Fried Chicken Skin Salad at Aviary
Aviary’s rebuilt menu packs bold new international flavors, and perfects old standbys, like the fried chicken skin salad.
Posted by: Benjamin Tepler on Feb 15, 2012 at 12:55PM
5 Comments
Since re-opening in early December after a nasty fire brought down their operation, Aviary has amped up their food and drink program to a whole new level. The New York-trained triumvirate of head chefs, Sarah Pliner, Kat Whitehead and Jasper Shen, along with their new bar manager, Ross Hunsinger, are expanding the Portland criterion with an eclectic, global menu and killer cocktails to match. It’s hard to go wrong with their simple list of 16 small plates, but the fried chicken skin salad vibrates on another level.
Let me break it down: Aviary’s chef trio marinates the chicken skin overnight in soy sauce and curry, before dredging and frying it to a perfect golden crisp. Next, they toss a salad full of arugula, endive, fresh watermelon, and pickled, smoked watermelon rinds in a chili-fish sauce dressing. Finally, an extra-creamy smear of nutty eggplant baba ghanoush is added to the plate, and all of the ingredients come together in a perfect marriage.
It’s an international smorgasbord of flavors: Thai tang from the dressing, classic Americana in the form of fried chicken and watermelon, with a nutty Middle Eastern spread for good measure. Its also a perfect example of Aviary’s out-of-the-box thinking, a refreshing break from the farm-to-table snout-fest of Portland dining. Try it for yourself, and let us know what you think.
Aviary
1733 NE Alberta St
503-287-2400
aviarypdx.com
Your chicken skin salad was obviously cooked differently than the one I had. The skin on my salad was chewy and bland. The steak small plate was delicious, though.
They’re serving fresh watermelon in February? That certainly is a break from the “farm-to-table” routine that has so bored your writer.
Went to Aviary for the first time last week with my husband. Chicken skin salad and pigs ear paella were THE BEST. going back next week.
We just had dinner at Aviary on Saturday night. We ordered 11 items, and sent two of them back. I really think that the public is being taken advantage of by restaurants whose entire premise is small plates. The prices are outrageous for the size of the portions and the quality. It’s just not that good. Take a trip to Spain enjoy the concept from it’s roots, and then come back here and wonder how it got lost in translation. If your short on cash just go to Fong Chong in Old Town and share some Dim Sum.
We sent back the ox tail croquettes. They had and overpowering and lingering taste of Mace. Not to mention that they are the size of a wine cork and cost $2.25 each. If they were awesome I wouldn’t have even considered their cost.
We sent back the tempura pumpkin. It was pasty, and entirely unappetizing. I observed other tables near us who ordered this dish, most took a bite and never had another. The wait staff never inquired why and the diners never volunteered a criticism. What is wrong with diners? Are we so PC that we’ll give our money away to restaurants. I’d bet that if you crafted these meals for family and friends you’d be apologizing and removing them from the table.
Decent dishes (i.e., dishes a 14 year old should be able to prepare): kusshi oysters, hoisin glazed short rib
Really good dishes: seared octopus salad, crispy pig ear
“Farm-to-table snout-fest”? Stick to writing about what the food is; nothing is worth eating because of what it isn’t.