Has El Jannah still got it? We visit the chicken chain's newest Sydney outlet

The charcoal chickens at El Jannah, glistening in dark golden piles of spiced bird, prey on the hungry waiting customer. Few other foods sitting under heated lights do this as well. It's testament to Sydney's longtime chicken war – El Jannah's or Frango's – that these charry chooks never sit for long and, most of the time, live up to their "legendary" qualifications.

El Jannah, the chain founded by Andre and Carole Estephan 24 years ago at its still-running Granville restaurant, now features 13 outlets across Sydney. If you're near Smithfield, or indeed in Melbourne, it's available as a drive-through. The chain's most recent expansion is in the 1926 Earlwood Garage building on Homer Street, previously home to chef David Tsirekas's Homer on Homer restaurant.

A full revamp reflects the original El Jannah green and wood decor with an airy white-washed and aquamarine room ringed by red and teal upholstered booths. Lit by curving metal lights and big curved street windows its ceiling is a festooned canopy of ivy and hanging plants intertwined with fairy lights.

At chook peak hour, El Jannah, which means "paradise" in Arabic, is never anything short of heaving. Friday nights and weekends ripple with chatty family groups, school friends and locals picking up big brown paper bags of takeaway or sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in roomy booths licking chickeny fingers.

On a rainy Monday night at 9.30pm, with three groups eating in-house and four people in the takeaway queue, El Jannah's other shining glory is revealed. Late-night urges for spicy garlic chicken served in a spiffy roadside diner are no problem.

One tip, order ahead to beat the queues. Another tip, don't ignore dishes not featuring chicken. Even though charcoal chicken is the star of El Jannah, it's worth trying the rolls, in particular the shawarma beef version. The chicken wars drive a lot of chat about the worthiness of El Jannah and Frango's non-chicken offerings, but this mix of shredded marinated beef, parsley, tomato, onion, green pickles, tahini sauce, wrapped in Lebanese bread, is good stuff.

The menu also features fried chicken, housed in a plethora of boxes and meals, falafel and tawouk (chicken breast) rolls, chicken burgers, garlic, hummus, chilli or baba ghanoush sauces, Lebanese bread and soft drinks. There are tabouli, fattoush, coleslaw and chicken salads. You could even plump for a box of El Jannah's hefty and crisp hot chips alone. But only the brave, or the vegetarian, could truthfully turn away from the chickens waiting beneath the hot coppery light.

A whole one, rubbed with a spicy marinade, and roasted over smoke and fire, is juicy stuff but it's the skin that wins. Crispy, sticky and salty bronze shards pull off the meat, peppery with a lemon kick. Accompanied by a full bag of Lebanese bread, this meal splinters into drumsticks in the hand, bulging roll-ups of garlic sauce, fat breast meat, pickled green cucumber and red turnips, and folded pockets of hot chip and baba ghanoush butties.

The garlic sauce, or toum, which comes with various meals or is available in small and medium tubs, is heady and airily smooth. Swishing large pieces of chicken, pickles, bread or fingers through this snowy pungent dip renders everything extraordinary. The strips of cucumber and turnip pickles, which are almost day-glo in colour, are not as mouth-turning.

But every piece of leftover chicken is excellent the next day. Bought chook does not always win in the cold, 24 hours-later stakes but El Jannah's chicken prompts constant visits to the fridge to gnaw on remains. It even inspires a homemade chicken stock.

Other, smaller charcoal chicken shops may offer better, more authentic takes on the spicy Lebanese bird. Frango's Portuguese chooks may have their rusted-on adherents. But El Jannah is still up there. Well-seasoned, fall-apart tender stuff waiting seven days and into the night.

The low-down

Main attraction Daily Lebanese charcoal chicken, available morning to late-night.

Must-try dish Whole chicken with garlic sauce, chips, Lebanese bread and mixed pickles.

Insta-worthy dish Trio of hummus, baba ghanoush and garlic sauce ready for dipping.