Braai Bird is the casual rotisserie chicken restaurant from Patrick Williams and Amy Corbin, the co-founders of South African-inspired Kudu. Set on the former Kudu Grill site in Nunhead, it takes its cue from the braai, the South African tradition of feasting around an open fire that Williams grew up with in Durban.
Corbin, who is also Creative Director, worked with Lithuanian designer Liga Piraga on the 48-cover room, layering earthy terracotta, sandy neutrals and olive green with timber and patterned upholstery. Work by South African artist Kirsty Shears hangs throughout, a large mural of South African nature by ‘Petra Painter’ makes the focal point, and an open kitchen puts the charcoal rotisserie centre stage. There’s a takeaway hatch, too.
The star is Fosse Meadows chicken from Leicestershire, seasoned with Williams’s South African spice mix and slow-cooked over wood fire. Order it as a whole or half bird, in a chopped chicken salad with cornbread croutons, or stuffed into a peri peri chicken Gatsby, a sandwich modelled on Cape Town’s generously filled Gatsby rolls. A whole braai cauliflower is the meat-free alternative. Every main comes with a choice of six house-made sauces, from Kashmiri chilli crisp and zhug to Cape Malay, made with spiced butter, curry leaves and sweet pickled shallots.
Start with stuffed fried chicken wings with hot sauce and apricot, or sweetcorn hummus with paratha rotis, then share Braai Spiced Fries, cornbread with hot jalapeno honey and ‘surprise rice’ with crispy shallots, pickled raisins and roasting jus. Groups of four or more can order a family platter of a whole chicken and sides. There’s just one dessert: a Peppermint Crisp ice cream sando, inspired by the South African chocolate bar.
Drinks keep things easy, with ice-cold beers, South African wines and house cocktails such as the smoky Braai Negroni and the Vodka Peckham Banger, made with fresh orange juice and vanilla.