the Orange Bird — Restaurant in Sheffield

It was fantastic! I have just come back from the restaurant and can't wait to tell you all about it 😀. Orange Bird is a small restaurant near the centre of Hillsborough. Understated decor suits it very well. Seating is comfortable on the benches as well as the chairs. It can sit around 20 people with a room to spare I'd say. We were greeted by the member of staff and asked straight away if we needed a drink or had any special requests. I like that. We ordered Burrata, Mosbolletjies, and Mother-in-law flatbread as starters. Delicious beginning of the meal. I especially enjoyed the Burrata which came with beautifully caramelised butternut squash and hemp seeds as well as bitter leaves and kombucha dressing. All flavours complementing each other. Very nice. I followed with Braai Sea Bream and my partner had Brai Pork Ribeye which I tried and enjoyed. But let me tell you about that fish.... I've eaten fish in many places but that Bream was heaven on earth. I truly can't describe the level of cooking to give it justice. I'll try though... Fish is cooked whole (yes head and bones in) but it has a crispy skin and is so succulent that bones nearly separate themselves. I never before had fish that was jucier. It was full of delicious flavour and smelling of the sea like it was whipped out of it 5 minutes ago. Again hat off to the chef who cooked it to PERFECTION. Fish comes with fantastic sharp and spicy sauce that I also enjoyed. Seriously well done! The side dishes (house Curried Chips and Morogo) were very good too. For dessert there was Peppermint Tart and Miso Malva Pudding that I enjoyed very much. Throughout the meal we were asked if we needed anything.... We didn't becouse everything was flavoured very well but it shows care. All the questions we had were answered on the spot. We were made feel welcome and very comfortable. Service was unparalleled. Despite heaving tried half of things on the menu we payed less than £100! Amassing food great atmosphere and fantastic service and all that on a budget. What a great find!!! We will be coming back and we will be bringing friends. Thank you Orange Bird. You...

🔥🇿🇦Walking into this restaurant the beautiful smell of cooking on fire hits you and you instantly know this place is going to be great. Matt, the chef grew up in South Africa, and the food is heavily inspired by this, meaning that many things are of course cooked on the braai.

💕Anne who greets us, has bothered to memorise our names. The interior has a warm glow and you feel as if you are being welcomed into their home as an expected guest.

The food matches expectations and more. It is uncomplicated, and made with the best ingredients that let the flavours of the produce and the open fire cooking shine. To start; 🍞 The bread is mosbolletjies , slightly sweet, very fresh, and served with rosary butter. 🧀🍊The Burrata is huge and extremely creamy, topped with toasted coriander seed- a match made in heaven, served with a fresh chicory, blood orange, and rhubarb salad- perfect harmony. 🍺🍸We also order a beer and a cape spritz which is delicious and perfectly balanced.

For mains; 🌭🧅Homemade Boerewors with smoked pork belly, whipped bone marrow pap, burnt onion & pomegranate molasses. The sausage is extremely rich in flavour and was delicious with the charred onion and delicate accompaniment of the pap. 🔥🥩🍚Barnsley chops chutney. A generous thick steak of lamb, that's very tender, slightly pink but with all the flavour of the braai. Served with a refreshing spiced tomato sauce underneath, and saffron rice with raisins. Totally delicious.

🍮Miso malva pudding, with stout ice cream and caramel sauce is to die for. I can normally take or leave a pudding but it included @thornbridge cocoa wonderland beer. Hot delicate sponge with crisp burnt edges on the sponge contrasted against the rich stout ice-cream and caramel sauce and was to die for. 🍷I also had the most delicious glass of Shiraz to wash it down- the South Africans really do make the best red wine.

Conclusion? This place just jumped to our top spot for Sheffield, and made my birthday very special. Thank you @theorangebirdcanteen 🧡 We will be back soon.

Note that menus change often.

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I was quite excited to come here and they didn't disappoint. The 5 star rating almost threw me off - such unanimous praise can sometimes discourage honest lower ratings. However their 5 star is more than well deserved.

Food:

What we ordered:

-Masala Flatbread -Hummus -Chakalaka

-Peri peri chicken -Caramelised aubergine -Jollof rice

-Miso Malva -Peppermint

Starters: Flat bread was phenomenal, warm, had depth and paired so well with the hummus, hummus had a great heterogeneity and flavour, chakalaka was also well spiced and tasted good.

Mains: Peri peri chicken had a fantastic char, sauce was perfectly spicy not too sharp nor salty, and even the white meat was tender, caramlised aubergine (coming from someone who normally dislikes aubergine) was fantastic, crisp, sweet and the cucumber pairs well with it. Rice was okay, probably the only dish I wouldn't re order, it didn’t offend, but it didn’t exactly excite either, a bit dry, a bit meh.

Dessert: I understand why everyone raves about it, miso malva had such a nice bite factor to it, was so well balanced in the notes from the stout and the sweetness *not too sweet. Peppermint dessert is like others have said a bit reminiscent of aero but in the best way possible, again had a great bite and not overly sweet so you can pickup on everything.

Service: Lovely staff, was there when we needed anything, checked up, no faff no issues

Atmosphere: The only actual drawback of the night for me was for whatever reason our table was really sticky, my phone would stick to it, so would the glasses, menu and so forth. Slight dampen of my experience but would not stop me from returning at all, even no table and I'd still come here.

Overall: Fantastic resturaunt in sheffield, with a very well balanced menu and such unique and good tasting dishes. I will be...