hawa charcoal chicken

2 blocks makes a difference. if you can be bothered walking 2 blocks down south street to get tohawafrom el jannah, it's worth noticing the difference. the place is much larger. there is a dedicated ordering area. there is literally acres of seating inside so i had my pick of tables that would normally seat 4. got the 1/2 chicken meal to eat in and didn't take too long to come out. chicken was fine and the garlic sauce was up to the expected standard - it was a substantial bowl of chips that came with the chicken (couldn't finish them). the food came out with a separate bowl with cutlery and napkins. was a large group eating nearby and in the indoors seating area the din was incredible. however overall, still a much better eating in experience than up the road.

i prefer charcoal chicken fromhawaas everything is delicious. their chicken has a great charcoal flavour without dryness and the garlic sauce packs the right amount of kick! i find the service here good as well.

they have a massive space and is probably one of my go-to places for charcoal chicken.

athawathe orders come out quickly, the food is fresh and they have loads of seating. the friendly staff are also more than happy to provide plastic containers so you can take home what you don’t get through – this happens to me every time. leftovers for the win!

i consider charcoal chicken to be one of the worlds greatest creations and hot chips to be their royal descendent. these two things combined with garlic sauce and pickles, are all i need to live happily ever after in my kingdom.hawais without a doubt the best charcoal chicken in sydney and dare i say, australia. a former el jannah lover, i was unfaithful, turned tohawain my time of need and have never looked back. we're now living in a joyous garlic fueled matrimony.

one of the greatest, most satisfying, and affordable meals you will ever enjoy.

i love a good charcoal chicken and upon driving pasthawait appears half of granville are too. we arrived early at around 5pm on a sunday and the queue was out the door already. i was excited at the fact i had finally found a chicken shop in sydney which generate the buzz of these shops growing up. 

after finding a park a block away we made our way down to the front of the shop and straight to the back of the queue. this gave us time to decide what we wanted. we ordered thehawa1/2 chicken and chips deal ($16.95) dine in ($11.95) take away. we also ordered thehawa1/4 chicken mixed platter ($16.95) dine in (cheaper take-away).

yes, the premium for dining in was big but sort of worth it when you're driving 30 minutes to get there and faced with a queue at the front of the shop. we sat at a table near front but realised there was a much larger dining area which took up two other shop spaces. 

the chicken really gives charcoal chicken it's meaning with a beautifully smoky flavour and unapologetically charred skin while the meat retained moisture. the famous garlic sauce was the perfect accompaniment.

and yes naomi the drive was worth it!

this is the second time i ordered fromhawaand after looking at the size of chicken breast i got i don't think i would have given them even 1 star.

dropped intohawawhile covering the retail market as we wanted to have arabic food, it was a pleasant sunny day , we had a shish plate each which came along with the appetizers like hummus.

the bread served with the hummus was excellent & the shish too was top end.

hawa is my person favourite when it comes to charcoal chicken - they are very consistent with the quality and taste of their food and i have never been let down. i do find them to be slightly cheaper than the highly rated el jannahs - in my experience they serve juicer chicken too! i thinkhawadeserves more attention.

it's been some time since i've been tohawabut i've been having some cravings so matt and i had to go back for a meal. not much has changed since i last went. .hawais a casual eatery with a large dining space to accommodate many customers.  hawa is a short stroll from granville station but we drive on this occasion. we park in the big car park across from the station. there's a short queue ahead of matt and i at approx 2pm on saturday. we order at the counter and sit down with our number.

the smell of barbequed chicken hits you as soon as you turn onto the main street of granville. while this suburb is probably best known as the home of the original el jannah, it is immediately apparent to me that this is not where this mouth-watering aroma is emanating from... taking up several shop-fronts, the culprit ishawacharcoal chicken. it has bright red awnings, and an extensive indoor seating area that seems to go on forever. you order at the counter where you can watch meat skewers being hand-turned over charcoal, and endless racks of flattened chickens rotating on a spit to a soundtrack of pops and sizzles from fat dripping onto glowing charcoal. as you'd expect, the scent of charred chicken skin is even stronger in here, and it makes my mouth water even after a half-eaten, unsatisfying dinner elsewhere. we consume our second dinner at one of the street-side outdoor tables, where we can watch late-night granville parade by. most of them seem to be coming to hawa, or...

hawa charcoal chicken is a middle eastern restaurant which specialises in charcoal grilled chicken. situated at about 100m away from el jannah,hawaoffers a more comfortable dining experience and higher standards of table service.

like its competitor, the charcoal grilled chicken athawais dry and tough. it gets a little monotonous and tiring after a while. i would suggest that the chef marinate their chicken overnight to give it a more intense flavour and watch over the fire. i wouldn't recommend either restaurant.

mention granville and charcoal chicken possibly comes up in the conversation as the one thing people go there for.hawacharcoal chicken serves a fine bird but its the veg platter we'll be back for. sitting on the train on the line heading toward parramatta or fairfield, one look out the window at granville and you might be forgiven for thinking the suburb is on fire. there's smoke billowing from buildings, pluming down over the car park. when the train doors open, a smell engulfs the carriage, strangely comforting and familiar.

came here w the intention of trying the 'other chook shop' (hint: e.j.) in the area for back to back comparo. scroll dwn for summary 😆

impressed w how big and clean the outlet was. table service during lunch was efficient and polite, order taker knowledgeably pointed out to us that extra order of pickles was not needed as our chooks came w bread fries pickles n garlic sauce.

order of chicken n lamb cubes/skewers came after a short wait. we hit both the leg and breast, eager to find out if the leg 3.5/5 triumphed the breast 3.25/5 in succulent juicy goodness. dipped in in house garlic sauce (3.5/5), both cuts were almost on par, marinade penetrated meat well, skin lightly charred with that unique slightly sour (from lemon or vinegar) after taste. in terms of flavour, the chooks athawaare not overwhelming, in fact they are quite mellow and well balanced. sad to say that our lamb skewer 2.75/5 was tough.

hawa is a comfortable spacious place to enjoy your leb food. it also has a cafe onsite serving (of course, coffee), various cakes and ice cream. it presents itself as a 1 stop dining venue with well mannered (part) table service.

in short:hawaoffers a more comfortable n relaxed setting in which to enjoy your meal. el j is more cramped vis a vis hawa. hawa's chicken is just that more well rounded and no less juicy than el j's. service is almost on par withhawajust piping ahead (probably bec they were less busy when we arrived just before lunch time).

finally got around to trying out hawa, and it was a pretty good first visit. the place is massive, i wasn’t really expecting it to be that big and spacious so was taken aback. got ahawamix plate, vegetarian roll, chips, and an extra serving of garlic sauce (the mix plate comes with it and we realised it was actually enough).

it was a big feed, you will definitely be rolling out of there. the food was also very tasty, and the garlic sauce lived up to the hype. once you have the bread, garlic, and pickles, you’re set! it’s a winning combo and any addition is sure to be delicious. the falafel was probably the only thing that wasn’t as good, but so minor when everything else was a hit.

i've been coming here for years and this is my favourite charcoal chicken shop in all of sydney! for several reasons, the food is consistently great, the location is near family and where i live, the premises is huge and never have issues finding a seat, the food is very well priced and served so fast! el j is up the road as we know buthawahas better, faster service and always taste great. the coffee at the side cafe in the seating area is well brewed and they always give you a nice cookie for free!