Pass the pintxo! The snacks at this Spanish stalwart are hard to beat

Nearly 20 years since opening, Fitzroy’s Anada is going from strength to strength – now with a talented new chef on the pans dishing pintxos, paella and tapas.

October 25, 2026

Anada

Spanish$$

Give me a gilda, pass me a pintxo and hand me the jamon. If there’s a better way to snack than Spanish-style, I’ll need to be convinced, preferably over croquettes and dry wine. And could it be at Anada, serving up Spanish joy in Fitzroy since 2008?

This smart 35-seat restaurant has never had a slump but, under newish ownership and with a talented chef recently bedded in, it’s having a golden period. This is a great time to pop by for tapas at the bar or to plan a meal ahead, particularly as warmer days make paella in the parklet a particularly pleasant prospect.

Anada changed hands quietly four years ago when founders Jesse and Vanessa Gerner handed it over to Grant Turvey, who already owned Arcadia, the cafe next door. (These Gertrude Street stayers are among Turvey’s five inner-north venues: neighbourhood pub The Rochey, vegetarian pub Green Man’s Arms and Brewsmith, a coffee stop.) After a decade in the air force, Turvey was a business consultant for 30 years and he hankered for something a bit more dynamic. Hospitality is now his industry but you won’t find him chopping onions or ferrying plates. Rather, Turvey loves puzzling over menus, engaging and training staff, and tapping into the upbeat energy of eaters.

I think you can feel Anada is run by a highly competent arm’s-length enthusiast and not by an owner-operator expressing a cuisine that’s core to their being. It’s smooth, efficient and cheerful, if not quite soulful. But even if you won’t be swept up by stories whispering from the walls, or sit among regulars who’ve been here every day since 1978 as though at some ancient bar in Barcelona, you can definitely have a lovely time at Anada.

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There’s spirit – if you’ll excuse me – in the all-Spanish drinks list, which has helpful annotations. Start with a glass of cava (“bone dry, apple-skin sharp”) or a Fifty-Fifty, a jaunty aperitivo which mixes manzanilla and Pedro Ximenez sherries, and take it from there.

Chef Angel “Didier” Chavez was born in Mexico to a Spanish mother and had experience cooking in both Mexico and Spain before he was sponsored by the Lucas group of restaurants to come to Melbourne to work at busy Grill Americano. Didier is relishing the opportunity to cook in a smaller restaurant, with dishes closer to his heritage. Anada calls itself Andalusian, referring to southern Spain, but it isn’t, really: the current menu roams, with dishes anchored in tradition albeit with some clever twists.

Montadito tapas are generally mounted on bread. Here, a house-made polenta wedge subs in, making the bite gluten free. It’s smeared with lemon-zesty goat’s cheese, draped with an anchovy and dotted with pickled mustard seeds: salt, cream, tang, bang.

Pintxos are Basque snacks on sticks. Slow-cooked lamb ribs would normally be dolloped with red chilli mojo but this version leans green. Pickled onions help slash a piquant path through the rich meat. A pintxo of grilled chorizo and padron peppers is simple sorcery: two dimensions of spice – one rich, one clean – all good.

Ajo blanco is a cold almond soup very much associated with Andalusia. The version here is a thicker-than-usual base for roasted cauliflower, manchego cheese and crisped jamon. What a good idea. Perhaps the prettiest dish is octopus carpaccio — thin rounds dressed with lemon, parsley and chilli. A fine facility with seafood shines through in the paella de marisco, too, a cornerstone dish properly done, the rice base grafted to the pan.

If a sweet finish is in order, go for bruleed rice pudding. Its lovely contrast of creamy and brittle exemplifies the Anada project: honouring the classics and adding freewheeling flourish when it feels right.

Three more Spanish eateries to try

Nobody’s Baby

Everyone is welcome at Nobody’s Baby, whether it’s inside or in the large backyard. The food until December is Basque, courtesy of chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive: think spectacular gildas, beautiful croquettes and a wobbly cheesecake. Get in before the next resident chef starts cooking.

19-21 Toorak Road, South Yarra, nobodysbaby.com.au

MoVida Next Door

My favourite place among the MoVida stable is a surprisingly niche spot even though it’s among the throngs on Hosier Lane. Step through the little door on the corner and you’re in a wonderful tapas bar with terrific cocktails.

164 Flinders Street, Melbourne, movida.com.au

Asado

Part of the San Telmo Group stable (Palermo, Pastuso), this huge restaurant leans into the Spanish influences threaded through Argentinian cuisine. Scallops are baked with Galician butter, there’s black sausage cooked over the parilla grill, and salad comes with sherry vinaigrette. 

6 Riverside Quay, Southbank, asado.melbourne

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.

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• Fitzroy
• Melbourne
• Good for groups
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• Spanish
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• Separate bar
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• Anada
• Restaurant
• Good for a first date

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