Where the magic lives The Handsome Daughter plays host to some delicious fried chicken By: Alison Gillmor Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019

Opinion

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This article was published 09/01/2019 (2215 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s right there in the name. Magic Bird Fried Chicken is all about fried chicken, with this Sherbrook Street joint’s concise menu and compact kitchen focusing on variations of its namesake dish, along with all the fixings.

When it comes to classic fried chicken fundamentals, the meat is tender, the coating nice and crunchy but a tad thick, and you can specify your level of spice, from no-heat “country fried” to “scorcher.” You can order two- to ten-piece platters, and all the pieces will be thighs and legs, meaning that in the fractious “dark meat versus white meat” fried chicken debate, Magic Bird comes down resoundingly on the dark-meat side. Good for them.

White-meat fans can try the chicken strips, which are pretty good (but could be crispier) and which offer some appealing flavour variations, like honey butter with a quick garnish of black sesame seeds and green onions.

Tasty, fall-apart-ish chicken on a bun options include the Cheese Wizard, battered chicken gussied up with pickled jalapeños, thick cheese sauce and bacon. There are also wings (not sampled), both dry and saucy.

Optional add-ons include hot sauce and ranch dressing, as well as an intriguing take on honey dill sauce, which can be a weird, polarizing Winnipeg thing but is transformed here into a rather sophisticated condiment, gorgeously green and unexpectedly intense.

Sides range from cheerful curly fries to cookout classics like macaroni salad, which is often fatally bland but at Magic Bird gets devilled up with smoky heat.

Red cabbage slaw is also good, as are the bread and butter pickles, which offer a nice bite and just a bit of acerbic edge. Mexican corn salad is a letdown. There is some heat on top but otherwise the Mexican provenance of this mayo-based dish remains elusive.

The Magic Bird’s dessert options are limited to pie, but it happens to be mighty fine pie, with rich and tender pastry. We tried the dark and not overly sweet pecan.

Service is friendly, fairly quick and casual. Keep in mind that Magic Bird is inside The Handsome Daughter, which is a bar and performance venue and a bit of a dive, so the overall ambience is slightly grotty and there’s a lot going on besides food.

Also, the room is so atmospherically dark you may have to use the light on your phone to read the menu, as we did.

 

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The Amsterdam Tea Room (103-211 Bannatyne Ave.; 204-295-7728; amsterdamtearoom.com) has evolved again. This warm, welcoming Exchange District spot started out selling tea and then graduated to serving drinks — including some smart, subtle tea-infused cocktails — along with elevated bar snacks and light lunches.

Recently, the ATR has transitioned to include ambitious, innovative dinner options, with a focus on small plates, some with a Dutch influence.

The meat and cheese platter begins, as you’d expect, with meat and cheese — highlights from our visit included some ruby-red bresaola and a mellow creamy blue — but this large $35 platter is also notable for lots of interesting bits of this and that, including paté, chutney, pesto, nuts and seeds, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes and pickled veg. One note: This bounty could be matched with a bit more bread, especially the toasted Gunn’s pumpernickel.

Pickled herring is firm and thick and served on that good pumpernickel, offset with the smoothness of crème fraîche and the bite of thin-sliced radishes and frazzled capers.

The vegetable-based dishes are particularly thoughtful, such as grilled broccolini paired with spicy yogurt and crunched-up fried bread crumbs that get salty depth from cured fish roe.

Golden beets, cooked to just tender-crisp and topped with braised peaches, ricotta and a dusting of hazelnuts, are another standout.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca