Big flavour meets happy chaos at the legendary old Steki’s site in Newtown

Ever experienced a lock-in at Steki Taverna? The Greek restaurant, tucked away on a side street in Newtown, opened in 1983 as a social club for uni students. Over the years, it became a staple of Sydney’s late-night dining scene, serving music, dancing, food and ouzo until the early hours.

It was never really about the food or the 2am Mythos beers, it was about the scene. Like being welcomed into a family home where good times were a given and making friends with the table next to you was an expectation. A couple of years ago, the restaurant moved up to Enmore Road, where it operates to this day. But there’s life in that original site yet.

Greek-Cypriot restaurant Myra’s has picked up where Steki left off, albeit with Sydney 2026 opening hours. Acquiring the site was less of a plan and more of a happy accident for owner George Theocharous, a glazier by trade who also happened to be a passionate home cook. While his knowledge of hospitality is a sum total of backyard grills and regular dinner parties, it plays to his advantage.

This is a home-style dining experience full of warmth and conviviality where big flavour meets happy chaos. The white and olive-green walls are covered in family photos of the Theocharous family – some taken more than 80 years ago – along with little objects collected from his grandmother’s house and Greek musical instruments.

Such is the family focus, Theocharous even has his mum Eleni cooking alongside him on weekends. His grandmother and grandad are also credited on the menu – check out yia yia’s squashy, lemony roast Hasselback potatoes and papou’s wild greens, dressed in lemon juice and olive oil. In fact, many of the dishes on the menu come from the Theocharous family back catalogue, refined for a Sydney restaurant crowd.

It’s all about communal eating. A Greek salad features huge malty rusks of A.P Bakery bread coated in olive oil and crisped up, then tossed through hunks of heirloom tomato, cucumber, olives and red onion, all finished with a sprinkle of dried oregano and a wedge of barrel-aged feta.

Falafels, served on a mastic tahini, don’t quite hit the mark for me. They’re a little dense, and the sauce gives the dish a slightly gummy mouthfeel. I’d rather have an extra serve of hot, dusty house-baked pita – essential with a particularly paprika-smoky taramasalata.

While I would love to order everything off the grill, I stick with the juicy chicken souvlaki, seasoned with thyme salt and served on a bed of tzatziki. I’m also extremely keen for the sheftalia (a traditional Cypriot dish of herbed pork mince wrapped in caul fat), but hold back for the moussaka. That’s silky slices of eggplant, layered with a lamb shoulder ragu and smothered in a thick bechamel, baked till blistering, served on the sweetest old-fashioned nanna plate. I need a repeat visit for Eleni’s lamb shoulder and the spanakopita.

Challenged with indecision? Consider the set menu. There’s the “yia yia will feed you” option for $75 and “papou will feed you” for $95. You can add a shot of ouzo for $5 a pop on both.

The drinks list is a thoughtful one-pager of predominantly Greek and Aussie varietals. I particularly like the section dedicated to grandad drinks – Johnnie Walker black, blue and red, metaxa, ouzo – the sort of things you might expect to be sitting on the table at midnight when the bouzouki comes out and the dancing begins.

Desserts are simple, comforting and delicious. An old-fashioned lemon and olive oil cake is finished with squiggles of cream cheese icing. And who can say no to custard pie? Theocharous’ version involves papery filo wrapped around baked custard, dusted with confectioner’s sugar and served with a toffeed fig. Running a knife through it feels as satisfying as stomping on a fresh sandcastle.

This is a completely loveable restaurant, where you feel comfortable as soon as you walk through the door. It feels made for parents and big groups of friends.

So look. The service here is very green. But it’s so young and well-intentioned it somehow adds to the experience. No matter how many times water, beer, ice and food orders are forgotten, I can’t help but be disarmed by that friendly unreliability.

Know that, forgive them and strap in for fun.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.