MoVida Next Door: A Beautiful little corner bar in Melbourne

Finally had the chance to visit this frequently talked about Spanish tapas bar. There's a total of 4 MoVida in the city, we went to MoVida Next Door which is next to the original MoVida, in Hosier Lane. It's hard to miss the lane cos the walls are covered with overwhelming graffiti. I heard to dine at MoVida (original) you need to book weeks (some said months) ahead! MoVida Next Door does not take reservation, only walk in. So if you try your luck you most probably will get the chance to eat there. 

I wasn't (still am not) into alcoholic drinks so I had a cranberry juice. Aileen and Wk had Sangria (Spanish wine punch) and they both loved it.

 

Right after we ordered, we were served complimentary bread and olive oil, and a slice of tortilla de patatas, which is a Spanish tortilla or omelette, made of eggs and potatoes. That bread and olive oil is one to be remembered cos the olive oil actually tasted like GOOD olive oil! Which reminded me how I've never actually enjoyed having bread and olive oil this much, most of the time I eat it only because it's on the table and meant to be eaten. 

The 3 tapas we ordered:

Queso Idiazabal - Smoked sheep's milk cheese. I love to eat cheese but I won't say I know a thing about them. I just enjoy the flavour. This one to me tasted a lot like parmesan. It's served with some dried fruit but I don't know what it's called. I know I used to eat this when I was a kid and I quite liked them.

Bomba - Chorizo-filled Catalan Potato Bomb with a spicy sauce. It's the ones which look like boobies in the picture. I first saw this on Masterchef Australia 2010 and I had to try it. Honestly, quite disappointed. It's nothing fantastic although I quite liked the spicy sauce that goes with it.

Croqueta - Fried Croqueta with wild mushrooms. THIS. IS. TO. DIE. FOR! It looks boring and not appetizing but once you bite into it, you'll be blown away by the rich, creamy taste of mushrooms. It's like eating deep fried cream of mushroom, a really good bowl of cream of mushroom. Every one of us had this surprised expression on our faces when we bite into the Croqueta. It was unexpectedly delicious.

Dig in!

Anoter tapas we had was this fried whitebait served with a lemon wedge and dip. I can't remember what it's called cos it's not on the menu, it was one of the specials on that day. Very nice! 

Raciones are basically a larger portion of tapas, meant to be shared. We ordered the Lengua, which is ox tongue, chargrilled with chorizo and chickpeas. I didn't know what to expect but I can say I quite like it but it's not something mind-blowingly good that I will want to eat it again.

I saw the table behind us ordered this and I got really curious and wanted to try it as well. It's called Alcachofas, fried globe artichoke with almonds and lemon. Very very salty and dry. I always see artichokes when I shop for groceries but never knew how it taste like. It's a vegetable by the way, looks like a flower. It was alright, not a fan.

Lastly, of course we had to try some churros, Spanish doughnuts dipped in hot chocolate. You may say we had it as dessert but actually churros are usually eaten for breakfast in Spain. I can't help but to compare this with 'yao zhar guai', or 'you tiao', Chinese doughnuts. They're both made of flour, deep fried, and eaten for breakfast. Mmm I miss eating yao zhar guai. The ones here in Melbourne sucks. Anyway, the churros tasted alright, I think I prefer the ones in San Churro. The hot chocolate wasn't smooth and thick, which is how I prefer it to be.

It was an enjoyable dining experience, in my humble opinion I think this is a great place to get the taste of authentic Spanish stuff.