This Boomer-Inspired Spot Serves The Metro’s Top Chicken Sandwich

Anyone who passes by Fowlbread in BGC will be prompted to stop and take a closer look. More than the energy of the open kitchen and the sweet smell of fried chicken, you will start to see the humor in all the details. A banner bearing a drawing of a voluptuous chicken in boots with the words “Hot Chicken” hangs by the counter while a framed illustration of a cartoonish man with a beer belly and parted hair smiles back at you with the words “Pregnant with chicken sandwich”.

Come for the jokes, stay for the chicken sandwich | Photo: Jar Concengco

Fowlbread is definitely back after a four month renovation with a new look and new menu. Fowlbread founder Dwight Co injects his tongue-in-cheek humor into the brand. “I think the concept that we wanted to go with this reincarnation of Fowlbread is ‘modern boomer’. That’s why the guy has a Rolex,” he laughs while pointing at the corner of their menu. An illustration of a man is holding a Rolex watch like it was a wrestling championship belt over his shoulder.

With ‘modern boomer’, Co wanted to take a dive into the menu staples of places titos and titas frequent like country clubs, and update them. Items like cream of mushroom, iceberg lettuce salad with thousand island dressing, liempo, fried chicken, and burgers. “So for us here at Fowlbread, how do we make these items good? How do we make them modern? And how do we make them fun? So, a lot of our items are like that - things that boomers would eat but make young people excited,” he elaborates.

Described as 'modern boomer', the menu is a cheeky update on the Tito and Tita dishes you grew up with | Photo: Jar ConcengcoThe menu does have their signature chicken sandwich which always makes it to the lists of top chicken sandwiches in the metro and for good reason. Co knows that a good foundation for a good sandwich is the quality of the bread they use. He’s carefully sourced a round dome brioche bun from a small supplier in Marikina that has a crisp shell and slightly sweet and fluffy crumb. The Deluxe Fried Chicken Sandwich cleverly includes a chicken skin cracker that shatters with every bite. Their house pickles pleasantly cuts through the richness of the fried chicken. 

Why’s this fried chicken sandwich so good? Start with the dome brioche bun | Photo: Jar Concengco

Items like their BBQ Liempo will satisfy without boring you with a peanut bbq glaze, salsa and slices of banana cue. Notably, when the rice is served to you, take the time and a whiff of its aroma. Fowlbread uses top quality jasmine rice and it makes all the difference. People love Fowlbread’s pickles so much that it is also served battered and fried to a crisp—they’re so good they will convert any non-pickle lover into a fan. Their noodles are famous for being perfectly firm with a chewy bite. Some say the garlic noodles here have the texture and flavor of the iconic Thanh Long noodles in San Francisco.

BBQ liempo and jasmine rice so aromatic, it hits you before the first bite | Photo: Jar Concengco

Chewy garlic noodles so good, they’re drawing comparisons to SF’s best | Photo: Jar Concengco

Co enlisted the help of architect Brian Ver to design the new space—its exteriors a deep blue exposing the kitchen. A light box that reads “Come Inside” sits above the doorway for the indoor dining area while another wittingly says “Don’t Come Inside” marking the doorway into the kitchen. A stone wall with a lone sconce and glass blocks encapsulates the country club references. “We were talking about a lot of how the country clubs here have all the same DNA—Valle Verde Country Club, Manila Polo Club, Quezon City Sports Club, they all have the same architectural style—a bit brutalist, a lot of concrete, pebble wash,” Co adds.

This lightbox sign pairs with a cheeky twin: “Don’t Come Inside,” marking the kitchen door | Photo: Jar Concengco

If it reminds you of your Tito’s country club, that’s the point | Photo: Jar Concengco

Ver chimes in, “There are hints of that but we were like, ok if the country club has this, we can have it too but not so literally.”

The interiors of the dining area continue the humor and dad jokes. A glass enclosure of three tighty whities hilariously labelled “Bripcase” greets you and will either make you laugh or question your sense of humor. There’s a wall of boomer memorabilia—posters of basketball player Samboy Lim and motivational speaker Bo Sanchez, a bottle of Ivermectin riding a small horse, and trophies.

Inside, it’s all dad jokes | Photo: Jar Concengco

Yes, that’s Ivermectin on a tiny horse—welcome to the boomer memorabilia wall | Photo: Jar Concengco

"We wanted to lean in also a bit on a preppy look. So not only referencing the buildings like country clubs, but how do the people who use them dress?” Ver mentions on how they wanted the interiors to look and feel. 

The booth and furniture are upholstered in a houndstooth pattern in the brand’s colors. The wall was painstakingly painted using the side of a sponge for texture by in-house designer Kat Melo. Ver continues “The interiors are more intimate almost like a preppy bedroom. We wanted it definitely to feel lived in.”

Preppy details channel is a tribute to boomer style | Photo: Jar Concengco

From houndstooth to dad humor | Photo: Jar Concengco

The restaurant is situated in BGC’s High Street and for Co, this is an important factor for his brand. “I think it’s important for me to reach people,” he quips. “The goal too is to keep our pricing lower than Wildflour. I’m not a hater. I love Wildflour. But we want to be 100 or 200 pesos lower than them. That’s how we want to approach the market.”

Fowlbread. If you try one new restaurant this month, make it this one | Photo: Jar Concengco

Whether you take out food, sit at their marble tables al fresco, or dine inside, whether you find humor in the details, Fowlbread wants to continue being your favorite fried chicken sandwich in town and be even more accessible.

Fowlbread. B3, Bonifacio High Street, BGC, Taguig. Instagram: @fowlbread.