121 BC + Movida Sydney

121 BC

Tucked away in a little lane way next to Movida is 121 BC, wine shop by day and bar/restaurant by night. It is quite missable if you have never been to the area before. The shop front does not really give much away, inside is a very long wooden table that also serves as a bar. The interior is very dark and intimate, a very large bubble like chandelier hangs over the table. We came at 5pm on the dot which means the shop is now a bar and restaurant. They stock some very interesting wines all sourced from Italy, If you don't really know what to pick just ask the bartenders, the two wines that she picked for me were superb. This is not a big space but it quickly filled up with people. The kitchen is in full view, they serve what's in season so the menu always changes. It's a shame that we were going to Movida for dinner afterwards because the smell that came drifting out of their kitchen made my stomach grumble. This place is a bit secretive but cool as hell, the perfect spot to hang after work or a casual date. I'm not really a big wine drinker but the wines I've had here really impressed me, I'm regretting not buying a few bottles now. 

121 BC - http://121bc.com.au/

4/50 Holt St (enter via Gladstone St)
Surry Hills  

Movida
I've only ever tried one other Spanish tapas place so I was very much looking forward to Movida having heard good things about the food. Obviously, tapas are meant to be shared so it's better to come with a group so you can sample a lot more on offer. 
So we got:

ANCHOA - Artisan Cantabrian Anchovy with Smoked Tomato Sorbet 

GAZPACHO DE MAIZE - Sweetcorn Gazpacho serves with Alaskan Snow Crab & Macadamias
CHICHARONES - Crispy Pork Jowl with Seared Scallops & Fried Kipflers
Special of the day - (Abalone with seaweed and etc, sorry I can't remember all the ingredients..)  
CECINA - Air cured Wagyu Beef with Truffle Foam & Poached Egg     
CARRILLERA DE BUEY - Beef cheek in Pedro Ximenez with Cauliflower Puree
CALLOS - Madrid Style Ox Tripe with Chickpeas & Chorizo 
 
Jules ordered the anchovy but I'm not a lover of anchovies so I passed on trying that one but apparently it is very nice, I will take his word for it. The corn gazpacho was simply delicious! Sweet and creamy, how I imagined corn gazpacho and crab would taste like, why can't Marque do the same thing with their 'gazpacho'?! The macadamias added a mild taste and texture to the sweetness of the corn and crab, the only downside is that there is not enough of it, i wanted more! The pork jowl and potatoes were crispy but it wasn't memorable. The special of the day was the abalone, I've had abalone that was too tough and just generally very unpleasant, so was quite keen to see how they did theirs and it did not disappoint. Tender and still a bit chewy, the seaweed was crunchy and added that bit of saltiness. Very well done. The air cured wagyu (sorry there's no photo, but the waiter mashed everything together before I could take a photo of it) was so soft and delicious, melts in your mouth goodness. The poached egg offsets some of the saltiness of the wagyu. Couldn't really taste the truffle in this but the flavours were already quite intense. The beef cheeks is one of the signature dishes, served with cauliflower puree. Sounds quite ordinary but the flavours were far from ordinary. The cheeks were so tender and moist from the slow cooking, it falls apart when it hits your tongue. It is the perfect thing to have in this cooling weather, comfort food at its best. If you don't eat tripe or any other kind of organs then you are definitely missing out, big time. When cooked right, tripe can be the most flavoursome dish as it soaks up all the juices and sauces. Cooked with chorizo and chickpeas, the tripe was almost jelly like. Fragrant and a little spicy from the chorizo, no wonder it's so popular. 

Time for dessert! Why not get all of them? Which is exactly what we did:

FLAN - Crème Caramel served with Pestinos
CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE - Spanish Doughnuts with Rich Drinking Chocolate
SOL Y SOMBRA - Rum & Coffee Granita served with Crema Catalan Foam

HELADOS - Homemade Ice-Creams served with Fig Bread

TARTA SANTIAGO - Almond Fondant with Fig Leaf Ice-Cream

We kinda went a bit crazy but we wanted to try all of them and why not right? I won't go into too much details about each one but what stood out from the rest was the fondant and the flan. The fondant was oozy and not overly sweet. The churros were ok, although the chocolate was overly bitter for me and the consistency was too watery for dipping. The rest was a bit of a blur, maybe I had too much sangria..

Movida - http://movida.com.au/sydney/

50 Holt St, Surry Hills, Sydney