tubbymasu.com

Churros con chocolate

AROUND 3 PM ON A WARM MELBOURNE DAY

Tubbymistress is getting hungry. She gazes longingly at her computer screen, then outside at a slender tree swaying softly in the breeze.

TUBBYMISTRESS: Oh, I’d love to go to MoVida Next Door tonight.

If my stomach is happy to wait for a spare seat at MoVida Next Door, there’s a chance I can turn this mid-afternoon foody fantasy into evening reality. Waiting is the price you pay for MoVida’s combination of moorish Spanish food, red wine and excellent service, for the bar is always packed after 6 pm with punters eager to get their own dose of MND lovin’. Bookings are not permitted.

For MND’s best, glance up at the chalkboard for the specials: the seafood raciones (for example, the baby snapper, or a plate of mussels and clams in a tomato-based sauce) are so fresh and delicious, it doesn’t matter if you have to coddle that first glass of wine at the bar beforehand. The spatchcock, served in an earthenware pot basted in sweet onions and a tomato sauce, may have been the best thing I’ve eaten here. Save room for the churros con chocolate or the crema catalana.

TIP: This excursion to tapas heaven is not always built for a spontaneous night out. Something tells me MoVida Next Door is a Taurean in disguise. That said, if you have to wait a little, don’t hesitate, for MND is definitely worth it.

NOTE: It will be fun to see how newly opened sister restaurant and bar MoVida Aqui and Terraza fare on Bourke St, and whether they will make it easier to get into parent restaurant MoVida or MoVida Next Door.