Forget Marrickville’s reputation of old; the suburb has become a culinary hotspot and is now home to some of the best cafes in the city. Barzaari, the latest player, has upped the stakes as a slick eatery offering Cypriot cuisine from Darryl Martin, a chef who’s spent time behind the burners at Quay.

So it makes sense that his food is keeping the tables filled at this Addison Rd restaurant, which he owns with friend Andrew Jordanou.

With Martin’s pedigree, you might expect it to be high-flown, but Barzaari is far from it. When we visit, an adjacent table is happily tucking into a BYO cake in the shape of Spongebob Squarepants. That’s the divide a neighbourhood diner has to straddle: unaffected enough to be welcoming to locals, but appealing enough to tempt patrons from afar.

The menu, with more than a touch of Middle Eastern influence, has a loose, unstructured feel, with dishes designed to share and categorised by size.

We confidently order the shanklish and majdouleh in vine leaf to begin. It’s a cheese on cheese combination, with just enough lemon to declare itself the perfect opener. Similarly appealing is the koosah – zucchini stuffed with cured beef and haloumi, served on tomato rice.

The cured ocean trout with tarama and roe, however, might look beautiful, but the mixture of robust and delicate flavours is not improved by the presentation. Equally, the prawns with skordalia looks great, but has too much potato for the two crustaceans.

But when the lamb arrives, we’re in heaven. It’s a testament to simplicity – woodfired lamb shoulder served with garlic, lemon and pita. With succulent, slow-cooked meat and plenty of flavour, it’s by far the winning dish.

After finishing with a serve of sweet soujoukos (almonds in grape jelly) for dessert, the food at Barzaari is wonderful enough to consider moving to the area, just so it can be a local.