Chicken is the potato of the animal kingdom. Like the potato, though it has an inherent taste of its own, it really exists more as the things that are done to it. A french fry, for example, is a potato risen to the heights of culinary pleasure.
A roast chicken is the most soothing of all imaginable foods — happiness without feathers. Though I do enjoy a nice deep-fried chicken wing, especially done Korean-style with a crust that crackles with every bite, for me nothing beats the Zen perfection, the sheer simplicity of a roast chicken. And the roast chicken found at our various and sundry Middle Eastern restaurants are a joy of many styles, many flavors and many textures. Served with fresh pita and some hummus and baba ghanoush on the side, and they are as platonic as a dish gets.
Born of humble stock in India sometime around 2000 BC, the chicken (gallus domesticus) was bred from the wild red jungle fowl (gallus gallus), and quickly spread throughout the world. So well honored was, and is, the humble chicken that in 1589, in his coronation speech, good King Henry IV of France declared: “There would not be a peasant so poor in all my realm who would not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday” — thereby giving us both the phrase “a chicken in every pot,” and the welfare state, all in one fell swoop.
And truly, is there a Middle Eastern chicken shop here in the San Fernando Valley more consistently downright … scrumptious than Zankou?
Exactly how fast is the service? Let me tell you: I placed an order at the counter of a Zankou branch, asking for a variety of different dishes and plates. The affable young lady who took my order handed me a slip with a number on it. I turned and started to walk to one of the tables to wait for the number to be called, and before I had gone three steps, it rang out.
This may well be the fastest fast-food restaurant in the known world. It may also be the best; there’s nothing better in the world of Middle Eastern chicken cooking than a whole Zankou chicken, some hunks o’ pita bread, and a pot of that remarkable healing balm known simply as “garlic sauce.”
Indeed, the chicken at Zankou (Burbank Media Center, 1001 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank, 818-238-0414; 1415 E. Colorado St., Glendale, 818-244-2237; 10760 Riverside Drive, N. Hollywood, 818-655-0469; 6167 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, 818-781-0615; www.zankouchicken.com) is marinated in a wide assortment of herbs and spices, the most notable of which is garlic.
Most people seem to order the whole chicken, though a half chicken is also available; but go for the whole bird, for you may be hungry tomorrow as well, and will be cheered to find a carcass sitting in your fridge.
Some people use the pita bread that comes with every order to make a chicken sandwich, which is an okay thing to do, though I don’t want anything to come between me and my chicken.
On the side, you can order some very fine hummus dip, an eggplant dip called mutabbal, a terrific rendition of the great Middle Eastern bulghur wheat and parsley salad called tabouli and a variety of pickled vegetables. This is the sort of food that inspires a true feeding frenzy; make sure you have lots of paper towels at hand, for tearing one of these chickens to bits can create quite a mess.
Then, there’s the singular shawarma shop found in a Studio City mini-mall called Avi Cue (11288 Ventura Blvd., Studio City; www.avicue.com), which is more an indoor pickup window than a restaurant — though there are places to sit down. But most orders seem to go flying out the door, for enjoyment soon after in front of a big screen, watching a Dodgers game.
This isn’t so much smoke-flavored chicken and beef, as it is chicken- and beef-flavored smoke. The slogan here is “Avi cue: It’s Wagyu!” And the use of this iconic Japanese-bred beef — notable for its intricate marbling, subtle texture and exceptional flavor — is what sets Avi Cue apart from the crowd.
But there’s joy to be found in the chicken arayes and chicken shawarma, the bird reduced to an exercise in flavor. As good a chicken sandwich as one can hope to find this far from the Mediterranean.
Not far away, there’s the JeJe Mediterranean Grill (11052 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, 818-762-1663, www.jejemedigrill.com; with a second branch at 16970 San Fernando Mission Blvd., Granada Hills, 818-832-5252), which does exclusively chicken shawarma, rather than beef or lamb. This may be the only shawarma shop that offers a keto bowl and an avocado-and-quinoa bowl. JeJe is an eatery with its feet in two different worlds.
And then, there’s The Girl & the Chicken (3917 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank, 818-588-3094, https://girlandthechicken.com), which does not sound especially Middle Eastern. But it definitely sounds as if chicken is on the menu.
It’s a quiet café, next to a busy, old-school Mexican cantina — a good place to go for a tasty quarter, half or whole chicken. Served with an eclectic choice of sides and sauces. The sides run to crispy fries flavored with adobo or za’atar; sweet potato fries, turmeric/chimichurri-flavored rice; a very crunchy kale and cabbage slaw; hummus; and a remarkable sweet potato and beet combination, with a labneh harissa sauce, and an Egyptian spice called dukkah.
The sauces include Lebanese garlic “toum” with Calabrian chili and tzatziki. There are bowls. And there are wraps. But mostly, there’s chicken, tender and juicy. I’m not sure who the “girl” is. But the chicken is on every plate.
There’s also Sincerely Syria (14518 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, 202-963-0675, with other branches in Hollywood, Pasadena and Anaheim). The menu here is minimalistic enough for this to qualify — like Avi Cue — as a food stand that’s moved indoors. There’s beef and lamb shawarma, along with beautifully spiced chicken parts.
The wraps are served with garlic sauce and pickles; the plates with garlic sauce, pickles and fries. You can get a six-inch wrap, or a 12-incher. You can get a 12-inch plate or a 24-incher. Food served by the inch … sincerely from Syria.
Lastly, there’s Big Daddy’s Shawarma (12103 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, 747-205-2406, https://bigdaddysshawarma.com), which offers kosher shawarma, seven varieties, mixed and matched permutations of beef, chicken and turkey. Big Daddy has a menu that meanders from shawarma to chicken schnitzel, falafel, skewers of grilled chicken hearts and grilled sweetbreads, a merguez hot dog, and a sublime fried eggplant sandwich called sabich.
The traffic jam on the freeway can wait … there are skewered chicken hearts to eat.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.