As a Bangkokian born and bred, I know for a fact that Thais are no second-best when it comes to eating spicy food. No matter how fiery a dish is, we are always prepared, if not thrilled, for the blazing encounter.
So when Fowlmouth opened in Thong Lor in November 2017, as a kiosk offering a local premier rendition of Nashville hot chicken, the public -- both locals and expats -- has gone crazy to get a taste of it.
The success has thus led to the recent opening of Fowlmouth's second branch, which also serves as the brand's first dine-in restaurant, on Sukhumvit 11.
Located in a small dining complex called Eleven Bangkok, the 30-seat, two-story venue boasts a contemporary-style vibrant facade and interior paintings to offer a fun-filled vibe.
Here the chicken is cooked fresh upon order, with almost all ingredients, from batter to dressing, cheese to bread, made in-house or sourced from the best producers.
To best render the Southern American-style fried chicken, the poultry is dipped in buttermilk batter and deep-fried until golden and crispy. Upon order, the fried chicken goes back in the fryer for extra crunchiness before being coated in the restaurant's secret concoction of peppery butter glaze.
Diners simply specify their preferred level of fieriness for each piece of chicken. The five options are Mild, Medium, Hot, Extra Hot and, finally, Death.
Greater degrees of hotness are built up upon layers of cayenne pepper, Thai bird's-eye chilli, habanero chilli, Ghost pepper and Carolina Reaper pepper. The latter ranks as the hottest pepper in the world with roughly 1.5 million Scoville heat units (SHU), compared to less than 100,000 SHU for Thai bird's-eye chilli.
Fowlmouth's menu simply centres on its signature fried chicken. Diners can have the fowl with side dishes as a combo meal, or as the main part of sandwiches, tacos and nachos.
Meals come with bread and house-made pickles. A set meal of two pieces with a side and sauce costs 250 baht; eight selected pieces with four sides and four sauces costs 750 baht; and three whole wings with a side and a sauce costs 220 baht.
Unlike many of my fellow Thais, I consider myself a person with low tolerance for super-spicy food.
So for me to go beyond Hot -- the third level of spiciness here -- would be nothing but unnecessarily self-torturing, never mind what's labelled as Death.
Thus, simply for my culinary trust in Fowlmouth's owner -- who also runs Chu, one of the city's best chocolate-driven pastry cafés -- I knew that beyond the possibly tongue-burning ordeal hid indeed a gastronomic comfort.
So I said bring them all on.
Each chicken piece came with a hotness-alert tag, and could be differentiated from the others by its glazing hue (the darker the glaze means the hotter the chicken).
Interestingly, while gradually climbing up the hot stairs, I found Fowlmouth's spiciness was rather an enjoyable combination of deep heat and smoky bitter tang.
It wasn't that forever-lasting tongue-on-fire impact you get from a Thai dish prepared with fresh bird's-eye chilli. Certainly, you won't need a gallon of water to cool down your palate. And that, apart from the fact that the chicken was scrumptiously addictive, added another layer of charm to the experience.
Options of sauce are Mississippi Comeback, Buttermilk Ranch, Jack Daniels' BBQ and Maple Butter.
While the list of delicious side dishes includes the super-moist yet slightly crumbly honey-butter biscuits (65 baht for two); pimento mac & cheese made with extra-matured melted cheddar (95 baht); and fried pickles with buttermilk ranch dip (100 baht). All proved some of the best in town.
For individual entrées I highly recommend the hot chicken tacos (200 baht), two soft flour tortillas with chicken strips, pico de gallo, creamy coleslaw and Comeback sauce; and hot chicken waffles (250 baht), two crispy boneless strips with fresh made waffles and Maple Butter.
Should you be in for hefty-sandwich bliss, the hot chicken burger on brioche bun (250 baht) and BBQ grilled cheese with boneless thigh and sharp cheddar on toasted white bread (250 baht), both served with curly fries, are truly worth-having.
A slight drawback for me is that the restaurant lacks desserts. Beverages were limited to iced tea, lemonade, soft drinks, beer and mineral water. I told the management that adding a milkshake to the menu would be a perfect solution.
