Many a Brighton local enjoying the latest Hellenic Republic instalment by George Calombaris can be seen leaning back with a wistful gaze. In the late ’80s and ’90s, as Jake’s nightclub, it was the site of many a misspent youth. Now that eating’s no longer cheating, people are bringing their families to the same spot to feast on Hellenic’s hero plates.

Of course, there’s the ever-popular pomegranate-pretty Cypriot grain salad, the molten saganaki cheese with peppered figs, and the Nigella Lawson- endorsed chips with feta and oregano.

But the Church Street taverna – which opened just before Christmas following Hellenic’s success in Kew, Brunswick East and Williamstown – is a high tide of seafood, more so than its counterparts, as supported by its ropey, nautical fit-out.

A display of fresh fish allows diners to view the day’s catch, name their cooking method – barbecued, baked, pan-fried and steamed – and pay by weight. Brighton also offers a $25 weekday lunch based on the Mediterranean diet of a 4:1 ratio of plant-based foods to meat.

But bypassing the lamb shoulder is a mistake: a half-kilo of tender meat treated with care. It’s made for orderingwith a head of cauliflower, gloriously blistered on the spit, and battered and lightly fried zucchini slices.

Later, the baklava – its three layers assembled at your table and anointed with syrup – is a theatrical sweet treat of hot/cold/crunch, although a generous serve of doughnuts would have sufficed.

The staff are casual, keen and ready to tend at this boisterous 120-seater primed for group dining. It trades on 70 per cent bookings and the rest walk- ins for when those dancing feet lead the way for some nosh with nostalgia.