If you’ve ever wondered what it feels like to be part of a Lebanese family feast, Rabbath will leave you wondering no more. The tiny restaurant sits diners within arm’s reach of the kitchen, where chef brothers and owners Patrick and Pascal Rabbath happily introduce themselves and strike up conversation about what’s in store for your meal ahead. And that meal is all about sharing.

Apart from a grass-fed eye fillet with fries, there are no standalone dishes, just plates designed to mix and match. Try herbaceous, chargrilled lamb kafta, say, wrapped in a paper-thin sheet of Lebanese bread made fresh in house each day with a dollop of their subtly spiced, slow-cooked eggplant and tomato blend known as ban’jan. Or perhaps swap the kafta for their signature falafel, prepared using their mother’s recipe. The chickpea balls are as green as a desert oasis, loaded with parsley and coriander, and come with a satisfying, bitey sesame-seed crust.

For dessert, there is Lebanon’s ubiquitous baklawa made with clarified, cultured local butter and lashings of pistachios, but it’s the ‘pain au chocolate’ starring more of that Lebanese bread, this time rolled up with chocolate sauce and a dusting of crumbled halva; and a refreshing watermelon with salted labneh dish that steal the show.

A tight but accessible drinks list is well matched to the food, but it’s the hand-crafted soft drinks that are perhaps best matched to the fuss-free cuisine.

The key to the success of Rabbath is clearly down to keeping it in the family.

Must-eat dish: Falafel
Instagram: @rabbathburleigh