MoVida Bar De Tapas is a 2 hatted Spanish sensation that many claim to be better than the food in Spain. This is of course a big call but MoVida does invoke international acclaim. Several years after Frank Camorra's masterstroke in opening MoVida it still wows and is one of the best places to take international guests. The new offering in Sydney is also taking all before it...
MoVida is a cosy intimate affair with a degree of chic. The long bar area is sensational. One of the best ways of experiencing MoVida is to do what I did and sit at the timber bar and engage the staff. In fact this is one of my favourite things to do in any restaurant. I settled in for lunch on a sun filled Melbourne day...
Veloce is an exciting intimate if not hidden gem in Yarra Lane South Yarra with great tapas and Argentinian and Meditteranean influences. I was invited by the management (and Joanna Reymond of Reymond Communications) to review this restaurant (note my disclosure) and was genuinely impressed by their cuisine and their wine matching (and the awesome company at our table including some foodie heavyweights). This is a foodie haven.
To be honest I've walked past Veloce and thought it was purely a cafe that I needed to visit. It's so much more but also pours a great coffee, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Interestingly Veloce is situated next to a prestige car showroom. Oggle a Bentley as you enjoy your meal. It's a great match to have fine cuisine and fine cars together - the fine life.
Rhone Wine and Tapas in Albert Park exudes elegance, charm and great cuisine with an emphasis on Mediterranean fare. This restaurant stands out with authenticity, passion and quality in a city that loves all things European. Rhone has a new Chef in March 2013.
Both times I've visited Rhone I've been highly impressed. For my second visit I rolled up to one of Rhone's Flamenco nights which features a Spanish guitarist and specials on Spanish beer and sangria. The guitarist was on fire and several diners clapped after each song. Were we in Spain?
Rhone filled up and was packed just after 8pm. The place was pumping.
Movida Aqui is a sublime Spanish restaurant that continues to captivate. With its warm and convivial atmosphere, incredible cuisine, engaging service and overall charm, it is a standout dining experience in Melbourne. As a hatted restaurant it ticks many boxes. As a relative to the high profile Movida in Hosier Lane, Movida Aqui keeps the same standard of excellence.
Movida Aqui is a modern spacious restaurant in the heart of the CBD. (The people that work around here have some awesome culinary options.) It has large windows and is light and airy but at night there is a different intimate atmosphere.
The kitchen/bar with colourful upturned milk crates holds centre stage and the ambience is also driven by a busy restaurant with loud conversation and the charm of Spanish posters/artwork.
Bar Lourinha is one of the most iconic meeting spots in Melbourne. It carries an air of sophistication along with casualness and the ability to sit back in one of its lounges for a tasty meal or cocktail. This place is as popular as it gets and could be defined as being “very Melbourne”.
This is more a bar than a spacious restaurant, with limited space for dining, although that adds to the ambience! Typically you’ll see three or four people crowded around a small space enjoying a shared meal. Love the communal table! Love the lounges! Love the stools along the bar!
The conversation and conviviality generally ramps up as the evening progresses. This place is loud – and why not! Love the features on the walls! Lots of antlers, and plates and prints and geese formations and all sorts of quirk… Who thinks of this stuff?
The Firehouse offers awesome casual and fine dining in the suburbs with great ambience and sense of occasion! This 1929 converted firehouse (in 2007) with a theme of red has been wonderfully restored and provides great atmosphere! Sam and I love it here for romantic interludes! Just coming to a chic hideaway that has a red theme and shared plates is a winner! In the winter a robust fire is also a romantic winner!
The Firehouse has been consistently highly rated in the Age Good Food Guide, and for those who live out in the eastern suburbs is a joy to experience fine dining without always having to travel into the city.
