Tapas Movida at Citos (Closed)

After all these years blogging, I cannot believe I have never written a single post about Spanish food (shame on me!). It's not that I have never eaten any Spanish food, but quite rarely, because there are only a handful of Spanish restaurants in Jakarta (for the moment, not sure what's going to happen in a few years).

So this post is dedicated for Tapas Movida (henceforth: TM), possibly one of the first Spanish restaurants in Jakarta and specializes in tapas (basically snack, light bites, to know more about tapas visit this site) and other signature Spanish dishes.

For several years in a row already, TM has won Now Jakarta!'s Best Spanish Restaurant Award, most recently the 2014 award. It has come a long way from it's humble beginning at the Cipete site and just a few months ago, TM opened its first branch in one of South Jakarta's throbbing food themes shopping center: Cilandak Town Square, aka Citos. Congratulations!

Such a momentous event calls for a special toast. Enjoyed this Red Sangria to the last drop (note: the alcohol is quite strong!)

Of all the places in Jakarta, Tapas Movida chose South Jakarta yet again as its second home. At Cipete, it has established good rapport with the locals and especially the expats, who are mostly adults. Its outreach to Citos shows TM's serious effort to reach out to the younger generations and the less "globalized" locals, ie: those who still think there exists only 4 types of food: Western, Indonesian, Japanese & Chinese - no offense! LOL.

So, first things first, let me 'equip' you with the basic terms in Spanish cuisine, this knowledge is important especially to understand the menu at any Spanish restaurants (quoted from this source):

- Pinchos / pintxos (snack, light bite, food on stick), for example:

Pinchos Kebabs - spicy kebabs (choice of beef, chicken, shrimp or vegetables) IDR 25,000/stick

- Montaditos (snack, light bite, served on bread), for example:

Pincho de Bonito - tuna and candied tomato on top of bread IDR 15,000/pc

- Raciones (a portion of a dish, appetizer, before the main course), for example:

Escargots IDR 65,000

- Platos (main course, fish, meat, paella, pork, etc), for example:

Paella de Mixta - chicken and seafood traditional Spanish paella IDR 155,000 (2 pax) / 250,000 (4 pax)

So what makes Spanish food any different from other neighboring European countries? My personal take on Spanish food is that it uses a lot of ham (jamon like Iberico, Serrano, etc), wine, cheese, seafood, and generally, a lot of pork involved. You can be sure that if the dish is sinful, and contains one of the above items, it's probably a Spanish cuisine. Just kidding!

So, let's have a look at the sort of gut-pampering, tummy-filling, tongue-teasing & nutrition-loaded dishes you can have at Tapas Movida Jakarta:

Pollo relleno de Mozzarella - chicken and mozzarella 'corndogs' IDR 18,750/pc

Left: Gambas al a Plancha - grilled shrimps IDR 55,000/portion
Right: Ensalada Mediterranea IDR 45,000/portion

Mini Hamburguesa (mini hamburgers) IDR 25,000/pc

Left: Albondigas con Salsa de Tomate Picante (meatballs in spicy tomato sauce) IDR 50,000/portion
Right: Croquetas Jamon - ham croquettes IDR 45,000 /5pcs

Mejillones a la Crema del Vino Blanco - green mussels in white wine cream sauce IDR 55,000/portion

Left: Ternera con Pimiento Rojo y huevo de Codorniz - tenderloin with roasted red pepper and quail egg IDR 39,500
Right: Patatas Chorizo - fried potato chunks with chorizo IDR 65,000/portion

Gambas al Ajillo - garlic prawns in white wine butter sauce IDR 75,000/portion

Left: Pulpo a la Gallega - Galician Octopus IDR 65,000/portion
Right: Escargots IDR 65,000/portion

Tortilla (Espaniola) - not to be confused with Mexican 'tortilla' Spanish potato omelette served with bread & salad IDR 30,000/portion

Left: Tocino de Cordo con Red Wine Sauce - crispy pork belly with red wine sauce IDR 65,000
Right: Esparragos Trigueros con Huevos Pasados por Aqua - pan-fried green asparagus wrapped in ham served with 4 minute boiled egg IDR 35,000/portion

I have to write a special paragraph for the Crispy Pork Belly served with red wine sauce, which I would possibly choose as my 'last meal'. The pork belly are tender beyond words, they literally melt in the mouth like butter. But the most addictive factor is the crispy crackling that accompanies the buttery part. I have never much liked to eat pork belly, because of the (fat) nutrition content, but for this particular dish, I'm regrettably yet blissfully willing to make an exception.

Cordero Asado con Especias de Marruecos - Grilled lamb shank with gratin potatoes & lamb jus IDR 225,000 (for 2 pax)

Time for dessert :) The all-time favourite dessert here is the Churros with chocolate dipping sauce (did you know that Spanish people have Churros for breakfast? *gasp!). There are new addition to the Dessert items, and I noticed some yummy-sounding items like the Peach & Cherry Trifle and Nougat Parfait. 

Left: Churros con Chocolate IDR 40,000/portion
Right: Chocolate Marquise IDR 55,000

Crema Catalana - creme brulee IDR 55,000/portion

Despite having eaten so much food above, I am not sick of it. In fact, I am scheduling another visit there sometime soon, perhaps going to try the first restaurant at Cipete. :)

*) Prices are subject to Goverment Tax & Service Charge

Open Hours: standard mall opening hours

Tapas Movida (Citos)

Cilandak Town Square

Ground Floor #043-045

Jl. T.B. Simatupang Kav.17

Cilandak - South Jakarta

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