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As the sun sets on a Saturday night, families gather in the car park of a small, Earlwood restaurant to drink, dance and dine on home-style Hellenic food. There is a live band (with a lute player!), a procession of smiling, black-clad waitresses carrying plates of fresh, chargrilled seafood and a colossal sign that stretches into the brilliant orange sky reading: Little Kalymnos Taverna.

At first glance, the lively Aegean escape looks somewhat out of place. It’s on the dark, quiet end of the main strip, on the same block as an empty, chain-linked lot. But take a closer look, and you’ll notice the Olympic Gym next door and the street named after Homer (the eighth-century Greek poet credited with writing the Odyssey).

This is Earlwood, after all, where 22 per cent of the population reported Greek ancestry in the last census (the most concentrated community in the country!). Little wonder, then, that Friday and Saturday nights at the taverna are fully booked two weeks in advance (consider this your warning).

Inside, diners chat loudly over bottles of salty island wine (from $8 a glass), sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at white tables piled high with colourful share plates.

The dining room is small but charming, decked out with references to Kalymnos. Co-owner Tammy Tsolakis named the restaurant for her late mother, who grew up on the mountainous Greek island once known for its lucrative sea sponge trade. The decor nods to her history, with golden sponges strewn in netting across the ceiling and an antique diver helmet atop the wine fridge.

Tammy and her husband, Michael Tsapios, opened the restaurant in December, realising a dream 20 years in the making. While the pair have no former hospitality experience (Tammy has a background in aged care, while Michael is a panelbeater), they’re helped by Michael’s cousin and head chef, Alexi Kotis. The menu is deliberately simple and nostalgic, with a focus on family recipes and fresh produce.

The trio of dips with warm, soft pita bread ($28) is a non-negotiable starter, with options like pink tarama, skordalia and tirokafteri made in-house by Kotis.

Fair warning: Friday and Saturday nights at the taverna are fully booked two weeks in advance.

When we arrive, Tammy’s homemade pastitsio ($22) and the moussaka ($26) are sold out (a devastating development, but a convenient excuse to return). Instead, we go for the lamb souvlakia ($24), the cheesy zucchini fritters ($17), a side of fasolakia, green beans cooked in a punchy tomato sauce ($15).

The highlight is the chargrilled octopus ($29), with crispy, charcoaled edges and tender flesh served simply with olive oil and lemon juice.

The food is delicious, the portions generous, and every plate that passes us − fried eggplant, king prawns, squeaky saganaki − looks more appetising than the last.

Our stomachs are full (so full!) but I’ve been eyeing off the kataifi ($12) and persuade my dining partner to share a serve. It’s a golden nest of syrupy almond and walnut pastry served with sweet, vanilla ice-cream. As we devour it, the band kicks off again and people around us begin tapping their feet. The meal may be over, but the party has only just begun.