Who knew okra is actually the best friend to a cold beer? Well, when dusted in cumin, lightly fried to a crunch and given a spritz of lemon, it certainly is. It’s a great opening act at Bar Saracen, where two of our city’s great hospo heads – Rumi’s Joseph Abboud and front-of-house pro Ari Vlassopoulos – have created a restaurant “of Middle Eastern appearance”. That looks like boreks filled with truffled egg and cheese (swoon) and smoky, soft eggplant with barbecue-burnt onions on a pool of fermented whey called kashik. It means a confidently textural octopus with pickled green chilli and crisp-skinned Murray cod with tahini. A plate of creamy-sharp hummus topped with crisp fried chickpeas and a tiny tender dice of calamari, eaten with hot, fluffy house-made pita, is reason enough to visit – and return.

The food is excellent and keenly priced and the interesting wines – locals, plus a few from “wherever the Arabs have been” – are chosen for diners’ enjoyment not a sommelier’s ego.

It’s cheeky, delicious fun, as welcoming for a quick sip and snack as it is for making a full night of it – a night that will likely end with arak, either in shots or splashed over pineapple sorbet.

Must-eat dish: Hummus