Crossword Genius

Oriental cuisine's finale: a small bird (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eastern

'oriental' is the definition.
('eastern' can be a synonym of 'oriental')

'cuisine's finale a small bird' is the wordplay.
'finale' says to take the final letters.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'bird' becomes 'tern' (tern is a kind of bird**).
The final letter of 'cuisine' is 'e'.
'e'+'a'+'s'+'tern'='EASTERN'

(Other definitions for eastern that I've seen before include "in Beijing, possibly" , "Could be Chinese" , "Earnest (anag.)" , "See 11" , "Nearest (anag) - oriental" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.