Caness

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean feasting brings good vibes to Paddington in an energetic room where bread steals the spotlight

- ALEXANDRA CARLTON.

WE'RE SOMEWHERE AROUND the three-quarter mark of our meal at Caness, a rowdy, pan-Mediterranean and Middle Eastern bar/restaurant on Sydney's Oxford Street, when I realise things have started to get saucy. Literally. There are puddles of yoghurt and harissa oil pooling around the lamb kebab. Bias-cut chorizo bobbing on a lake of red wine beef jus. And a grassy herb and caper salsa lapping insistently against the last smoky tentacles of fire-roasted octopus. “I think,” announces my friend, “we're going to need some bread.”