Homer Rogue Taverna, Cronulla

Cronulla's new Homer Rogue Taverna is inspired by the dining scene of Athens. The space is big, the energy is high and there's already plenty of buzz about what's on the menu. Find out what is a must order here.

There is no dress code for the wait staff at Homer. The eatery's owners brothers Harry and Mario Kapoulas were inspired by Athens and that includes the casual dress codes there. "We don't have a uniform policy, just like in Athens, as we want people to feel comfortable to be themselves," explains Harry. The walls are deliberately unfinished with bare concrete with graffitied signs and vintage family photos and pics taken on their research trip prior to opening Homer. The duo also own Cronulla's deli cafe Ham.

The restaurant seats 100 and the outdoor section is large. On this blustery day, clear curtains shield diners from the chilly spring winds; on a clear, sunny day you know that is where most people will be clamouring to sit. We are perched in a little curved banquette inside and have a view of the kitchen with chef Kirri Mouat from Ham. It's early days but already it is very busy.

Drinks wise there is an extensive Greek wine selection or there are also cocktails like the Athenian Punch or the Visitoula. While they look simple the flavours are great with Athenian Punch made with rum, strawberry and citrus. The Visitoula is also lightly fruity with vanilla vodka, passion fruit and champagne foam.

One thing that you have to order are the Koulouri, rounds of stone baked Greek bread dipped generously in sesame seeds and brushed with honey. These come out fresh and warm and are the perfect thing to keep on the table during all courses for dipping.

Naturally the koulouri also go well with the dips. There are three types of dips on the menu: tirokafteri or spicy cheese dip, taramas or fish roe or fava dip inspired by Santorini's broad bean dip. Our waitress recommends the Tirokafteri and once I try it I see why. It's very moreish and spicy thanks to the pickled sliced chilli and it gets texture from capsicum. It's the sort of dip that goes with everything especially if you're the kind of person like me that likes to dip food in the sauces from other dishes.

The white tarama is a different texture from the tarama that you tend to get. It's much smoother and silkier as you can probably tell from the picture. The fish roe flavour is more subtle, equal in strength with lemon.

There are three types of spanakopita flatbread: the regular spinach and cheese, loukaniko (sausage) and halloumi or saganaki prawn. We went for the latter which arrives piping hot, like a pizzetta topped with a tomato based sauce cooked down until rich and saganaki prawns that are cooked perfectly so that they're still very tender. The hardest thing will be waiting for it to cool down before taking a bite.

The home gyros is a mini gyros where they have a bit of fun with things. "In Greece you can order a bifteki, which is a baked beef patty. In Athens at the gyros shops you get the choice to have your gyros with Big Mac sauce or tzatziki, so we decided to combine the two. We hand-make the bread and then serve it with a beef patty with our own special Big Mac sauce," explains Harry. The soft, fluffy wood fired pita is an excellent base for the soft beef mince patty and lashings of Big Mac sauce and pickle slice. It's the sort of thing that you don't want to share, because it could be eaten in 4 satisfied bites.

Greek cheese lovers will love the manouri cheese served baked straight from the oven with a generous sprinkling of black and white sesame seeds and crunchy kataifi with hot honey. This cheese is made from the leftover whey from feta and has a crumbly texture although it comes as a disc. The hot honey hits the salty cheese to balance it and all you want is a bit of honeyed koulouri or a bit of the cold tirokafteri dip.

There are three items on the rotisserie and we go with the waitress's recommendation of the pork souvla as she hasn't steered us wrong. It ends up being one of my favourite dishes in a menu full of hits. The pork belly pieces are rendered down so well so all you get is the melting tender meat and on top is a mixture of lemon, garlic, olive oil, oregano that Harry calls "Greek aftershave". The smokiness from the charcoal really adds much to the dish too.

Spanakorizo is usually a rice dish but here they add fish to it. Today's fish is blue eyed trevally and it is a gorgeous dish made with soft buttery rice, spinach and an abundance of lemon. The star however is the fish that is so perfectly cooked so that it is still very moist inside.

To go with these we ordered the beetroot salad that comes in a glass bowl that your Greek friend's mum's may have served it in. It's wedges of roasted beetroot, grated fresh carrot, dill, mint and candied walnuts that makes it fresh but also very palatable with the addition of the herbs and candied walnuts.

It's dessert time and while I had read a lot about the galaktoboureko or milk custard pie wrapped in filo pastry I also saw the mint ice cream go past so we tried both. The Galaktoboureko is creamy with a crisp edged filo pastry drenched in a cinnamon and orange scented syrup. It's very good and a sizeable slab so definitely enough for sharing.

However, despite my unavowed love of pastry, my favourite of the desserts and the one I keep going back to is the mint ice cream with cubes of marinated watermelon. It's one of the best desserts I've had in a while and the star is the house made creamy mint ice cream that tastes like pure fresh mint rather than mint flavouring. Dig deep for a cube of that Ouzo marinated watermelon and this is the dessert I will be craving all summer long.