Images courtesy of Zaffi
About the restaurant
It's perfect for
CBD workers who want a fast, flavour-packed lunch that still feels like a proper occasion
You need to try
a slow-cooked lamb shoulder, rich and yielding, a showstopper at any sitting
Look out for
the transition from dinner to full-on supper club from 10:30pm, with DJs and a room that mixes it up
Zaffi means 'celebration' in Arabic, and this Sydney CBD laneway venue takes the brief seriously. Tucked down Little Hunter Street near Australia Square, Zaffi is a Lebanese and Middle Eastern halal restaurant with a dual personality: an express CBD lunch machine by day, and a full-blown supper club by night. Executive Chef Graeme Hunt, whose resume includes Rockpool and Chin Chin, leads a kitchen of charcoal-grilled meats, slow-cooked lamb shoulder, mezze and raw kingfish. From 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, the DJs take over and the room properly ignites, with a 4am licence that makes Zaffi one of Sydney's rare dinner-to-dancefloor destinations. Baklava soft serve is the dessert move no one sees coming.