Yellow Bird, Windsor by Big Fil

The name Yellow Bird reminds me of that old song:

Yellow Bird, up high in banana tree
Yellow Bird, you sit all alone like me.

Fortunately I wasn't sitting all alone last Saturday morning on an early morning visit to Yellow Bird with Snooze. There are a number of cafes I'd been meaning to try along the Windsor end of Chapel Street and Yellow Bird was also on Snooze's list of places to visit. Snooze had a number of things on later that morning, so that just after 8am we rendezvoused at an empty café.

I should start out by saying that Yellow Bird is very 'me'. It's fairly cluttered with simple things - bird cages on the walls, mismatched tables and chairs, posters on the front of the bar, plastic flowers near the ceiling fans. While individually these don't add up to much the whole of this eclectic mix is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Hmm, maybe I should point out the thing which is very me is not the simple or cluttered bit, but the interest in how the disparate pieces somehow make an unexpectedly coherent whole.

A number of people when writing about this café on the Internet have complained about the noise levels. While one visit probably isn't the most conclusive of samples I thought the level of the music was fine, loud enough to listen to but not loud enough to interfere with conversation. Choice of music was good as well, fitting in very well with the general 'vibe' of the place.


Snooze decided to order the 'Death by Benedict' for breakfast. Poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and bacon on hash browns. The eggs were perfect with the yolks nicely runny when pricked with a fork, the bacon crisp but not overcooked and the hash browns crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. The major issue was with the composition of the dish. Combining hollandaise sauce, bacon and hash browns left the dish on the oily side, or as Snooze put it more of a guy's dish after a night out than a girly breakfast.


I, on the other hand, went for the chilli burger, admittedly a strange choice for an 8am breakfast but then I wanted something meaty and filling. The burger itself was very tall, because of the large beef patty. When Snooze saw the size of the burger and the huge mound of fries that came with it she was contemplating whether I would actually finish it. Not only did I finish it, I also cleaned up the left over bacon when Snooze couldn't finish her breakfast. The burger was good, not too hot, not too sophisticated but a morning after the night before type of meal.





Overall
Yellow Bird is much more Fitzroy grunge than South Yarra chic and does a good job of providing an alternative to the more polished venues in this part of Melbourne. Definitely a place that deserves a return visit to check out several interesting looking menu choices and clientele. Some of the staff came across as disinterested and I am not sure how quickly everything would come out when they are busier, but then it's an interesting place just to check out the decorations anyway. While there, you should also check out the high quality graffiti in the laneway out the back.

Verdict
Food - 7.5
Ambience - 8
Service - 6.5
Price - 7

Address
122 Chapel Street
Windsor VIC 3181
Tel (03) 9533 8983