Anada is an excellent Spanish restaurant/tapas bar on Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. They have a full a la carte menu as well as a couple of tasting menus - one with nine plates, one with 12. These are generally for two people but after a brief chat with the chef my very genial waiter advised me they could do one just for me. I opted for the smaller version and was even able to Insert a couple of dishes that tickled my fancy - the stuffed calamari and the morcilla (I'm a sucker for blood pudding).
It was a hot Melbourne Saturday afternoon so I ordered a bottle of Escanciador cider which came with a glass full of ice. The first two dishes arrived soon after - a plump and tasty Coffin Bay oyster served au natural on a bed of rock salt and a sliver of lemon, and a small serve of delicious Jamon. This was followed by calamari stuffed with its own tentacles along with dill, egg and sumac, and a little glass of spicy, green gazpacho.
The morcilla was lovely - soft, rich and topped with a fried quail egg. The crisp fried onion was a great accompaniment. This was followed by a cube of pork belly served on an eggplant purée served with a simple green salad dressed with balsamic vinegarI've never been a big fan of pork belly and this didn't change my mind, although the meat was well cooked and tender.
I'd finished my cider and asked the waiter to recommend a good sweet sherry. He suggested the Piedra Luenga Pedro Jiminez. Great choice - like drinking raisins, but not cloyingly sweet.
The final two courses arrived - beef cheek in a fava bean sauce, and beetroot served with a couple of dollops of sour cream. Beef cheeks usually elicit the same level of culinary excitement for me as pork belly, but this was quite good, thanks to the sauce.
The food at Anada is very good, the staff accommodating and friendly, and the wine list interesting - particularly the extensive range of sherries. My only regret was choosing the nine course tasting plate instead of the 12. My bad. I'll know better next time.
PS I went back to Anada today after lunch in Brunswick Street with a couple of friends as we were all in the mood for some cheese. We ordered three - a manchego, a creamy goat cheese and a Valdeon blue. The first two were good, but the blue was totally past it's use by date. You could tell by looking at it that it shouldn't have been served, but thrown out. The half inch around the crust had turned an ugly brown colour and the smell of ammonia confirmed that it was well and truly gone. Disappointing for a restaurant of this calibre to let something like this slip through the cracks. The difference between an average restaurant and a great one is consistency and attention to detail, and on both counts Anada failed today. As a result, I've downgraded my rating of Anada from 4 to 3. read more