Mountain Bird is back. After the East Harlem poultry restaurant shuttered its doors last April due to rent issues, it reopened last month in a new location. Now in partnership with Tastings Social, it’s already made Esquire’s 2015 list of Best New Restaurants in America. The charming neighborhood eatery is definitely worth the trek. Expect an intimate experience, as the French-trained, Japanese-born Chef Kenji Tajima helms the kitchen while his lovely wife, Keiko, attends to customers in their 31-seat dining room. The restaurant’s main appeal is undoubtedly its bird-centric menu. I’m crazy about the signature appetizer, the bite size head to toe sampler. While its four little hors d’oeuvres of cock’s combs cutlet, liver mousse, chicken heart puff and a wing lollipop may sound too adventurous for some, I promise they’re worth a step outside your comfort zone. Thanks to Kenji’s masterful preparation, none tastes gamey or outlandish. The cock’s combs is cooked in vegetable broth for hours to tenderize it before breading and frying. If the menu hadn’t indicated the cutlet as the crown of a rooster, I would have guessed I was eating regular dark or white meat. The chicken liver mousse is rolled in dried cranberry and cashew nuts just like a little bonbon, and the chicken heart à la Bourguignonne finished with a divine mix of béchamel and garlic butter. The deep-fried chicken wing on a drumstick is drenched in a reduced balsamic vinegar, honey and soy sauce mixture. It’s a plate of surprise and pure enjoyment, far from how you envision offal might taste. I also recommend an order of the warm pumpernickel baguette with vanilla butter and liver mousse for the table. What an unexpected but perfect pairing. And for dessert, the sticky toffee fig cake with sour cream is to die for.