ube powder on top and finished with a coral tuile. For those who haven’t heard of or tried Ovaltine before, it’s a malted milk drink that is enjoyed as a hot breakfast beverage in Hong Kong and usually eaten along with a fried egg and spam instant noodle or a breakfast ham and egg sandwich. One bite of this dessert made us think of our childhood and this is why we say Old Bird’s menu items brings us back home, back to our traditions and our roots through the connection with food.
End your meal on a nostalgic sweet note with the ‘Hong Kong Panna Cotta’
Although this is Sophia's first restaurant, she's done an exemplary job with the support of her team, and she has set a solid foundation for the menu by ensuring that her Head Chef, Adriel Lee, and bartender, Carolyn Yu, are both Chinese, because in her words "if you haven't tasted it, you don't know what the authentic, traditional flavors are." Building from this foundation where the team understands authentic Chinese flavors, the team has created a menu that celebrates tradition and infuses cultural staples with a West Coast spin using fresh local ingredients. The next time it rains in Vancouver, view it as an opportunity for you to try the tasty Braised Pork Ragu rice bowl or Beef Brisket Lo Mein waiting for you at Old Bird.