Valentine’s day is just another day in the diary. The previous year was the only day, the Mr actually bothered to do something but it didn’t turned too well. Did you know what his plans were? To go to Chin Chin’s … yes on Valentine’s day! You know, a top restaurant and Valentine’s day does not mix well. We ended up waiting for 2 hours but luckily they did told us to venture around for 2 hours or so. To cure our hunger for the next two hours, we had Lord of the Fries as a pre-dinner snack. This year, I wanted my usual – to have LOTF or KFC because that is what which will make me super happy but we ended up at home. Still, better then the over-rated menus.

This year, the day after Valentine’s day was a Friday night. Little did I know MR had a little plan up his sleeves. “I’m taking you somewhere for a late Valentine’s day”. I replied back going “No, no, not necessary, let’s just have KFC again.”. If you know me well, I am very serious when I mention, we have dates at KFC coz that’s how we roll . Mr picked a restaurant by the name of Anada. To be completely honest, I have never ever heard of it before. My love of pork belly runs deep and Mr looked up a lot of restaurants and said Anada seems to have an amazing Pork Belly dish.

Anada is located in Fitzroy, luckily we arrived at 6pm and found a good car spot, not too far of walking distance of the restaurant. Anada has an influence of Spanish and Mediterranean flavours which runs right up my alley. The menu is sorted in Tapas and Raciones. The Tapas are charged per item and the Raciones are the dishes you share with your dining party. There is also tasting menus which is of the chef’s choice but can be adjusted for any dietary requirements. The restaurant is small and the staff are super lovely. As a cocktail kind of girl, there aren’t any cocktail menu since the bar is highly focused on wines, which is very understandable. However, the bar is willing to accommodate a common cocktail or two.

The tasting menu was very tempting but we wanted to have a good control of what we wanted to eat, so we ended up picking a few tapas and three raciones to share.

Bourbon & coke and Mojito. They made our drinks quite strong, I was a bit dizzy through dinner.

Complimentary bread with virgin olive oil

Fried cauliflower with Zataar & house yoghurt $4.50 each. I really love cauliflower and love this take on it. Deep fried and perfectly paired with Zataar and the yogurt.

Calamari $5 each. Sadly, the calamari didn’t give off a wow factor. It wasn’t bad but nothing that makes me want to order it again.

Rabbit Empandilla $4.50 each. I don’t eat rabbit so Mr ordered it and love it.

Charcoal grilled quail with freekeh and pomegranate $6.50. The quail is another must order, the charcoal really brings out the flavour of the quail.

Otway Rangers (Vic) pork belly with fennel seed & smoky aubergine $20. Now this was the reason why we came here, for the Pork belly. Isn’t it a beauty! I posted this on Instagram and someone commented on the level of salt on the pork skin. It was heavily salted at the top but the idea was eat the skin with meat and the puree and it was absolutely beautiful. Don’t eat the skin on it’s own, although I know it’s very tempting!

Slow roasted beef cheeks in Oloroso with fava bean puree $20. The beef cheeks were super tender and fell apart as I place my fork through it. I did find it quite heavy after eating through most of it so be sure to share this one with a few other people.

Slow cooked potatoes in soffrito $11

Dessert tasting plate from the left, going anti-clockwise; Rhubarb with yoghurt and honey sorbert, Pomegranate & orange blossom sorbet with sugared pistachios, Pedro Ximenez & muscatel ice cream, Crema Catalana & churros with chocolate $25. The pomegranate and orange blossom was the one that stood out. It was super refreshing and light. We found the churros lack any wow factor. Just really plain dough and the chocolate was a bit too bitter for us.

I was overall extremely pleased with the meal and look forward to coming again. That Pork belly and cauliflower won me over.

197 Gertrude St
Fitzroy, VIC
http://www.anada.com.au/