For many Filipinos, lunch does not always mean sitting down to a full meal.
Between classes, office meetings, commutes and errands, sometimes it is simply something hot and filling that can be eaten on the go. Barbecue on a stick has served that purpose for decades.
From pork barbecue outside schools to isaw at roadside stalls, the formula is familiar: meat, marinade, charcoal and sauce, served without much ceremony.
Now the format is finding more space on fast-food menus.
Andok’s, best known for its whole roasted chicken, recently introduced Dokitori, an 80-gram charcoal-grilled chicken skewer priced at P65. It joins the chain’s pork barbecue and other smaller, single-serve offerings.
For Filipino-style barbecue, much of the appeal comes from the balance of a savory-sweet glaze and smoky char. The best bites are often the imperfect ones, with caramelized edges and darker corners from the grill.
At P65, Dokitori occupies a different space from the inexpensive street barbecue many Filipinos grew up eating. It remains cheaper than most restaurant meals, but it also enters the familiar lunchtime calculation of how much food a limited budget can cover.
Skewers have another practical advantage: they require no utensils and little space to eat. One can work as a snack, while several sticks paired with rice can make a meal.
They also carry a certain nostalgia. The smell of meat over charcoal can recall school dismissal, neighborhood ihawan stalls and late-night food runs, experiences that have made barbecue a fixture of everyday Filipino food culture.
What is changing is not the food itself, but where and how it is being sold.
Established chains are increasingly putting familiar, smaller-format dishes alongside the larger meals traditionally associated with them. Andok’s newer offerings, including Dokibab chicken kebab, crispy shrimp and boneless charcoal chicken, reflect that approach.
Dokitori brings the familiar chicken skewer into that setting, aimed at customers looking for something straightforward without committing to a full sit-down meal.
Whether P65 for a single stick feels worth it ultimately comes down to appetite, budget and circumstance.
But when lunch has to fit between everything else, the appeal is easy to understand: something familiar, freshly grilled and ready to eat.