Just Open: Chulo, St Kilda

• Where Melbourne and Sydney chefs dine
• What to drink ... with tapas
• ​Melbourne's best tapas

It's not ideal to open your Acland Street restaurant the week Yarra Trams closes the street for three months of upgrades but Spanish-expat Pablo Diaz isn't too worried: "We've got lots of friends," he says.

We don't think they'll have too much trouble either; it's well worth climbing over a few tradies to get to Chulo, a tapas bar styled on Madrid's Bodega de Ardosa, with wood panelled walls, vermillion frontage and blackboard signage – if you think the logo looks like a Chupa Chup you're not wrong, those little suckers are un producto de espana.

Diaz, who trained at Arzak as a teenager before moving to Argentina to open a slew of tapas bars, says the menu is a reduced offering while they settle in but there's no chance you'll go hungry; knock back uber cheesy blue cheese croquetas and don't miss the mollete, fat slices of smoky pork belly and jamon sandwiched into a tiny soft white bun, dripping with alioli. (Maybe Spain invented the slider too?)

Designed by Adam Dettrick, the architect behind the Movida restaurants, the space is nothing short of stunning: high-top tables fixed to the concrete floor, a mix of soft black and blond tones and a floor-to-ceiling mural of a flamenco dancer skipping across the tables is the star of the show.

Open Tue-Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm.

154 Acland Street, St Kilda, 03 9537 2450, barchulo.com.au