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I want crispy rabbit with alioli

The English want to watch football. The Spanish bullfighting. They scream and shout at each other. Hair is pulled. Somebody spits in another’s face.
The police arrive wearing their funny hats and, worrringly, with machine guns.
Such are the memories of some pretty dreadful tapas and raciones in Spain, Benidorm to be precise.
Much of the same rubbish has now come to Australia, although thankfully we don’t have to sit through the “Full English Breakfast” the morning after.
Ever since Movida became popular any bod who’s heard of Chorizo thinks they could open a tapas bar.
They can’t. Or at least if they do I often end up leaving the food and getting plastered on tinto, which is usually delicious despite coming from Alicante, up the road from Benidorm.
I’m banned from mentioning many of these places for undisclosed reasons but that needn’t get in the way of the rest of this story.

I want to tell you about one tapas place that is worth visiting, Anada on Gertrude Street.
The pedigree of the owners include Movida and Moro in London. If you haven’t heard of the Moro’s two Sams, what personality they lacked at last year’s Food festival their food makes up for. Their cookbooks - The Moro Cookbook and Casa Moro - are among the best I own, far better than The River Cafe (where one of Anada’s owner’s worked).
What Anada brings to Spanish food from the Moorish end of Spain, attention for detail and innovation.
The tapas - small plates as they are defined - are tiny but only cost from $2.50 for a crouton topped with Syrian lentils to $6 for some olives that are handpicked, no doubt by virgins.
I thought the boquerones, white anchovies, speared together with palm heart and pickled chilli was an especially refreshing innovation on a warm night and worth every one of the three single dollars it cost.
The raciones are cheaper than a starter in most restaurants. I dare not compare the $15 crisp fried rabbit with alioli (that’s Spanish for a sort of Aioli which in turn is French for a sort of garlic mayonaisse) to KFC. But it did remind the Martini Monster of goujons. It doesn’t actually matter because they were tasty and moist.
It is here the Moorish influences show. The slow roasted beetroots ($6.50) are served with Nigella seeds and labneh (strained yoghurt).
The kebabs, served with labneh, are very good although we thought the grilled lamb, although tasty, was a touch fatty.
I lost track of how many individual plates we ordered but it was pretty good value. For four or more you can order ten for $44.
Perhaps the best thing about Anada was recognising a friendly face.
“It’s the cheese guy,” the Martini Monster declares. That would be Ryan who we first met at The Commoner and is a cheese expert who takes her bawdy language in his stride.
Whenever he comes near our table “The monster” launches into what I pick as a dissertation on Chaucer, in particular the Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Her special interest is in Chauntecleer - a big cock that “fethered Pertelote twenty time”. At least that’s the story I’m sticking to.

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Spanish chef Frank Comorra is a laugh. When he sent me a copy of his sell out Movida cookbook he signed it as the CEO of Ikea. He’d read by blogpost where I’d complained Movida didn’t conform to the stereotypical Spanish restaurant and owed more to the Swedish superstore than dark oak, Pablo Picasso or Anton Gaudi.Of course, I’m nothing but inconsistent. Shannon Bennett’s Bistro Vue I complain is a French theme park with its beams, French furniture and a funny little bag in which warm bread is served. Oh, I’m told they sometimes have an accordion player there too.In reality, I don’t mind theme parks, and Bistro Vue, which serves the best pear Tarte Tatin I have ever eaten, may usurp Sovereign Hill as my favorite in Australia. And I’ve grown to love a seat at the bar of Movida. The review starts here…If you hadn’t realised it yet, Movida is quit possibly the most popular restaurant in Melbourne aside from Taco Bill’s. Lifestyle channel viewers voted Movida their fourth most favoured destination. And for anyone visiting Melbourne it is top of the list for lunch or supper.And so it was for my sugar daddy who, feeling down, popped a happy pill and decided he wanted lunch at Movida with me. An hour or so in seat 1A and a limousine ride later and he is plonked at the best spot in the restaurant- the bar - hoovering down a cold beer. Followed by a sherry, wine, beer and wine again. Eventually his head blurred as you can see in the pic above.Coincidentally, the bar is full of chefs who’ve come into town to see the Australian Open - including one from Sovereign Hill which makes my day.You won’t find food like this is any tapas bar or other Spanish restaurant in Australia. It is gobsmackingly good.At the bar we sticky beak at our neighbours food, jealous of the dishes we hadn’t ordered. By the end of lunch we are sharing.Luckily, I have a sugar daddy to pay. We could afford to eat 20 grams of acorn fed Iberico ham that costs $1 a gram (I recommend financially challenged mortals buy it from a deli for under 48 cents a gram and eat it at home). We also downed two 500ml bottles of stunning Roda 1 (which don’t seem to be on the wine list) costing nearly $300.The food? Two absolute stunners.There is the famous Ortiz anchovy (above) on a thin crouton and topped with a smoked tomato sorbet. At $4.50 each it is within the reach or most mortals and is a dish that shows real innovation.Second was Cucina (above), air cured wagyu beef thinly sliced (a bit like a bresaola) with a truffled potato foam topped with a poached egg at $17. This is a superb use of the magnificantly marbled Wagyu which is fast become the most misused meat in Australia in other poorer quality restaurants. And there is something aboutthe mix of flavoursome meat, earthy truffle, potato and egg that is meant to be.I defy you to visit Movida without ordering these dishes.Our only mistake was the timing of a dish of diced multicolored tomatoes topped with white anchovies (above). An acid dish, it is a palate cleanser and should have been ordered first.The dilemma here is to whether to stop and bore you with a list of every single dish and finally telling you whether or not to visit the restaurant. On balance I’ll show you the pictures and let you make your own mind up.Vieira, jamon y espuma 4.50Half shell scallop oven baked with jamon and potato foamMorcilla 13.50Grilled house made black pudding in the Burgos style thickened with rice and spicesBistec tartar de wagyu 17.50Spicy steak tartare of raw, grass fed Wagyu beefThe review ends here

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