The Yard Bird Ale House

THE YARD BIRD ALE HOUSE IN PADDINGTON HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

The Yard Bird Ale House is the latest addition to dining options in Given Terrace at Paddington. This exciting new venture is the second of its kind for owner, Luke Purnell, whose first (and very popular) Yard Bird Ale House is in Fortitude Valley.

This Paddington venue is centrally situated in the busy hub of Paddington's eating and shopping strip and with opening hours extending from 7am until midnight seven days a week, offers customers a chilled cafe environment for breakfast, coffee and lunch.  Being licensed, the Ale House switches up to a very cool restaurant and bar of an evening and is sure to be popular with those looking for something a little different in their dining experience or perhaps just a late night drink. Eight beer taps provide plenty of choices including 4 Pines, Coopers, Little Creatures and Stone and Wood, as well as a Monteith's ale and cider. There are also roughly 30 bottled beers to choose from. Yard Bird Ale House is the perfect spot to meet up - whatever the time of day.

A simple breakfast menu hints at the South American influence here with Huevos Racheros on offer, whilst the all day menu features serves of chicken wings in various sizes in either Southern Fried, smoky Chipotle BBQ or hot Original Buffalo varieties. Look out for the "Death Wings" - the hottest of hot wings, marinated for two days in habanero chilli before the chilli sauce is added. Follow Yard Bird Ale House at Paddington on Facebook and don't miss their annual Death Wings Challenge where crazy wing addicts compete to see who can eat the largest quantity of Death Wings in 12 minutes.  The winner is awarded their own body weight in beer - which may go some way towards cooling their fiery mouth and stomach. 

As a light meal the smashed avocado and roasted tomato on sour dough is delicious, especially accompanied with a serve of crispy sweet potato fries and creamy aioli. Pizzas, salads, burgers, crispy calamari and beer battered onion rings complete the menu, with take away bagels and "eggs your way" for customers on the go. A variety of sides is also available for a little extra cost. This is the Ale House's start-up menu - a more extensive menu will be available shortly.

The decor here is relaxed, with large wooden tables in the courtyard at the front of the cafe, seating at the bar and tables and stools inside. The slate walls are adorned with tattoo 

inspired art (Luke is a qualified tattooist) and copper light fittings complete the picture. A large window at the rear affords a view over Paddington and across to Milton and allows a cool breeze to drift through the bar area to the street. Parking is available behind Yard Bird, on Given Terrace and in surrounding streets.

The staff here are welcoming and friendly and the service is very good. This is the kind of place where it would be easy just to relax, enjoy a meal and a cool drink and shoot the breeze.  It looks like Luke Purnell has another winner with the Yard Bird Ale House in Paddington.

by Sandy Ludinski