Bird & Buffalo — Restaurant in Oakland

Finally had the chance to dine-in here at Bird & Buffalo which has been on the Michelin Guide since 2022!

As soon as you enter, you’re greeted by cozy yet rustic Southeast Asian vibes. The dining area is pretty dense, but the staff makes sure that you feel welcome and comfortable. We were seated directly next to the register/where the staff tend to stand and it gave us a great view of the entire restaurant. The restaurant was pretty quiet, but there were only about 3 other tables seated at the time.

The menu was straight forward but there was one item they had posted on the back wall that wasn’t on the menu: Kao Piak Sen $17. We were told that this was essentially ‘Lao Chicken Noodle Soup,’ so of course we had to order it. We also ordered the classic Somtum (Papaya Salad) Thai style $15.95 + added salted crab $2 to it. One thing that really caught our eye was the Roti and Stewed Beef in Peanut-Red Curry $11.95. The menu notated that it is served ‘taco style’ so we wanted to see how it was executed. We made a request to have all of our food be served at the same time, but the papaya salad came out super quick. The other two dishes did come out at the same time, which was perfect!

The Somtum portion was huge, we even had leftovers. It was a refreshing first bite with a pretty intense kick as you continue to eat it. Definitely ask to adjust the spice level if you’re not good with spice! The salted crab add-in was delicious, fun to eat, and perfectly sweet + savory.

Next up: we dug into the Kao Piak Sen. The chicken was ridiculously tender, the noodles were so bouncy, and the dish itself was very comforting, but I did wish it had just a teeny bit more flavor. Even with the added chili oil, it just needed a touch more of salt.

Finally, we tried the Roti with Beef Curry. This was our favorite bite of the night and an absolute must order! It was served like an extra large taco, so, since we were sharing, we folded it and sliced it into two. The only thing we really had to slice was the roti, the beef itself just cut like softened butter. The sauce had seeped all the way through the meat so each bite was full of that sweet and creamy peanut red curry! I wish we had started with it, since it was room temp by the time we tried it—I bet it’s even more incredible hot. Next time, I’m ordering my own and digging in right away. The roti was just a bit oily, but that richness worked with the fresh veggies and curried beef.

It is located in an extremely walkable and bus-able location, but there’s plenty of street parking nearby. If you’re lucky, you can snag a parking spot in the small lot attached to the restaurant, but I believe it is shared with the business next to it. I parked on the street a few blocks away since I just always feel safer with my car in the residential parts in the...

I had a craving for some good chicken lettuce wraps and after reading the reviews I decided to give this place a try. I ordered the chicken Larb Thai salad which is essentially "chicken lettuce wraps". It is described in the menu as being served with lettuce cups. Mine were more like lettuce plates since they used romaine lettuce hearts instead of the butter lettuce shown in all of the pictures. Honestly I wouldn't have minded the change in the lettuce if they were actually good leaves of lettuce but what I got were browned edged, wilted, torn and just to narrow to wrap around or even hold the chicken. Thankfully I ordered the veggie crispy spring rolls (which were great btw) because they were also served with lettuce and I was able to use that lettuce for my chicken Larb. The chicken was seasoned with somewhat of a lemon mint flavor. Needless to say it was very light, it wasn't bad if you're into citrus. Not my favorite unfortunately. Over all it was Meh :/ When I was finished the server who had earlier been eating a hard boiled egg at the server counter before walking to the back and then returning to the front without enough time to wash her hands, dug in the ice cooler behind the counter to make herself a glass of water and then coughed without covering her mouth, walked up to my table with a portable credit card reader for me to pay a bill I was never given. The server simply told me the total amount due, which seemed high for what I ordered but I paid anyway and asked for receipt. I was right I was charged for something I hadn't ordered so I had to sit for another 5-10 mins waiting for the server to reverse my payment and charge me again for the items I did actually order. I wish I could say I would go back but I am still looking for a good chicken lettuce wrap that I simply...

The Food While checking out Oakland Restaurant Week, we discovered Bird & Buffalo. This is a neat little restaurant that does Thai Soul Food. During the Oakland Restaurant Week, they had a special 'THAD P-SED' or 'market curry stall' meal set. It is nice to have some predefined selection so you don't need to ponder too much. We decided to go with Gai Gra Prow + Mussamun Neur Pladuk Pad Cha + Gari Gai All the dishes came with rice, fried egg, crispy vegetable roll, and garlic green beans. It also came with Sweet Mango & Sticky Rice as dessert at the end. Both dishes looked very good and had a flavorful taste with a variety of food items. They seemed to have a lot of other unique food items as well, so I will return sometime to try them.

The Miscellaneous The restaurant is on a corner plaza with a small parking lot, where you most likely need to park on the street. The interior seems a bit snugged. But there is decent seating, with almost half bar seating and half standard seating. They have an open kitchen concept with some interesting decors around. Initially we sat at the bar, but the staff offered to seat us at a standard table when they opened up. They offer the specialized menu during Oakland Restaurant Week. But they have more variety of dishes available to try as well, at a reasonable price. I would say this is quite a unique Thai...