I took the day of from painting to roam around the city and have some lunch. It started raining around 12, so I ducked into Movida to warm up and have a bite to eat. The great thing about Movida is that its the kind of place where you can muck around with your mates (and the staff) if you want or just chill out at the bar eating and drinking. I took the second option. I’ve had some really good experience at Movida, as well as some average ones, but it seems they are in top form at the moment. The food is always a mix of modern and traditional Spanish food, with some really innovative gear as highlights. The staff are great and I really like the way they bring out the dishes one at a time so you can enjoy them without rushing.

I kicked off with three tapas and a glass of La Goya Manzanilla. The Oritz anchovy is just the perfect thing to get you in the mood. A thin slice of crisp toast, anchovy and a glob of smoked tomato sorbet on top with some capers and EVOO on the plate. Excellent. The subtle mushroom croqueta was well done, those Japanese crumbs make a huge difference. The next dish was a bit ho-hum, but not everything can be great. It was piquillo pepper stuffed with crab and potato, crumbed and deep fried, served up with a dollop of aioli.

A chorizo and prawn empanada was one of the specials, so I grabbed that along with Costilla con sobrasada, which is a couple of lamb cutlets encased in a Catalan pork & paprika pate. Both really good. A glass of Telmo Rodriguez Lanzaga 2004 went down a treat with these two, showing a more of its earthy side today which really suited the food. To finish off I ordered the queso del dia, which was a well proportioned wedge of Garrotxa, a stunning semi-hard goats cheese from high up in the Pyrenees in Catalonia. I needed no help to get this down, but the glass of Montenovo Godello matched up fine.

The crowd can be too heavily weighted to the “cool young things” for me at times (I’m uncool, I have a blog about wine for pete’s sake!) but its always nice to pretend for a couple of hours. Today it was relaxed, friendly and a good place to chill out. Just what I was after. Is it Australia’s best Spanish restaurant? It could just be…

Web: www.movida.com.au

1. I agree with you on the mixed experiences and that right now Movida is in top form. But which other Spanish restaurants would be in the running?

   Posted by Ed | February 25, 2008, 4:53 pm

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2. Hi Ed,

   To mark something as ‘the best’ is hard and will change from person to person, but a couple of other places I like are:

   Calmao Flamenco - Yes, its not cool and new but its the closest thing I’ve found to the kind of food the average Spaniard eats at home or in a bar.

   Bodega - I think these guys are on par with Movida.

   Anada - It only opened last week, but I already love it. Shows lots of promise.

   Bar Lourinha- OK, so mostly Portuguese but there is a big Spanish influence here. Up there with Movida for sure

   Posted by Dave Worthington | February 26, 2008, 11:10 am