Bar Lourinhã

Many a weary office worker making the 5pm trundle to Parliament Station has peered longingly into the warm glow of Bar Lourinha. This intimate venue has been a favourite for years, where you can share both conversation and plates of tapas, alternating murmurs and laughter with spiced spanner crab tostados, jamon croquettes and tinkering glasses of fine wine. Buzzy and beautiful, it’s decorated with all sorts of conversation-starting bric-a-brac, making it the perfect place for both a first date, friend date or milestone anniversary.

Seventeen-year-old CBD tapas destination Bar Lourinha has witnessed many a love story, so much so it has a self-proclaimed “lovers’ table”. With an eclectic mix of curios, iconography and framed paintings lining the walls, dining at Bar Lourinha feels like being in someone’s living room, if that someone was also an acclaimed chef. The Iberian-inspired menu includes the likes of fluffy, deep-fried dough balls filled with salted cod and a spiced, savoury melange of chickpeas and spinach.

Tucked away at the top end of Little Collins Street – located near the iconic Collins Street – Bar Lourinhã has a long-standing reign as one of Melbourne’s best kept secret restaurants. Their wall art flaunts a bric-a-brac feel with many small paintings and unique collectable items that are reminiscent of European travels across Italy, Spain and Greece. Their frequently changing menu offers everything from share plates to larger rationed meals that are served with true Iberian-flair.

Bar Lourinha was the first “good” restaurant I visited in Melbourne, courtesy of my uncles Matt & Thomas, who took me for dinner when I was visiting Melbourne, a couple of years before I moved there. I’ve returned several times since and it never fails to surprise and delight. This tiny Iberian tapas bar has been a mainstay on Little Collins for more than a decade – not an easy feat in Melbourne’s competitive and fickle hospitality landscape.

If you haven't snuggled in the bay-window of this Little Collins institution, are you even a Melburnian in love?. It's Portugese-Spanish-Mediterranean vibe offers the trifecta of love-cultures, a recipe that has led to many a proposal, according to the manager. Ye olde paintings and bric-a-brac decorate the walls behind the polished wooden bar, and the $55 per head Valentine's Day 'Menu Amor' has been specially designed to 'heat things up'.

It's hard not to feel smug when you've scored a barstool here, where you're part of a convivial tableau that's beckoning every passer-by. It's always worth seeing what the bolthole kitchen at the bar's end is conjuring: perhaps sticky quail sweetened with curling slices of persimmon or beetroots roughened up with dry ricotta. Service is swift, so stagger your order, take a few drink detours and keep a bowl of pickled peppers on the go.

With a changing menu each week, Melbourne CBD favourite, Bar Lourinha will transport you to Lisbon without leaving your home. Each box ($110) is suitable for two-three people, and will offer a combination of fresh bread, snacks, appetisers, and of course, traditional mains such as peri peri chicken. All heating and cooking instructions are included, plus you’ll be able to add your own favourite tipple into the mix for a little extra.

Bar Lourinha has been the object of wistful gazes from many a weary advertising executive making the 5 pm slog to Parliament Station. Couples come here to enjoy tapas and lively conversation, passing around dishes of crab cakes and saffron butter montadito , corn and smoked jalapeno croquettes. A first meeting or a landmark anniversary would be equally at home in this cosy, lively, and conversation starter-filled establishment.

With people queuing for a table at 7pm on a Wednesday night, you can tell there’s got to be something damn good about Melbourne’s Bar Lourinha. The wine list is heavily focused on European offerings, and the food is served up tapas style. Start the evening with salted cod croquettes before moving on to a heavenly seafood paella or the rich, slow-cooked veal that’s been doused in a thick walnut sauce.

Bar Lourinhã, Melbourne Tucked away at the top end of Little Collins Street, Bar Lourinha is an amazing place to sit down and experience an array of shared plates. The decor is reminiscent of a bowerbird nest, and the menu includes dishes like yellowtail kingfish pancetta and grilled veal tongue. You can also order French, Italian and Spanish tipples along with a few Japanese and Scottish drinks.

If you are after Mediterranean flavours and food cooked from the heart, Bar Lourinhã offers one of the best private dining spots in Melbourne. Their intimate space is perfect for between 40 to 60 people and the menu features Tapas made from seasonal produce and a range of cocktails and wine. The atmosphere is crisp and classy, much like their dishes like Kingfish with pancetta and lemon oil.

When it comes to classic tapas and Mediterranean fare, warm atmosphere and killer drinks – Bar Lourinhã is one of the best in the biz. Treat your tastebuds to a few of the broad bean and buffalo curd tostadas and an order of the chicken heart and pork cheek pintxos. Afterwards, you can chow down on some corn and smoked chilli croquetas.

To round off our list of Spanish tapas bars Melbourne, I am going to choose Bar Lourinha. Bar Lourinha is another cozy, intimate venue with a very unique and traditional vibe to it. The food is delicious and the service friendly – so this is definitely one of those Spanish tapas restaurants Melbourne CBD that is not to be missed.

Bar Lourinhã’s passion is sharing their love of good mediterranean food, wine and cherished memories. Chef Matt McConnell has applied his travel experiences to an array of sharing plates, from yellowtail kingfish pancetta to grilled veal tongue with broad bean labneh. These produce-inspired dishes are served with Iberian flair.

Matt McConnell, brother of Andrew, is behind this top-of-the-city bolthole. Calling it a tapas bar wouldn't do justice to the delicacy and thoughtfulness of what appears on either the short regular menu, the expansive specials list, or what's poured by the bar's excellent staff.

An intimate space, unique wall decorations, bar seating, and the ever-friendly people behind the bar. That’s before you’ve even made it to the menu. Speaking of the menu, the small menu delivers big flavour.

Bar Lourinha, in Little Collins St up the Spring Street end of town, also do sublime Spanish tapas on a walk in only basis.