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Ali Barakat, who owns and runs mini sandwich and biscuit emporium Happy Alley in Rockdale, knows the power of dough via his two top-selling biscuits.

“You have the milk chocolate chip Nutella and the white chocolate Biscoff with the butter biscuit inside,” he says. “Everybody wants them. The body builders, they come into the shop and go, ‘How many calories in this one?’ I’m like, ‘You know what? It’s a cheat meal. It’s good for you.’”

Happy Alley’s genesis was biscuits. When Barakat took over the premises last April, his background included a franchise of Mrs. Fields cookies and his online baking business Hello Sweet Dough.

In front of ovens, and behind a glass wall, massive, glistening just-baked wheels of dark crimson red velvet varieties sit beside pale forest green pistachio or red, blue, green and yellow M&M biscuits, the latter oozing melted chocolate when broken open.

Depending on Happy Alley’s regular baking experiments, flavours may include Milo, peanut butter mochi, coconut and dulce de leche, or honey and white chocolate with a nutty cereal coating.

But Barakat and his partner Fatima are also fans of sandwiches. They come made-to-order in soft white bread, Lebanese ka’ak, croissants and bagels, the latter from Brooklyn Boy Bagels and teetering in mini towers, some plain, others encrusted with fragrant zaatar or black, white and brown sesame seeds.

The most popular sandwich is the Just Crispy. Served on plate-sized slices of thick white bread, it features a doorstopper of juicy, crispy chicken, crunchy lettuce, pickles, American cheese and a tangly sweet house sauce. Cut it up and put it on the table, it’s close to a main meal for four.

Equally excellent is the smoked egg ka’ak, which I do not wish to share with anyone. Filled with fried eggs, smoked beef, pickles, rocket, cheese and the house sauce, it is a symphony of plump meat, just-right eggs, almost gooey cheese and herbyness.

Everything is beautifully layered, contained in the wide Lebanese bread, and wrapped tight in greaseproof paper. No drips. Variations on sandwiches are ongoing with recent creation the zaatar croissant, beautifully toasty and filled with halloumi, tomato, olives and zippy oregano flavours.

Happy Alley sits in a sun-lit old-fashioned pedestrian alley between two hairdressers, a major bank branch and the whoosh of traffic on the Princes Highway and Rockdale Station.

There is space for outdoor tables and today, leaning bicycles upon which two teenagers hook their full sandwich bags and ride away. Families, workers and passersby stream in to Happy Alley’s bright, high-ceilinged space.

They order Nutella and M&M biscuits and munch them in the alley while waiting for bagels layered with spicy sujuk sausage, spring onion, tomato and olives, or flat domes of sesame-coated Lebanese ka’ak bread stuffed with grilled halloumi, tomato, cheese, olives and zaatar.

“The new shop still has an alley, this time at the back. We’re not losing that.”

Ali Barakat, Happy Alley

Ali and Fatima work like a well-oiled machine. Barakat at the till laughs at everyone’s jokes with a genuine bonhomie. Many arrivals are greeted by name.

“We pride ourselves on customer service,” he says. “That is extremely important to us.”

He modestly attributes Happy Alley’s success to newspaper coverage, social media and supportive Rockdale locals but is adamant about the biggest drawcard.

“Banks are closing down face-to-face branches all the time,” he says. “So, every day, there’s more and more people coming here.”

There is coffee by Little Marionette, iced drinks and cold-pressed juices and pastries, including Portuguese custard tarts, danishes, almond croissants and doughnuts, from bakers such as Tuga Pastries and Sonoma.

In March, Happy Alley is moving to a larger shop on nearby Bay Street. Barakat says the new premises will allow an expanded menu, more baking in-house and an ice-cream machine for desserts such as cookie sundaes.

“We’ll also have more tables and seating,” he says. “It’ll still be a grab-and-go focus but people like to sit down and eat. Plus the new shop still has an alley, this time at the back. We’re not losing that.”