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reviews

		Wine, Women & Wasabi Birdcage is no your average Japanese restaurant - warm surrounds and great wines abound. Japanese with a difference is probably the best way to describe Melbourne's Birdcage. Foregoing the stainless steel 'bare essentials' set-up many restaurants feel complement the clean lines and fresh taste of Japanese food, Birdcage borrows an abundance of styles for its design as well as its food "A wine bar with food to suite" is how co-owner Neil Prentice likes to think of it... Read full article... Suzan Ryan Voyeur Magazine March 2001

		Birdcage Whether you're a raw beginner or you just like it raw, there's a Japanese joint out there to suit you. When I set off for a fusion Japanese feed at Birdcage I like to wear raw-edged streetwear and chat graffiti art and Margaret River riesling. I don't know, I guess it helps me blend in with the fashion-fickle St Kilda patrons who "pop in" at this modernist, coverted-warehouse-style eatery. Which is not to say Birdcage is all scene and no substance. Sushi chef Mitsuo rolls up some great sushi and the varied menu boasts " street food" favourites, like steamed salted soy beans... Read full article... Sarah Wilson The Age - Sunday Magazine August 9 2001

		Birdcage - Japanese Fusion Owner Neil Prentice has rekindled the historic George Hotel's Birdcage bar of the 1970s and 80s with this stylish, new steel-enclosed wine bar. The original 1920s floor mosaics are still intact and the wood panelling and high bar stools create a welcoming space. Japanese chef Kazu Nomura, who used to run Le Japon, cooks up soups, noodles and rice dishes, and a range of hot and cold Japanese tapas-style dishes that are fun to share, such as pancake balls filled with octopus and spring onions, or crumbed fried oysters. Start with a plate of glistening sashimi from the sushi bar and perhaps even try the homemade wines. Read full article... Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide to Australia 2001

		Birdcage Its name may suggest the high camp of La Cage aux Folles, but there's nothing farcical about this wonderfully decadent old space in the foyer of the famous George Ballroom. And, while the proprietors will hope you take your wine seriously, they'll also be encouraging you to have some fun. Birdcage, primarily a wine bar, chirpily and quirkily matches Western wines with 'Japanesque' food. It may look like an old Milanese caffe with its dark marble, mosaic tiles, gilt box beams and feature ceilings, but the menu, sort of a Japanese tapas collection with a few more substantial rice and noodle dishes, goes way beyond sushi and sashimi... Read full article... Good Food Guide 2001

		Bird's Eye Birdcage is not your average restaurant. Yes, you can order food, a bottle of wine and finish with coffee and dessert, but that's not really the point. It's more about being social; enjoying food and wine and friends in an unstructured environment. Sit at the bar and order a glass of wine from the smart list which leans towards the more aromatic white variety such as riesling and the lighter style reds such as pinot noir and merlot. Or enjoy the airy window tables and comfortable banquettes.... Read full article... Fiona Stack The Melbourne Weekly - Bayside Southern Cross May 10-16 2000

		Stephen Downes salutes a deft fusion of flavor and funk Birdcage marks the appearance of talented chef-owner Kazuhiko Nomura, who disappeared a year or so back with the closure of Le Japon. That place was Franco-Nipponese. Birdcage borrows from other Asian and European cooking traditions and techniques, fusing a "Japanesque" style. Judging from the general run of restaurants I saw in Japan earlier this year, I believe you'd have trouble finding anything like Nomura's food in Tokyo... Read full article... Stephen Downes Dining Out

		Fresh Modelled (just a bit) after London's Wagamama chain, Birdcage in the foyer of The George in Melbourne's Fitzroy Street was recently described as being a cabernet and chardonnay-free zone. "Not strictly true," says part-owner, Neil Prentice. "It's just that a few of these wines will go with our 'Japanesque' food, so we've included lots of riesling, pinot gris, semillon and sauvignon blanc. But, for those who simply can't live without it, we'll have some chardonnays including T' Gallant and Giaconda." The chef Kazu Normura, who was behind the stylish and, sadly, now defunct, Le Japon. A major enticement is sure to be Hero, the Japanese sushi chef who doubles as an Elvis impersonator. Birdcage is described as "intimate" which probably means crowded, but with a sushi Elvis we'll take our chances. Read full article...

Dining Out
Birdcage is on one side of the George building in St Kilda. It boasts Peter Walsh mural, mosaic tiles, a long wooden bar and dark wood tables edging the small space. The menu is here is Japanese-ish - daringly borrowing touches from the rest of Asia, not to mention Scandinavia and Italy. We chose an Alsatian gewurtztraminer which blended perfectly with the tart and sweetish flavours of the food. Try a bowl of steamed, salted soy beans as you wait. Delicious and, I imagine, good for you. They certainly set the tastebuds a-humming and go well with the house specialty rieslings.... Read full article...