MoVida, Hosier Lane, Melbourne

MoVida, Hosier Lane, Melbourne
Saturday 19 January, 2008

Widely known as the best Spanish restaurant in Melbourne, MoVida is located in a typical Melbourne lane way complete with graffiti and cobblestones.

Next door is Misty's - a groovy bar offering a great selection of cocktails that is perfect for a pre or post dinner drink. I can recommend the Misty Bitch.

MoVida is a unique dining experience and you'll be surprised by the amount of people who turn up without a reservation. The dining space offers exposed ceilings, an open bar with impressive wine displays and a mix of tables, lounges and bar stools. It's quirky and intimate. We were seated so close to our neighbours that we ended up sharing stories and discussing the tennis.........as you do in Melbourne during January.

Our waiter was great upfront and impressed us with his knowledge and recommendations. The menu is split between Tapas & Racion. Tapa are small individual pieces, Racion are plates to share amongst two or more people, or a larger dish for one. We opted for an individual tapa each and then a number of Racion to share.

Our waiter recommended about 3-4 dishes to share and said this would be more than adequate but we could always order more if needed. So, we ordered two Tapa and 3 Racion to share:

Tapa

Costilla con sobrasada - Roasted lamb cutlet encased in a Catalan pork & paprika pate
Pollo escabache al Miguel - Spiced chicken escabache tapa on crisp crouton

Racion

Iberico jamon de jabugo (20 grams) - Iberico imported Spanish abugo jamon. Fully acorn fed, 3 years naturally cured
Tortilla de Bacalao - Salt cod and leek tortilla with majarero cheese
Cecina - Air cured wagyu beef thinly sliced with a truffle foam and poached egg

After we ordered the wine arrived closely followed by bread and our tapas. Within minutes of taking the first bite of our tapas the first Racion was delivered. Slow down people! We called a waiter over and asked for them to slow things down as this was ridiculous. They did, a little, but we certainly felt that they were trying to rush us on. This was annoying as we had specifically booked the later seating so that this would not happen.

After a self imposed break and reflection on the dishes so far we agreed that the roasted lamb cutlet and the air cured wagyu was the stand out by far - the truffle foam and poached egg was sensational. Later on we discovered that this was voted 'Dish of the Year' in 2007. The salt cod was surprisingly bland which was disappointing and we were left hungry.

After reviewing the menu again we ordered some more dishes,

Patatas a la pobre - Poor mans potatoes. Slow cooked nicola potatoes with peppers in olive oil
Carillera de buey - Slowly braised beef cheek in Pedro Ximenez, on cauliflower puree
Gambas con pancetta - South Australian prawns wrapped in pastry with pork belly and chick pea shoots

The potatoes were average but the other two dishes were fabulous. We resolved that the menu is hit & miss and our neighbours agreed as they made their way through the menu.

MoVida - 1 Hosier Lane, Melbourne - (03) 9663 3038

http://www.movida.com.au/