Greek food tends to be reliable in its generosity, sometimes overly so.

Take Yiasou George in the East End of Adelaide, where a basket of divine puffy pitas, bowls of dips and a huge slab of slow roasted lamb can hit the table for a little more than $50.

This fresh-faced eatery, connected physically and by ownership to the Stag Public House, is not your run-of-the-mill Greek. In fact, despite the name, the kitchen brief is more broadly Mediterranean. And its young crew, resplendent in their floral shirts, seem more concerned with generating a good party vibe than getting too deeply into dining anthropology.

Even as the night turns black and showers slap into the window panes, the room is welcoming, its white walls embellished with quirky, vaguely Greek motifs and open shelves loaded with colourful canned fish, jars of pickled veg and other pantry staples.

It is easy to over-order, particularly when the pita arrives puffed up with steam like little whoopee cushions and smelling like your favourite bakery.

Then come the dips – the baba ghanoush scattered with pomegranate, and the luscious tzatziki with vivid green herb oil.

Quail, brined, crumbed and fried in the style of chicken from America’s south, then takes several unlikely diversions with sesame, rose petals and a buttermilk dressing.

The larger meat dishes are less complicated. A piece of lamb shoulder is dark and leathery on the outside but then disintegrates pleasingly inside. Wrap it in a strip of pita, with a dollop of yoghurt dressing, to make the yiros you’ve been dreaming of.

To finish, loukoumades are re-interpreted as larger sugar-dusted doughnut balls with a honey and cinnamon custard that would make anything taste good.