Tucked away on little old Hillsborough’s high street on Middlewood Road is one of the best rated local restaurants in the UK right now.

This year, The Orange Bird gained national recognition when it was named as one of the top 100 best local restaurants by The Good Food Guide. It was picked out as part of a process that attracted some 37,000 public nominations.

That Hillsborough should be home to one of the best up and coming dining spots in the city will not be a surprise to those who live locally. Once a suburb that looked a little down on its luck, there are great dining and drinking venues springing up at a regular pace these days.

Read More: Nine Yorkshire restaurants named on a list of the UK’s top 100

The Orange Bird offers a South African inspired international menu that revolves around the ‘braai’ or grill. More than just a barbeque, this is a cultural focal point for South Africans, a gathering and a fest facilitated by hot charcoal or smouldering wood.

We couldn’t wait to try this one out but due to the popularity of the place you might find booking a spur of the moment meal quite difficult, we found a night that worked and headed with great expectations on a Wednesday night. Fitting for the theme, this neighbourhood restaurant offers a warm welcome to it intimate and open dining area with great views right into the kitchen.

The menu can look a little intimidating at first with some terms and phrases I was worried I’d have to Google at the table but there is a helpful glossary of terms on the back. On offer are a number of snack plates including burrata, a ‘hummus’ dish and flatbread; main plates including roast salmon, BBQ cabbage and caramelised aubergine and sides including beetroot slaw, fries and African style greens.

The menu is designed for sharing with it possible to have a feast served to the table all at once or you can split dishes into more traditional courses if you wish. We opted for a half baked approach with a snack to get us started and a couple of mains and sides to share.

For the snack style starter we had Mosbolletjies which is a traditional sweet bun served with whipped butter. It was a great appetiser that almost had a brioche type consistency but with the butter giving a slightly salty edge to it.

For the main feast we ordered the Braai pork chop, the Shinsanyama plate (basically a mixed BBQ plate), the morogo (African style greens) and some curry butter fries. The pork chop is hands down one of the best pieces of meat I’ve eaten and I spent a period of my life eating steak in Argentina.

It was immaculately cooked with tender meet and fat that melted away, the seasoning was just perfect and the ‘Monkey Gland Sauce’ was a revelation – instantly becoming one of my favourite barbeque style marinades. The chop was served with kohl slaw which consisted of kohlrabi and turnip with a parsley dressing.

The kohl slaw provided the perfect accompaniment for the rich flavours of the BBQ meat, adding a freshness to the dish. The Shinsanyama plate came with a peri peri chicken leg, boerewors (SA sausage), chakalaka (spicy tomato bean relish), pickles and kabocha squash pap (mash).

This mixed plate of delicacies instantly transports you to a barbeque setting, putting together all the best bits from the grill with some delicious sides. Every part of the dish was well balanced, with no one flavour dominating and all parts able to be combined.

The peri peri was fiery hot and the chicken cooked to perfection, the sausage was herby and rich, the relish was punchy and fresh with the mash adding some earthy flavours. The curry butter fires were crispy on the outside and perfectly fluffy inside with a little curry kick and a house mayo that puts Hellman’s to shame.

The morogo consisted of kale, chard, crispy chickpeas, sheba and the terrifyingly named hellfire oil. Thankfully it was spicy rather than hot and the whole dish was a really well balanced vegetable side again leaning on notes of curry and spice.

We were enjoying ourselves so much we even had a desert, a peppermint crisp tart that was just out of this world. A South African traditional desert that is like a mint Viennetta on steroids.

I’ve eaten some good food in my time, I’ve eaten at some very good restaurants, few have made me as happy as this little place in Hillsborough did. Absolutely joyous food, well priced and cooked to perfection with a carefully thought out menu designed to get people interacting and sharing at the table.

In The Orange Bird, there is a perfect blend of South African grill cuisine and Sheffield’s innate sociable quaintness. The fact that the two have been able to be married in a spot on Middlewood Road is heart-warming.

It is no wonder that this place had gained a bit of national attention, it deserves it. Try it out if you can, there is a lot here to be enjoyed.

The Bill

• Mosbolletjies – £5
• Braai pork chop – £20
• Shinsanyama plate – £18
• Morogo – £4.50
• Curry butter fries – £4
• Peppermint crisp tart – £7

Total: £58.50

The Orange Bird can be found at 78 Middlewood Rd, Hillsborough, Sheffield S6 4HA. The restaurant is open from 6pm until 10pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 5pm until 10pm on Friday, from 12 noon until 3pm and then from 6pm until 10pm on Saturday.

For more information or booking you can find the website here or you can call 0114 234 9330.

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