Suburban restaurants are part of the village lifestyle in Sydney. Some are good for Friday night take out, some will do for a casual mid-week meal but few are good enough to make a day or night of and catch up with family and friends. Sayulita though, is one such place situated within the (relatively) new Canopy development in Lane Cove.

The Canopy, for anyone who hasn’t been up to Lane Cove for a while is a gorgeous new addition to Lane Cove’s café scene with boutique restaurants with a chilled, sun-kissed vibe. Sayulita sits towards the backend of the row of restaurants but puts flavour and amazing hospitality up front.

Innovative cocktails are the first thing to notice. There’s the classic Tommy’s Margarita, but also the Coconut, Mango Margarita, which tastes like a holiday for one on a deserted island with only the sun and sea lapping at the shore for company.

Cocktails are made in-house. So, for instance, the Spicy Margarita is made by sous vide the tequila and jalapenos for a few hours to deliver a green tinged tequila with deeply infused spicy flavour. This shows a higher level of care in the way the food and beverages are curated by a team who seem to love hospitality – in its truest definition of making people feel warm, excited and happy to be there.

We started our food exploration with the corn Elotes (Mexican street corn) ($7). Every single table in the place was ordering this so we had to as well. We could taste from the first bite why this is so popular. A visually enticing dish of juicy charred sweetcorn, covered with house made chipotle aioli, queso fresco and a squeeze of lime made for a moreish experience.

The chef at Sayulita is known for seafood perfection and it shows. We inhaled the Cameron Tartare ($27), tiger prawns, diced cucumber, Spanish onion, coriander, micro herbs, olives, avocado mousse and tortillas. We are truly addicted to this one – fresh and coupled with a house-made chipotle oil, is zinging with fresh flavours and subtle heat.

We had the Taquitos Dorados  ($16) hand rolled chicken filled crispy tortillas with queso fresco, crema, lettuce, white onion & salsa roja (with a vegetarian option available). Most of the options available at Sayulita are gluten free, so we enjoyed these as they use corn tortillas as proper Mexican should (not TexMex that usually infiltrates the suburbs).

Sayulita has a great range of tacos and the flour tortillas are easily switched out for corn ones if you’re after a more authentic experience or gluten free. We tried the Baja Blue ($8) gluten free house battered barramundi, cabbage, pico de gallo, coriander, pickled onion, chipotle aioli. Another seafood winner.

Then the Pescado Picante ($8), grilled barramundi, guajillo oil, salsa macha, shredded cabbage, crispy leek and coriander. Tasted like a seaside holiday with the sun high in the sky and the freshness of the ingredients we were transported to a much more salubrious location.

My dining companion had the Chile Rellenos ($8.5) – jalapenos stuffed with prawns and cream cheese. The jalapenos are coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried for a crunch and then the soft cream  – an pimped up jalapeno popper that was quickly devoured with plenty of mmmms.

Last, but absolutely not least we had the Chargrilled Macha Halloumi ($24), which consists of thick sliced halloumi (a very generous portion and more than enough to share) with greens, patatas, beans in salsa macha and tortillas. Well stuff us silly if this isn’t the future of every Sunday brunch. Loved every single morsel.

Most of the ingredients are sourced from a Mexican supplier so there is strong level of authenticity and most of the food is made in-house with endless innovative ideas, so the quality and uniqueness is high.

We were surrounded by both families and friends catching up over lunch, it’s a truly fun venue with outstanding food and cocktails and worth the short trip to Lane Cove for.