Emilia reviews a ‘perfect date night’ restaurant

Press PLAY below to hear Emilia’s review in full

Down the street front the hustle and bustle of Glenferrie Road, on Burwood Road, sits an unassuming Spanish restaurant that is pretty much designed to be the perfect date night. Fireplace, moody lighting, beautiful decor and a great wine list. This place is set up for romance and chat but not bound to that at all, when I went there were plenty of groups sitting round catching up.

This one was actually recommended to me by Ross. Spain is my favourite country in the world and the food is a huge contributor. So when Ross said I HAD to go and try this place I willingly obliged, and I understood why when I walked in, and even more so when I tasted the food… 

If you told me it was a fitting European dinner time of 10:30pm on a Friday night in Barcelona and not 5pm on Wednesday in Melbourne I would’ve believed you 100%.

We drank the Spanish Vino Tinto (you can try the Australian Vino Tinto too) which directly translates to red wine in Spanish and of course, is where they get their name.

Tapas for starters, we began with scallop crudo, bravas patatas and chorizo. Naturally, the potatoes were my favourite, they’re perfectly crispy topped with aioli & spicy tomato salsa. Whether in Spain or Melbourne if there’s crispy potatoes on the menu it’s an easy decision, if there’s bravas on the menu it’s a non-negotiable, now you know. We also had the Pan De Casa – house sourdough bread with Catalan style with rubbed tomato olive oil.

From the ‘Raciones’ section of the menu, literally meaning rations but generally is a bigger serving size than tapas. On most menus it’d read as ‘bigger plates’ or ‘to share’. This part of the menu held my favourite dish of the night, the pulpo (octopus). Turn off your ears now if you’re not a fan of octopus…

Rather than baby octopus that you often see on menus (and really I do love normally) this was one large, flavour filled Galician style tentacle with charred sides on a bed of twisted mash potatoes and sauteed padron peppers. Not one bit of it was rubbery, it had that perfect crisp end at the tip; so moreish and so unlike octopus I’ve had on menus around Melbourne.

And we’re not even at the mains. On the menu was paella, traditional paella… saffron rice and sofrito (which gives it a darker colour), chicken, chorizo and green beans. The richness in the rice made it a more full flavour than other paellas I’ve had before. It costs per person so it’s definitely one to go specifically for, spend a bit of cash and make a night of it.

We couldn’t leave without some Spanish desserts. The churros came in a plate of four bow shaped, crunchy, sugary churros with warm chocolate dipping sauce. My favourite part of Spain though (although don’t say that in front of them, very controversial), in Basque country, has a very special dessert, close to my heart, Basque baked cheesecake. It can easily be over cooked and powdery, this was not- whatsoever, it was beautifully creamy throughout.

Your next date night, girls’ night or “commiserating not being in Europe” night together is set. Save your pennies for a beautifully romantic setting, get out of the cold and by a gorgeous fire, and continue the European tour of Melbourne I seem to have found myself on as I pine over my friends’ Instagram pictures!

Tinto
555 Burwood Rd, Hawthorn
tinto.net.au