Traveling Tummy: A Lebanese Chicken Blind Taste Test

Whether I am in Sydney or Manila, I go on and on about my favorite chicken in the world- El Jannah. A little hole in the wall joint in the predominantly Lebanese suburb of Granville. I first tried it at a party, and it has since then been a staple in our home and has become my traditional first meal every time I land in Sydney.

My friends were convinced that I would never be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test, mostly due to the fact that my friend Pete brought Lebanese Chicken to our cupcake party and no one was wise to his little Awafi-El Jannah switcheroo. To be completely honest, I couldn't tell too much with the chicken that it wasn't El Jannah, but I knew something was different about the garlic sauce.

On my last night at Sydney, I was put to a test.

I couldn't tell which was El Jannah and which was Awafi by sight alone. Habib's looked completely different.

Habib's had less of a charcoal taste. I feel like it wasn't grilled enough, or at least not to my liking. The chicken itself was tender and good but for me it's all about the garlic sauce, and Habib's left me hanging in that department. The garlic sauce just wasn't garlicky enough and the over all too mild flavor of everything made me rank it 3rd place.(According to Lisette, the Lebanese prefer this, but I'm not Lebanese, so I disagree. haha)

Awafi? or El Jannah? I can't tell by looking at it but let's just say it's Awafi for now. Awafi had good chicken. They also had good sauce. It is actually very similar to El Jannah and I think they reason for this is that apparently the owners of both establishments are cousins (Can someone confirm this?) They ARE down the street from each other so I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, Awafi has little bits of El Jannah elements in it, but the difference is in the sauce. Awafi's garlic sauce is more canola oil tasting while El Jannah's has a stronger garlic taste. I would go to Awafi if El Jannah was closed and I really wanted Lebanese chicken. Otherwise, El Jannah still gets my vote.

Lastly, El Jannah. No complaints. I've said it a million times and I will say it one last time (Until I eat it again) It IS the best! ;p

And guess what, I got it right! i am the queen of Lebanese Chicken.

And El Jannah should start giving me free chicken for life with all this free advertising they are getting from me. (In case you guys read this, I'm only half joking)