I bird-yee farewell

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After spending 20 years in Hong Kong, my old friend and her Rikachu are finally leaving. I guess it was always just a matter of time, and Hong Kong remains - just as it has been for decades - a transitory place for many. It may be a great place to make your living or fortune, and it certainly can be a great place to enjoy life, but ultimately it just isn't "home" for some. Nowadays the education of the kids has become a key consideration for many of my friends, and dictates the timing of their departures from Hong Kong.

For their farewell gathering, my friends chose Yardbird. Given how much Rikachu LOOOOOVES all things Japanese, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. We decided to order our food in multiple rounds, which I think is the way to go here. However, someone didn't follow my suggestion and started ordering the larger dishes first...

Sweet corn tempura, sea salt, pepper - always, always start with this. Honestly, I should have at least 2 of these babies every time. Hands down my favorite dish here.

(chicken) neck skin, flagrant ponzu, lime

(chicken) oyster, sea salt, lemon - can't lose with sot-l'y-laisse. Another dish where it's never enough to have just one piece.

(chicken) wings, sea salt, shichimi

KFC, yuzu, chili, lime - fantastic as always. Love the combination of the heat and the sweetness.

(chicken) neck, yuzu kosho, pepper

Scotch egg, cabbage, Bull-Dog, Kewpie - love Scotch egg. Gotta order it every time I see it - even if it's covered in Japanese mayo and sauce.

Duck fried rice, shiso, myoga, onion - this was pretty tasty. Certainly more tasty than the smoked fish rice.

(chicken) meatball, tare, egg yolk - always a good idea.

Mushroom rice, maitake, shitake, eringi - this was really, really tasty. Full of mushroom flavor and fragrance. Definitely gotta order this again.

(chicken) tendon - we were all kinda scratching our heads about how this was a skewer of chicken tendons... but whatever.

We had a great time, but needed to give our table back too soon. So we decided to go for a drink and somehow ended up at Winelog inside Central Market for some wine. It was good to catch up with my friends, as I'm not sure when we'll see each other next. Hopefully sooner rather than later!