Catalonia

THIS VENUE IS NOW CLOSED

Catalonia is run by a couple of likely lads who’ve done their time in London - Brian Villahermosa of Salt Yard and Chris Winter of Embassy – and are back on our fair shores firing up a mix of classic and mod tapas.

Their highly styled and sometimes rustic fare can be surprising (the grilled watermelon with cured duck breast is plain confusing) but for the most part the baseline is good cooking and slightly off-the-beaten-track dishes. Take the wagyu meatballs served with caramelised peach - sweet, syrupy acids cut the wagyu and sass up a normally standard tapa.

The floor staff are particularly great: Jess Kilner, who used to rock the floor at Surry Hills hotspot Bodega, runs a bunch of young guys and gals serving up punchy sharing plates with plenty of attitude like discs of morcilla with asparagus and a deep fried duck’s egg which looks like a protein comet.

The all-Spanish wine list is only just surpassed by the awesome cocktails. Put together by Tom Hoff, it covers all the usual suspects (Sours and Swizzles) but also features a sloe gin Conservative (the sloe is a type of bitter fruit similar to a plum found mainly in the UK but also in some parts of New Zealand) and a Martinez (gin, vermouth, bitters and Maraschino liqueur).

There are a few seating options, too – upstairs is around 30 seats, the walls are papered in 70s style red and white patterns and features a corner bar while downstairs sees a couple of window benches inside and a whole lot of outside tables.

Your best bet is to order cocktails and sit outside with some jamon and bread rubbed with tomato. There are a few fizzers - mixed nuts are curiously candied and the slow cooked pork belly could’ve stood a little more cooking (the fat wasn’t as rendered as we might’ve liked) - but a ratatouille served with little halves of quail’s eggs with golden yolks topped with cheese crisps is tangy and bright.

A crème catalan (a bit like a crème brulee) with rice pudding ice cream is lovely but we can’t work out where the rice pudding is in the ice cream while churros with chocolate is a bit disappointing. Traditional churros (kind of like a Spanish donut but long) are often served with hot bitter chocolate. Here, they’re served with a layered white and milk chocolate mousse. We find dipping them into the catalan much tastier.

There’s a ways to go here in terms of menu choices but all the groundwork is there – great staff, fantastic cocktails and a breezy deck (we love the jellyfish mural on the wall). And check out the giant spray paint robot-insect-clown murals on the toilet walls. Freaky.