The Best Broast in Town

No, I am not talking about fried chicken that we all know with the golden flour skin. Broast chicken is pressure fried instead of the usual deep-frying method that is used for fried chicken. The two are nearly synonymous over here in Dhaka and that always makes ordering broast chicken a 50-50 decision. Although I struggle with the idea of broiler chicken ever tasting good, Helvetia (yes, the Helvetia) has pretty much proven me wrong over the past year.

I remember when the place was the bee's knees a decade or so back. Uncles would go there for coffee and mothers would love the soup takeaway. For us kids, the fried chicken on a bed of fries was where it was at. I re-discovered Helvetia because it was the only decent fastfood place in Motijheel, where I used to live. Dodging their generic fried rice set menus and other stuff, I ordered the broast chicken thinking it's fried chicken. That was honestly the best chicken-related mistake I ever made.

Finding chicken breast that's cooked perfectly is like trying to look for a restaurant that won't try to charge you 80 bucks for just pouring a drink from a bottle to a glass and serving it. However, Helvetia cooks it right. The meat stays juicy and the skin is crispy and browned to perfection. What more could you want?

The double broast comes with two pieces of chicken (one breast and one drumstick usually) so it's more like one-and-a-half broast instead of being double. The amount of fries is okay but what really gets me is the amount of garlic sauce. If you think printer manufacturers are stingy about printer ink, then you should meet the guys at Helvetia. Usually, they'll give you one garlic sauce that's the size of the usual tiny containers. You also get a dinner roll, a packet of ketchup, and coleslaw. Overall, if they fix the sauce issue, this meal is well worth the price of BDT 340.

Besides, if you're with friends but don't want a heavy meal, you can go for the six-piece chicken wings at BDT 265. They're extremely flavourful and can really work as a guilty pleasure. The garlic sauce really shines with the wings, in my opinion.

Overall, with gourmet burgers at every corner, and cheese-dripping dishes screaming at you on your Facebook newsfeed, it's hard to think that Helvetia is still there and going strong. So far, to me, Helvetia has the best broast chicken in town. If that ever changes, watch this space.

Rumman R Kalam is the In-charge of Shout and a former meme-maker. Reach out to him at tehgoatlord@rantages.com