Chef Ali Snoubar co-founded Al Shami in 2014, and it’s one of the few Sydney restaurants that specialises in Syrian cuisine.

The dining room is a bright and welcoming place, and while the tables and chairs are somewhat no-frills, there’s an impressive marble fountain that wouldn’t be out of place in an Arabian embassy.

Menu essentials include fried kibbeh, presented as little spice-powered parcels of minced lamb and pine nuts with a nutty burghul wheat shell; shakriya, a hot bowl of garlic and olive oil-slicked yoghurt smothering one formidable lamb shank; deep-fried cheese-filled sambousek; and the mixed plate featuring grilled sticks of marinated chicken and kofta, plus tabouli, hummus, toum and a punchy baba ganoush.

If Snoubar isn’t in the kitchen, he’s likely chatting to regulars and offering guests complimentary tea. Hospitality at its finest.