Hawking Bird

Tried the Tanya Special (fried chicken over garlic noodles) and got a fried chicken salad. The noodles for the garlic noodles were perfect ramen like noodles, chewy and bouncy. The flavor was a bit heavy handed, delicious on first bite but could get to be a bit much, but luckily I shared. The chicken itself was near perfect. Great breading, even if I wish it was a hair thicker. More tempura like than popeyes. Juicy.

The salad with the chicken was delicious. Salad had nice balance or crunchy bits and hits of different flavors everywhere from the dressing to the microgreens. The hoisin or whatever dip for the chicken is amazing. Sweet with lots of ummami but not too over powering. I even Dipped my tots in it. Tots were nearly perfect. Good subtle seasoning, and crispy, even if I wish they were slightly more craggly.

Love the laid back casual vibes of the spot. Super friendly staff. Good amount of seating with a big long table with benches in the middle for larger parties.

I tried their Fried chicken sandwich. It was just ok. Chicken was too dry.

With so many good fried chicken sandwich options in Oakland, it'll probably be a long time before I try this place again.

Delicious!!! Holy moly - what an unexpected pleasure. I ordered food to be delivered via DoorDash. I ordered a chicken over garlic noodles, a fried chicken sandwich, tator tots and the green beans. Everything was spot on delicious with big wonderful full flavors. What amazed me was how crunchy the chicken was even after delivery.

I am a new fan. I will definitely order again.

I ordered the chicken sandwich and was quite underwhelmed :( sorry to say! But I didn't like it, and I had my mom and friend try it and they didn't like it either. The bread for the bun was meh, the chicken was a little tough to eat, and there were no flavors that stood out to me and made me want to finish the sandwich. But the staff was very nice and the interior is cute and roomier than it seems from the outside! ~$14 is kinda steep for this sando ;(

Cute spot that has many tasty offerings. We (4) went on a Sunday afternoon for lunch and had great service & the food was scrumptious! Love this spot for casual yummies!

I recognized many Lao ingredients and flavors. The Asian fusion vibe is coming through beautifully. We tried the fried chicken sandwich and the chicken rice. Service inside was great. This is the view from the inside dining area ! There are a few spots to park in the area but it's mostly street parking.

Got the KMG, was my first time trying this style of hainan chicken before. I like the sauce, it's a sweet fermented bean sauce with a punch that adds some much needed depth to the dish.

Also got the fried chicken sandwich which had that same sweet fermented sauce and it made the chicken sandwich memorable. Both dishes came out less than 10 mins after ordering so that was good.

The food was interesting enough I would come back to try more, like the garlic noodles.

Came here for a quick bite for the first time. Ive seen this place many times but never been. I ordered the garlic noodles. It comes in a good size for one person. Noodles were cooked good, wish there was a more garlicky flavor to it. Had a bit of a seafood-y taste to it. I think they put oyster sauce? but it overtakes the garlic flavor a little bit, a little bit overpriced for the food.

Hawking Bird is a simple restaurant that serves Thai Chicken and Rice and an assortment of Asian Fusion dishes. I came across this restaurant online and decided to take out their KMG & Broth and their Fried Chicken Bowl.

I really enjoyed the different sauces and how they complemented the chicken. Between the two dishes I ordered, the KMG & Broth was my favorite. The broth on the side was nothing but a flavor-bomb, and only invited you to take a bite of chicken and rice. The only thing was that I wish their was more chicken in proportion to how much rice/vegetables they gave. Otherwise, this place is a definite must-try!

"Hawking Bird" is a cozy corner restaurant that offers up Chicken and Rice, with Asian Fusion in Oakland's Temescal district. On a Sunday, I used Caviar's direct delivery app to order a few dishes. I've been to Hawking Bird before, and knew their dishes would travel well as delivery.

I ordered:
- KMG bowl over chicken fat rice, w/ broth
- Pork Belly Bowl, over noodles
- side of Fried Chicken

So how was the food?

"Khao Mun Gai" or KMG, Grade (4/5): this is the classic chicken and rice dish. In a chicken and rice restaurant, your entire menu revolves around this one dish. The basic parts are poached chicken, chicken fat rice, and cucumber slices with. cilantro. Includes a side of ginger soybean sauce, and a small chicken broth. You can't really mess with the recipe, you can only enhance the flavors and improve the presentation. So how was it? I liked it....great flavors, not so great portions. Chicken broth was on the salty side, the ginger soybean sauce was rich and enhanced the dish. Overall, a delicious KMG dish. But, the chicken is chopped up into large pieces, so it looks like they serve you less. So the presentation is a little lacking, and makes you question if it's worth the price.

Pork Belly Bowl w/ Noodles, Grade (4/5): Tender pork belly slices with sweet and spicy soy bean glaze, with scallions, pickles, over noodles. I substituted noodles for rice because I wanted to try their noodles. OMG, those noodles were good and easy to eat. Very tender texture, nothing like cheap chow mein. Okay, let's ask the important question! Is the pork belly crunchy? The answer is....NO! The skin is lightly crispy, but the meat is tender and nearly melts in your mouth. The dish had a colorful presentation. But I didn't like the sweet soy glaze on pork.

Fried Chicken Side, Grade (5/5): Side order of fried chicken, both white and dark boneless meat. This chicken had an amazing fried crust. It was glassy and crispy.

Service time: Food was made fast. Caviar is a direct delivery service, so it arrived pretty quick. I would order again.

Overall, Hawking Bird is probably the best of the four chicken and rice places I have reviewed. The other three are: Rooster & Rice, What the Cluck, and Chicken Meets Rice.

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