The best Spanish restaurants in Melbourne

The OG mothership that sparked Melbourne’s giddy love affair with all things Español, Frank Camorra’s CBD portal to the tapas bars of Barcelona is still going strong 19 years on. The signature anchoa - a hand-filleted Cantabrian anchovy on a crouton with smoked tomato sorbet – is the must-order, chased by a glass of manzanilla, but other classics nip at its heels. Air-dried wagyu topped with a fluff of truffled potato foam and an oozing poached egg and Pedro Ximenez beef cheeks on cauliflower puree fly the flag for MoVida classicism but there’s also a welcome spirit of evolution within these graffiti-daubed walls. File under “icon”.

You have to arrive early to grab a seat at the tapas bar that put Reservoir on the resto-map. Colonising a character-filled old espresso bar, the horseshoe-shaped counter is the perfect vantage point for the theatre of staff pouring vermouth on tap and delivering on the small plates promise of the ever-changing blackboard menu. You’ll get the classics here - tortilla de patatas, polenta-crumbed pigs’ head nuggets anointed with jammy quince, zesty mussels escabeche – as well as the seasonally inventive. One of Melbourne’s best.

Even if you plan to pop in for a single dish of the yellowtail kingfish “pancetta”, a fixture since the doors swung open on this so-authentic-it-hurts tapas bar way back in 2006, you’ll end up grazing your way through the menu. Such is the gravitational pull of this slip of a place lurking in the upper reaches of Melbourne’s CBD. Decorated in a giddy whirl of op-shop tchotchkes and Spanish and Portuguese memorabilia, it boasts a serious Old World wine program to go with Matt McConnell’s sharp and snappy menu. Grab a seat at the bar and let the staff be your spirit guide.

Fun, fast and furious, Jesse Gerner’s paean to the workers’ clubs of Spain can’t resist putting a Melbourne spin on proceedings (we can’t vouch for the Spanish proletariat getting down with a plate of charry Crystal Bay prawns with fermented chilli, or Abrolhos Island scallops with chorizo vinaigrette). But the food is on point, the sangria free-flowing and the vibe infectious. If you want to keep the party going, take the lift five floors up to Bomba Bar, where a compact kitchen pumps out Spanish-accented snacks including “bikinis” (Catalan-style toasties) alongside a hefty booze list, with two all-weather outdoor terraces surrounded by the twinkle of city lights.

If you’re looking for Australia’s best paella, you’ve come to the right place. This rustic joint at South Melbourne Market has been gonged the best paella outside Spain, which means the Valencian gatekeepers are smiling on father and son owners Leno and Jake Latarullo. Swing by for the signature “big pan paella” with its combination of chorizo, chicken, calamari and mussels, and the all-important socarrat (crunchy rice base).

There’ll be no second-restaurant syndrome suffered by this bigger, lighter and brighter young MoVida sibling in the heart of the legal district. The group-friendly proportions are a drawcard over the Hosier Lane original, as is the olive tree-shaded terrace and the tongue-in-cheek fit-out of milk crate light fittings hanging over the central bar. You’ll get paella here, too, and the calamari bocadillo with its trademark tang of piquillo pepper. It’s so good you really ought to order two.

Step past the cheery yellow façade into an authentic approximation of the real Iberian deal, where rugged red brick walls, attractively low lighting and a convivial hum gets our tick as the perfect venue for a first date. Like the name says, this St Kilda institution deals in the dark arts of tapas, with the menu running to 40 items scrawled on the blackboard menu from the usual suspects of patatas bravas, croquetas and grilled prawns to charry sardines daubed in salsa verde and mussels in chilli tomato sauce.  

Planting its flag on a pre-trendy Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, Jesse Gerner’s original Spanish joint keeps on keeping on thanks to a compelling mix of southern Iberian food and a killer Spanish wine list. Tapas dishes can be more restaurant-y than some of Añada’s brethren – think fermented chilli butter on the Clarence River prawns, and whey-fermented cucumber with smoked eel cream and pops of salmon roe – but the daily-changing paella keeps its finger on the rustic pulse. Our advice? Take the banquet menu ride to appreciate this stalwart in all its glory.

A long, slinky space with smart brown leather booths, a mezzanine for optimum people watching and our favourite drinking snacks from the Basque country in Spain – yes, Armadale’s Lona Pintxos Bar is a high-fun concept. Help yourself to nibbly things laid out near the bar, as well as hot options brought around on trays. Each pintxos has a toothpick in it, which you save and present to the cashier at the end of the night. It’s kind of half Sizzler, half yum cha and a whole lot of awesome.

It’s got some of the best views in town, thanks to the huge glass-walled balcony on the fifth floor of a Fitzroy landmark, and a Basque menu that gives another reason to fight the crowds for a table. The best dishes stick to the simpler end of the spectrum, whether that’s grilled eye-fillet skewers threaded with pardon peppers and black garlic sauce or jalapeno and cheddar croquettes.

Say hola to Beso, a brand new buzzy restaurant housed within the stylish boutique Hotel Indigo. Across the road from Southern Cross Station, it’s planting a 'kiss' (the English translation of the word 'beso') on the end of Flinders Lane that's historically tended to get a lot less attention, with its bold new approach to contemporary Spanish cuisine and glamorous dining room. The kitchen is spearheaded by Ana Cortes Garcia, who formerly earned her stripes as the head chef at acclaimed Lee Ho Fook, with each dish a reflection of Garcia's reverence for Spanish tradition, globally inspired culinary techniques and premium local produce.