La Paella, Brunswick
Tramming up Sydney Road on a very rainy night, Dave and I came across the Spanish-Moroccan eatery La Paella. Even though the restaurant was pretty empty at the time, the decor and brightly coloured tile tabletops were welcoming.
Feeling famished, we quickly settled on Chef’s Platter #1 ($20 per person), which consisted of mixed dip, a mixed platter and a pot of Moroccan mint tea. The warm dips came out quickly, accompanied by a generous basket of crusty homemade bread. The mixed dip may not have been photogenic (and my poor photography skills probably didn’t help) but don’t be fooled- they were all well spiced and very delicious.
The dips were as follows: laadissa, a dip of tender spiced lentils; zaalouk , made of soft melty chunks of eggplant in a tomato base with Moroccan spices; and bessara, an almost soupy concoction of beautifully spiced split green peas.
Our mixed platter consisted of chicken shasliks, meatballs, fried pecorino, Spanish omelette (tortilla), garlic mushrooms & salad. The Spanish omelette and chicken shasliks were both pretty standard, but my goodness those lamb meatballs were delicious! On first bite, they seem a little more sturdy than your standard meatball. However they tasted great, both on their own and with the zingy onion and capsicum tomato sauce.
A quick glance at the menu suggests that they serve a combination of Spanish dishes (paella, tortilla, grilled sardines) and Moroccan dishes (raif, tagine, lamb couscous) rather than fusion dishes invoking flavours from both cuisines. Doing a little research, I discovered that the Moors heavily influenced Spanish cuisine by introducing a variety of spices, fruits and nuts to the latter over a thousand years ago. Aha! So the menu makes no attempt to link the two cuisines, apart from the their implicit historical relationship. Even so, the food is probably good enough for them to get away with it. Service was speedy and friendly. And this bears repeating: the dips were fantastic!
La Paella Moroccan and Spanish
217 Sydney Road
Brunswick, VIC 3056
(03 9380 6955)
