BAR LOURINHA

37 Little Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph (03) 9663 7890

Wow. Bar Lourinha is awesome! I ventured there with a couple of girlfriends after work on a weeknight. They don’t take bookings so unfortunately we had to wait around an hour for a table, during which time we polished off a bottle of wine. Oh dear. But anyway, the food was fantastic. Servings were generous and freakin’ delicious. The kingfish sashimi was my favourite. We also had a wonderful mushroom dish, chorizo and some amazing prawns. Apart from the wait time, Bar Lourinha is 1000% recommended.

MOVIDA

1 Hosier lane, Melbourne
Ph (03) 9663 3038

So I get a bit of shit when I blog about a place and don’t put photos up. But it seems when I eat out with these two lovely ladies I’m having such a fabulous time I forget all about my little ‘project’ and leave the camera in my handbag.Entonces, Movida. This was my second time there and I had enjoyed the first visit a lot, so was looking forward to part II. And I wasn’t disappointed. The food was great and the service could not be faulted. We started off with some of those (are they Ortiz?) anchovies with tomato sorbet. YUM. We also had olives, barramundi, grilled octopus and valencian salad. I loved them all! The barramundi was delicious, and that salad is lovely. I’m not usually a fan of mixing sweet with savoury but I love the taste of the orange mixed in with the olives and fennel.
And the churros, ohhhhh, the churros. Best churros in Melbourne - hands down. And I would know; I am a bit of a churro-slut. They were so good. My friend B had never had them before and I am so glad she had Movida’s churros as her first ever!


We stuck to sangria as our drinks, and it was nice, but it didn’t seem very strong (or is that just because I am a boozehag and it takes vats of the stuff to bring me down?). I liked Matador’s better. Other than that, go Movida. They’ve found their niche in the market and are killing it. It’s tempting to take a bit of a stab at them, being tall poppies and all that, but they are good. Our bill was only around $50 each too, which was much less than what I was expecting. Although we definitely didn’t pig out, but I think most people know that if you are going to Movida you aren’t going to get huge quantities of food. It’s a less-is-more kind of place. If you go in with that attitude, you’ll be fine.

El Matador

376 Smith St, Collingwood VIC 3065
(03) 9417 2233

I heard that El Matador does the best Spanish food in Melbourne. So a couple of friends and I decided to check it out one night. It was great. I enjoyed the food and the company so much that I forgot to take photos, so apologies for that but I’m going to blog about it anyway.

El Matador is attached to a pub, a bit different for a Spanish restaurant but it works. We started with a jug of Sangria, which was really nice, and ordered some entrees to share. The entrees were great. Patatas bravas, mushrooms in garlic sauce and chorizo – all beautiful! Then for the main the three of us decided to share a seafood paella - usually intended for two. The paella was fantastic. It was perfectly cooked, nothing had stuck to the bottom of the pan and gotten burnt, and the flavour was great. AND it wasn’t skimpy on the seafood – there were loads of prawns and mussels!

The food at El Matador was VERY reasonably priced AND the servings were generous, (characteristics that are NOT shared with one of our fair city’s most popular tapas eateries…Movida I’m looking at you!!). It was traditional and rustic in style which I enjoyed. So get down to Smith St and check it out.