Weekend mornings buzz, with full tables spilling into a leafy courtyard out the front. At lunchtime in the middle of the week, it’s a far calmer affair, but you can still spot the frequent visitors popping in to order their usual or nabbing a take-home meal from the well-stocked fridges inside (there’s everything from butterflied marinated chicken to moussaka and salads: offerings introduced during the lockdowns).

There’s no such thing as bookings here – all service is walk-in. When it comes to the dine-in menu, falafel is a good place to start: five flavourful, crispy bites with silky white tahini. A grilled sardine salad served with sugar snap peas, pesto and almonds is fresh, a little left-of-centre and far more refined than you’d expect from your local cafe. A bit truer to the script is the meatball sub with house-made tomato ragu, pesto and grated haloumi. It’s savoury and satisfying, if rather lightly seasoned for some tastes.

When it comes time to pay the bill, a glass jar brimming with colossal melting moments filled with a delicate rose buttercream is just too hard to resist.

To read our full list of reviews for NSW, head here.