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The cheery waiter drops the drinks list on the table. “Here’s the piss list,” she says, and leaves us to it.

Yes, I’m in a pub. But I sort of knew that already, having had a schooner of Grifter’s downstairs in the bar. There’s a bumper sticker on the wall that says “Scooters are for kids”, the girls have commandeered the pool table, and a giant mock cheque celebrates the pub’s team winning the local tennis cup. It’s not just any pub, either, but the Cricketers Arms, a great little independently owned neighbourhood corner hotel in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

And at the top of the creaky wooden grandma stairs is Chez Crix (as in Cricketers) spreading itself over and around a dog-legged dining room, windows open to the Surry Hills treetops. As the “Chez” in the name suggests, it’s French-ish – a little bistro, a little brasserie, a little bar a vins, and a little whatever happens on the day.

The real charm here is that the place doesn’t feel renovated or restored, but simply persuaded to be a dining room.

Head chef Antoine Vassallo’s opening menu is simple and pared-back, possibly due to the resources of a pub kitchen. He has been joined by fellow chef Wesley Cooper Jones from The Old Fitz and P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants in Paddington, and together, they put out good-with-a-drink platters of LP’s saucisson with guindilla chillies ($14), and a tin of Conservas Angelachu Spanish anchovies with sliced Tonton baguette, pickled onions and whippy cultured butter ($24). Easy, laid-back food that’s good for sharing.

Cooper Jones has recently been working with Nik Hill of Porcine, and if you’re lucky, you might find a good-looking pâté en croute on the menu here as well.

The real charm here is that the place doesn’t feel renovated or restored, but simply persuaded to be a dining room; all Victoriana potted palms, polished floorboards, and chunky L-shaped banquettes. At one end, a sweet little bar; at the end of the corridor, a snug private table.

GM Jackson Duxbury is in his element, wandering around and pulling corks. A lot of hospo folk come here; it’s the sort of place restaurant industry people love, where they can goof off, try a new wine, or just sit down and not serve anyone.

Everyone’s current menu go-to, creamy-hearted burrata ($26), is served in a look-at-me way with fermented tomato and blue mackerel and a sauce vierge.

Oxheart tomato tarte tatin ($24) is a pretty thing, with a good acidic tomato concasse and sweet onion cushioned on a base of flaky pastry, topped with fresh tomato, dollops of goat’s curd, and a grating of cured egg yolk. It’s a last-days-of-summer dish and may be gone by the time you get there.

House steak frites ($32) will be there, though, and it’s a no-brainer. I’ve seen it sent out in different forms, but the most likely is as a 250-gram hanger steak that is cooked sous vide, then grilled, sliced and served with a little pot of rich, glossy sauce Bordelaise, with a serve of golden fries. Pair it with a gorgeous leafy green salad ($12) in an amazingly caesar-ish, cheesy-tasting miso tahini dressing.

There’s a mighty-looking roast chicken, too, served with jus gras ($32) made from the juices of the roasting pan, but the big meaty breast has been rendered too same-same by the sous vide process.

After an orange wine whose name remains a mystery but that smells quite volatile, I move quickly on to a bold, ripe Fleurie, the 2021 Coup d’Folie ($90) from Rhone winemaker Yann Bertrand. Wines are interesting and determinedly minimal-intervention, with small stocks causing the offering to change from visit to visit.

It’s quite likely everything will change from visit to visit, actually, including the light, fluffy lemon sabayon tart ($14) with honey-laced mascarpone.

The Crix is definitely on the more relaxed side of dining out; an inner urban expression of Frenchiness with approachable prices and local suppliers (Tonton bakery is next door).

It’s an open invitation to loosen up and go with the flow. Chez Crix? Chez cool.