Zorbas Greek Taverna, Welshpool

Rating **** A placard advertising authentic belly-dancing is unlikely to raise an eye-brow in your average Marrakech souk but it's rather more of a talking point in the centre of Welshpool.

I feel sure it must have played a part in luring customers into Zorbas, the newish Greek restaurant and coffee shop in High Street which is, by all accounts, buzzing at weekends. Customers have apparently been entering into the spirit, even showing off their own Arabian dancing skills.

It all sounds great fun and considering that the restaurant replaced a rather quaint oak-beamed, period cottage tea-room, represents something of a cultural handbrake turn. The oak beams and latticed windows are still there but there's an altogether sunnier vibe in this attractive listed building, as befits its new Mediterranean theme.

However, while new restaurants might be able to lure in customers with novelty value, only good food and service is likely to tempt them back.

And this is where Zorbas scores strongly.

Sam, the head chef and joint proprietor, has a Greek background and specialises in the authentic cuisine of that country.

As well as quality there's also quantity, for the thing with Greek food is that it arrives at the table, then keeps on arriving.

My wife Vanessa and I started with dips, sharing houmous (£3.95) and taramosalata (£4.20), with plenty of pitta bread, an enjoyably garlic-laded precursor, with a refreshing glass of chilled white wine, to the feast ahead.

Vine leaves filled with rice and topped with red wine sauce (£3.95) halloumi (£4.75), lightly battered and perfectly deep fried whitebait (£3.95), calamari (£3.95) and sautéed courgettes, served with Greek yoghurt and garlic sauce (£4.20) were all delicious starters.

While I'm guessing we're all European enough to know what houmous, taramosalata and halloumi are, particularly given that supermarket shopping seems such a continental experience now, I'm guessing that not everyone will instantly recognise kleftico. This is baked lamb with onions and tomatoes and was my utterly delicious main course (£12.95). The meat was slow-baked, arrived on the bone and virtually slid off it, so tender was it. Every mouthful was succulent and sumptuous.

Vanessa's pork souvlaki (£12.50) was cubes of delicious tender pork with feta salad and tzatziki dip. Plenty of rice and chips accompanied these mains and there was enough food to satisfy the biggest of appetites.

There were 19 mains to choose from including classic Greek specialities of moussaka and kebabs, vegetarian options such as gigantes (butter beans in tomato sauce and herbs, served with rice); fish and seafood such as swordfish pan-fried in white wine, lemon, garlic and mushrooms and, for those who simply can't live without it, an 8oz sirloin steak from the grill selection.

Children's main courses are also available and, on the evening we visited, the full restaurant (there are roughly 30 covers) included youngsters in a family birthday party. They would have been delighted with the desserts menu which, apart from a couple of exceptions, appeared to have given up on the noble attempt of earlier courses to educate its customers on the finer points of Greek cuisine, unless of course the knickerbocker glory and banana split have Hellenistic origins we were hitherto unaware of.

Vanessa chose one of the traditional options, the baklava (£3.95), which is filo pastry with chopped nuts. This was rather a large helping, the bulk of which we took home for an enjoyable late supper. I should really have entered into the spirit and ordered the Greek yoghurt, but instead, rather prosaically, chose apple pie and ice cream (£3.95). How very British. It was home-baked and delicious.

While Sam produces wonderful food in the kitchen, front of house Samantha charms guests with a friendly smile and eagerness to please. The pair were supported by a small, youthful and willing team. With somewhere new teething troubles are, perhaps, to be expected, and while our service was exemplary, a mix-up kept two couples waiting far too long for their meals. The key to resolving these awkward situations so often comes down to personality and both couples were extremely good humoured about it as Samantha smoothed things over admirably.

Our bill for an extremely hearty, high quality four-course meal for two with a bottle of wine came to under £70, which I thought extremely good value.

I only really have one gripe about Zorbas, tongue firmly in cheek. Google 'Greek restaurants and Zorba' and sites from across the globe pop up.

That movie with Anthony Quinn has much to answer for. Someday, somewhere soon, someone will hopefully open a Greek restaurant that isn't called Zorba, Aphrodite, Olympus or The Acropolis.

Still, what's in a name? I wish Sam and Samantha well. They deserve to succeed.

Menu Sample

Dips:

Tzatziki – Greek yoghurt, garlic, shredded cucumber and mint (£3.95)

Melitzanosalata – finely chopped aubergine dip (£3.95)

Starters:

Sardies – grilled sardines (£4.75)

King prawn in filo pastry (£4.95)

Mains:

Chicken ouzo – chicken breast cooked in ouzo, mushrooms and double cream (£11.95)

Beef Stefado – beef casserole marinated with onions, tomatoes and red wine (£12.50)

Sides:

Tomato, onion and cucumber salad (£4.50)

Olives (£2)

Desserts:

Whole orange sorbet (£3.95)

Lemon meringue – a lemon-soaked sponge topped with lemon cream, a meringue centre and lemon glaze (£3.95)

Atmosphere: Lively.

Service: Friendly, eager to please.

Disabled facilities: No