Gluten Savvy

Movida is a Melbourne icon, serving up tapas and raciones to a hungry crowd. I’ve spent many an evening hugging the bar (it’s hard to get a table without a booking), nursing a tempranillo and devouring my favourite goat special with its complex, rich flavours and introducing everyone I can to the glory of the portobello mushrooms oven-roasted with sherry. It’s also a favourite haunt for lunch and I’m now updating this post to include Movida Aqui, the new, more business-like lunch spot at the other end of town. Both restaurants have — wait for it — a separate menu for gluten- and dairy-free dishes, clearly marked GF and DF as needed.

Movida is the sort of place where they bring absolutely delicious but totally not gluten-free breads to the table with perfect olive oils and you have to cry while you watch your callous friends eat this in front of you. It’s really the only complaint I have about the place — it wouldn’t be that hard for them to find a decent gluten-free option. After all, Fifteen does it. I usually ask for a serving of mixed olives instead, which comes quickly enough, but always ends up on the bill rather than as a replacement for the bread.

Depending on how hungry you are, you can just have tapas — little mouthfuls for one designed to go with the food and help you drink more — or the larger raciones. You can be a little boring and have a tapas as an entrée and a racion as a main or you can go the spanish route and order a variety of both to come out as they will and share everything you can.

When the goat special isn’t on, my favourite dish is the Conejo Agridulce, rabbit in a honey sauce with almonds and raisins. Thankfully, it’s at both restaurants, but at my recent visit to Movida Aqui I resisted the urge and tried new things. I’m so glad I did — on special was the Cordero al Chilindron, a slow-roasted lamb dish with a white wine, paprika, tomato, capsicum and onion sauce. Oh my. The meat was falling off the bone beautifully, the sauce complemented it perfectly. Given that I had no gluten-free bread, it was all I could do not to tip the bowl up and slurp the sauce up.

We also had Choco a la Plancha, cuttle fish served with squid ink, which was very tender and much more intricate a flavour than I had imagined it would be. Another stand-out dish was the quail with morcilla and chickpeas.

Dessert for the gluten-free but not dairy-free is easy: I would choose the flan every time. These days, however, I go with the sorbets, which change regularly. 

Ask the sommelier to help you out with a dessert wine or port too. Movida’s cellars are extensive.

Rating:

Movida,
1 Hosier Lane,
Melbourne

Movida Aqui,
Level 1, 500 Bourke St,
Melbourne (Access via Little Bourke St)

Phone: (03) 9663 3038
Web: www.movida.com.au