It’s weird to think a restaurant can be a victim of affordability. Call it the curse of the First World but there does seem to be a new breed of diner who baulk at a menu if there’s anything less than a $20 entree or if the number at the front of the main course price is anything less than a “4’’.

Hey, we all like some extravagance (just ask my accountant). But when you relish a visit to a cheap-and-cheerful as much as you do a meal at a $400, 12-course degustation, you know you’re on to something and few places inspire such a feeling as Al Aseel.

Showered with awards since it opened its first outpost in Greenacre 16 years ago, Al Aseel has repeatedly been anointed Sydney’s best Lebanese food and spawned restaurants at Lakemba, Penrith, Wollongong and, until recently, Newtown.

Itching for some extra space (given it’s booked out every night), Newtown was shuttered recently in favour of some new 180-seat digs at Alexandria, where owners Charles Obeid and Faysal Al-Abd have achieved the near impossible — improved on the original.

The 400sqm site, designed ­in-house, is located directly opposite The Grounds on Bourke Rd and is the visual opposite of their old 60-seater on Missenden Rd.

Pokey brick and concrete has been replaced by skyscraper ceilings and a sweeping bar (that includes seating) while the tables and chairs are, mercifully, just as generous and comfortable and spaced far enough away that you really do feel in your own little world.

And what a world — filled with fresh creamy dips and jumbo king prawns and tender, spice-filled lamb shoulder and shimmering mezze dishes.

A welcome new addition is a small oven which pumps out warm flatbread to accompany the complimentary fresh chillies, pickles and olives which greet you on arrival — one of my favourite little details of Al Aseel.

The mixed dip platter ($20) has been bumped up from three to four so you now get the garlic dip with the lemon-infused hummus, baba ghanoush and smoked labneh, all beautifully presented and drizzled with olive oil.

Hummus variations — with lemon and parsley, pine nuts or mince meat — are also new to the menu.

The famed mezze classic kibbeh nayeh ($22) — raw mince and cracked buckwheat — has also undergone a tweak. Lamb has been replaced by beef and the accoutrements of fresh cucumber, mint and tomato have been done away with, replaced with walnuts and a green salad.

Loathe to say, it’s no patch on the original. However, the mansaf lamb ($25) feels improved — a heady, slow-cooked lamb shoulder that arrives simmering in a pool of its own juices and topped with spiced mincemeat, mixed nuts and a dollop of yoghurt.

We also make a rare detour to the seafood menu and discover a new favourite in the jumbo king prawns ($36); served grilled with heads on and shells off on a pile of salty doorstop chips and a side salad. It’s enough for two.

And if you need dessert you’re not doing it right — just do as the regulars do and order a coffee with a couple of complimentary bites of baklava.

And the whole thing for around $60 per head, depending on drinks (it’s licensed, unlike Greenacre and Lakemba).

It might not be the trendiest or the fanciest joint in town but the new addition to the Al Aseel empire is one of the best for that other thing we go to restaurants for. To be well fed.

Originally published on dailytelegraph.com.au