The Hot Bird — Restaurant in Melbourne

The Hot Bird is the undisputed luxury spa retreat for your wallet, cleverly disguised as a chicken shop. I strolled up, lured by the smoky scent of sizzling charcoal chicken, foolishly believing I could enjoy a casual meal without triggering a call from my bank’s fraud detection team.

The moment I saw the prices, I wondered if I’d accidentally stumbled into a Michelin star restaurant instead of a takeaway joint. $26 for a burger combo? Incredible! I half-expected a waiter in a tuxedo to present my meal under a silver cloche while reciting the chef’s tasting notes. No such luck - just a paper bag and a growing sense of financial frustration.

When I unwrapped my food, I genuinely thought they’d made a mistake. The burger looked like it had been designed for a doll’s house kitchen - a miniature masterpiece of disappointment. And the chips? A modest scattering, as if they'd been carefully counted by a cold, calculating accountant. I’ve seen more fries hiding under car seats after a long road trip.

To their credit, the chicken itself was tender and smoky. But at these prices, I expected something extraordinary - perhaps a bird that had been raised on mountain air and poetry, massaged daily by artisan farmers, or at the very least, chicken that didn’t leave me considering whether to pawn my possessions post-lunch. Was it good? Yes. Was it worth the price? Only if you enjoy the rich, tangy aftertaste of financial regret.

The Hot Bird is many things - a temple of smoky scents, a minimalist’s dream for portion precision, and an exceptional place to test the strength of your credit card. If your idea of a good time involves paying fine-dining prices for snack-sized servings, then by all means, indulge. The rest of us will be elsewhere, eating like commoners - but...

We absolutely love the friendliness and welcoming nature of the staff from The Hot Bird. Alan and his team go to incredible lengths to get to know their customers. Customers regularly walk past and have to stop to say hi, even when not purchasing anything. This is a testament to the effort The Hot Bird place on building rapport and relationships with their customers.

Being a family-owned business (with a young family), Alan and Ira understand the importance of welcoming and catering to children too. Being a roast chicken shop, that is predominately take-away, there is only a short opportunity to build rapport with their customers, and they do it well!

They work hard to meet the needs of their customers in the local area. They only have fresh, quality, and ethically sourced ingredients. They focus on only using free-range chicken, eggs, and mayo. You also won't find any single-use plastic in their packaging or for sale. Their work ethos includes hiring staff with great personalities, that are passionate about good food, having fun, loving their customers, and working hard as a team.

We also feel the food meets the high-level quality of service too, and we've loved every single item we've tried on the menu. We love their unique take on chicken burger/sandwich, especially because of the decision to have a whole wheat bun. They don't want to be like everyone else and we love that about them. The roast chicken is amazing. The chips are amazing. The salads are amazing. You won't be disappointed with such a large menu to choose from. Make this your local...

Manky and Mean! I have ordered burgers from this place before and they've been quite tasty, so recently I thought Id try their BBQ Chook. Ordered a quarter of chook with Chips and coleslaw delivered to my office (Deliveroo). It arrived very warm, as had the past couple of deliveries, but the quarter of chook was so small I honestly thought it was a bantam. The leg was tiny and the meat on the thigh was so thin it was just a taste. It was also quite greasy. The Coleslaw was small, dry lacking seasoning and dressing. The Chips on the other hand, were really good.

Deliveroo has a thing about cutlery, so I was not surprised there was none, because I did not click the switch to receive any, but there is no excuse for not including at least one napkin. That's just mean, or lazy. This meal on their website sells for $15.50, they add a full $4.50 then a delivery fee of $1.00 on top. Even if this is to cover Deliveroo commission, it just doesn't feel transparent and certainly not good value given the quality I received.

Think I'm breaking up with this Hot Bird.

Follow Up: Thanks to the owner for responding, however, I actually prefer the thigh so please don't tell me , "maybe you don't like dark meat", pretty condescending. Just take it on the chin champ. Your chips were good, but that's all. Notice you didn't try to defend your salad, it was really ordinary and ended up in the bin. Hope you can improve, happy...