MoVida Next Door is one of the coolest and best restaurants in Melbourne. It’s right on Hosier Lane, and they serve the most delicious authentic Spanish tapas. As we didn’t have much time in Melbourne we had to be really picky about what restaurants we ate in, and after we left it too late to get a reservation at Attica and Tonka, we decided to use Sid’s AMEX Concierge to get us a last-minute table at MoVida. You can walk-in, but you might have to wait a while.
We had a spot right up at the bar so we were close to all of the action, and ordered a Sangria each (when in Spain!). The restaurant itself was intimate and fitted in well with the whole Melbourne arty vibe.
While we perused the menu thick slices of fresh crusty bread and olive oil was brought out to us.
Eventually we chose what we wanted. As MoVida is famous for tapas, we decided to go for a couple of tapas and a couple of main dishes, and share it all. We started with the King Prawn with Bisque Aioli ($5.00 ea). Unfortunately they’re not really sharing tapas, so you have to order two of everything, but it was still quite reasonably priced and our whole lunch cost us around $50 each (around £25) including drinks.
We then moved on to Chorizo-Filled Catalan Potato Bomb with a Spicy Sauce ($4.80 ea).
And then it was my favourite dish of the meal – the super fresh and healthy Chargrilled Octopus with Ajo Blanco, Radish & Pickled ($18.00).
And finally we had the Marinated Baby Chicken with Saffron, White Wine & Almond ($18.00). Sid thought this tasted very much like a traditional Indian chicken dish.
For dessert Sid went for boring old ice-cream, but I went all out and had Churros with Chocolate Sauce ($12.50) – what can I say, I was on holiday! The chocolate was quite light and nowhere near as thick as I’ve had it in other places, but still very tasty!
We really enjoyed our lunch at MoVida Next Door; it had an awesome atmosphere, friendly and very helpful staff, delicious Spanish food, and it wasn’t too pricey! A great option if you want a Mediterranean food fix in the centre of Melbourne.
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Another place that I wish we'd had time to visit! Love living it vicariously through you though!
Oh My God YES I am adding this to my list of afternoon noms for my upcoming Melbourne trip! 😍
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Your pictures have come out beautifully 🙂 Those churros look so delicious #makingmehungry!
Thanks Mehreen! They were so yummy!!
Hehe, well you'll just have to add it to your list for next time 😉