Every year The Age Good Food Guide editors and reviewers nominate the ten hottest new restaurants to open in Melbourne in the year since the last guide was published. Here are numbers five and six on this year's list.
103 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 9077 0451
A rooftop bar pouring Spanish wines and a ground-level dining room with a freewheeling menu of Moorish (and moreish) bites proves an explosive mix.
What the 2015 Good Food Guide reviewer said: With a name like this, it’s perhaps no surprise Bomba goes off night after night. Of course, it’s got less to do with a mere moniker and more to do with good wine, a great buzz and even better tapas. Set the charge in the skinny dining room, dimly lit by tabletop candles and low-hanging lights. Your placemat doubles as your menu – flip it and get ordering. Drop tuna tartare on to airy seaweed crisps, or dabble in charcuterie, arranged on wooden boards lined with waxy paper – perhaps supple slices of Blackmore wagyu cecina (Spanish-style cured, dried beef), or petals of air-dried tuna. Little toast squares come layered like a savoury trifle with creamy goat’s curd, crushed peas and sweetly spiced morcilla. Segue to dark, sticky pork jowl braised in sherry and served with turnip puree. Wash it all down with Estrella lager, a nip of sherry or a glass of albarino, then take a final tipple in the form of a single, perfect scoop of orange and vermouth sorbet.
And … Ascend to the rooftop bar for cocktails and great views.
Vibe Fast, furious, fun.
Best bit Tapas done right.
Worst bit Qué? Qué?! It’s loud in here!
727 Collins Street, Docklands, 9252 7999
It’s strictly Monday to Friday at this timber-and-leather Spanish bar in the city’s west end. Start the day with potato tortilla and good coffee and end with after-work tapas and sangria.
What the 2015 Good Food Guide reviewer said: A Spanish sun shines on Docklands with the arrival of this tapas bar with a smart modern outlook. A busily textured modern space anchoring an office development, Bar Nacional plays tribute to the creative tapas culture of San Sebastian without neglecting the rusted-on classics. A fried cigar of morcilla, or boquerones and confit garlic on toast are comfort personified, but the kitchen saves its firepower (and its high-tech wood oven) for sharp new dishes – perhaps charry ox tongue with parsnip foam, or a whole flathead that arrives smoking on a plank of orangewood with smoked eggplant puree. From oysters with an intriguing (and successful) jamon vinaigrette to parsley-crumbed pig’s head croquettes with a sprightly vegetable salad; from chicken liver parfait with a bold grapefruit puree to burnt orange crema catalana with toasted fennel seeds, this is a fantasy of modern Spain bedded in the fundamentals of an on-trend wine list and switched-on staff.
And … Eat in or take away the affordable work lunches.
Vibe Easygoing tapas bar.
Best bit Forward-thinking food.
Worst bit Risk of Gipsy Kings overload.