MoVida

It has been far too long since I posted. I wish I could come up with an excuse for that. Truth is I am getting a bit lazy. In fact, lazy enough to think of an excuse for being lazy. However, I have still been doing my fair share of food exploration thus I now have a painful amount of backlog to clear. To start off after the long hiatus, MoVida will be first to be crossed off the extensive list. 

Kaili and I had always wanted to dine at MoVida after catching wind that it is one of the better, if not the best restaurants in Melbourne. Since I have already referred to it in the last post about MoVida Next Door, and also delineated the scene, I shall save the words for the food.

Small and cozy.

It was an ordeal for us when it came to ordering the first time we were at MoVida. First is was because the ingredients and names were quite foreign to us. Also, it was because they sounded so exquisite and delicious that we were spoiled for choice.

However, when my gaze met an item on the menu, I zeroed in on it.

Bistec tartar de Wagyu.

It was the spicy steak tartare of raw, grain-fed Wagyu beef. After watching one cooking show after another on TV, and many of them featuring dishes like tartare, tataki and carpaccio, I had developed a strong curiosity for raw beef. Hence, I knew I could not go wrong with the tartare.

Indeed, I did not go wrong. I was immediately charmed by the simple yet alluring presentation of the dish. A neat pile of raw Wagyu embellished by herbs, generously seated in the middle of the plate and crowning that was a perfect quail's yolk; surrounding the tartare was a fan of thin crispy toasts.

Then again, the taste of the tartare paled in comparison to my fascination about it, at first. But then again, steak tartare is not the type of food that bombards the taste buds with an array of intense flavours; rather, it is the kind of dish for the refined palate, one which you would chew slowly with your eyes closed to savour every bit of beef. It may sound dramatic, but it is well worth looking like a pompous blowhard of a food critic while enjoying the meat. How it just melts on your tongue but not without putting up some chewiness for the teeth; how the acidity of the meat balances with the fatty juices the Wagyu is renowned for; how the herbs, spices and onion lend heat and vibrance to the meat; how the quail yolk perfectly binds the whole dish together, the tastes and textures were remarkable, if not amazing.

The thin crispy toasts are no ordinary toasts. There is an added complexity and richness from the olive oil drizzled over the toast. Pairing the toasts and the tartare goes as well as tortilla and salsa. The crispiness of the toasts counters the softness of the beef, making the tartare a much greater delight than it already is.

Cecina.

Air-dried Wagyu with poached egg and truffle foam, I would be a fool to argue with any of the three things in this dish. 

It just looked marvelous when served. It is not the typical fine dining presentation with the fancy crest sprigs, a dollop of cream here and a thin line of sauce there. This was a bountiful blossom of beautifully marbled Wagyu arranged in a petal and in the midst of that, a perfect poached egg with a generous glob of truffle foam to top it off.

To "right" way to eat this, according to our waiter, was to fold the thin slices of Wagyu into the centre and envelop the egg and then break the whole thing apart.

Folded Cecina.

Unlike the tartare, the Cecina comes in big flavours. The air-dried Wagyu resembled jamón in saltiness, the truffle foam was immensely buttery and tasted like truffle, obviously, which is also highly salty. However, this is not the kind of saltiness that makes one cringe and rush for a tall glass of water. Coupled with the runny yolk of the poached egg and the silky butter, the saltiness seemed milder and had more depth when mixed with the fat from the Wagyu which  was deeply rich and flavourful, with the coveted melt-in-your-mouth quality. It was sheer perfection when all the elements combined in a rosy ensemble.  

Caballa ahumado.

Caballa ahumado is smoked cold Spanish mackerel with pine nut Gazpacho sorbet. The dish looked delicate. Thin sliced pieces of gossamer mackerel spread over a long plate, topped with a lavish dollop of Gazpacho sorbet, garnished with pine nuts and crest, it was absolutely ethereal. As compared to the two previous dishes, this was more haughty than magnanimous, but passes perfectly as an archetypal fine dining dish.

The mackerel boasted of the texture of sashimi grade fish, it was sheer ecstasy to chew. The thin but gratifying pieces of mackerel gradually disintegrated and turned from cold to warm, emanating a rich, smoky flavour which enhanced, rather than masked the natural taste of the fish. The Gazpacho sorbet was slightly sweet and very creamy, which balanced well with the savoury and chewy mackerel. There was also a thick, gooey, caramel-like substance on the sorbet, which tasted like sweet soy sauce but with a stronger and more captivating flavour. The pine nuts added an extra edge of crunchiness and nuttiness to a nigh perfect combination. This delectable duo of sweet and savoury makes for an unforgettable experience, and to put that into perspective, out of three visits to MoVida, Kaili and I have ordered this thrice.

Pate de pato.

Liver lovers out there, this is for you - a plentiful parfait of duck liver, a soft, egg-like cube of Pedro Ximenez foam and two stacks of square toasted brioche, all on a rectangular plate. The use of simple geometric shapes makes this dish as much an enjoyment to gaze upon as to chew on.

The liver parfait tasted, well, like liver. This is one of the kinds of food which people either love or hate. The sandy, pasty yet smooth texture enriched the subtle and pleasant bitterness. The Pedro Ximenez foam, which was light, springy, bouncy and foamy with a sweet, fruity flavour, offsets the thick richness of the liver. I figured the intended way to eat this dish is to slice the liver and foam and spread them on the brioche and I think I was right. When eaten that way, the mixture of textures and tastes just burst forth in a rich, vibrant, sweet and salty, soft and crunchy blast.

A word of warning though, this dish is a tad too much for two, unless both are ludicrous liver lovers. As much as I love liver, it was far too intense for me. If I had another two people to share it with, it would be perfect.

Ganache. 

Kaili is well known as a sucker for dessert, myself, not so much. However, certain desserts do appeal to me, like lava cake or soufflés. Hence, we knew we had to order the ganache. Even the waiter who warned us it takes about fifteen minutes guaranteed that it was well worth the wait - and he was right on the money.

We were mesmerised by the ganache when it was served. There it was a perfect, puck shaped dark chocolate cake with a hearty dollop of vanilla bean ice-cream on top and a few cubes of nougat on the side. Cutting the ganache itself with a spoon revealed an treasure trove of molten, dark chocolate, oozing out gradually and mixing with the melted ice-cream. Heavenly.

The chocolate was not the usual cocoa and sugar mix. It had the complex nuttiness and a bitter hint, which evolved into a sweet aftertaste. Soft and moist on the outside, warm and molten on the inside, the ganache was good enough on its own. Married with the ice-cream, the contrast of hot and cold, bitter and sweet makes this dessert one of the best, if not the best dessert Kaili and I have ever tasted. I would go to MoVida for this alone, but knowing how hard it is to get seats, I would probably go for a full meal.

I would not hesitate to call MoVida my favourite restaurant in Melbourne. It features a comfortably sizable menu with just enough variety, dishes with fine dining quality at a more than hearty portion and a very reasonable price. It gives the feeling that in the kitchen is a magnanimous, gregarious chef whose sole aim is for the diners to eat well, drink well and love life. One could really taste and feel the passion pumping through the place and the food. To cut it short, MoVida and its food really takes you places. Spain, perhaps.

1 Hosier Lane,

Melbourne,

VIC 3000.

03 9663 3038

Next door to MoVida Next Door.

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