Bomba: 103 Lonsdale Street Melbourne

After posting about Bar Nacional last week, I was reminded of my quest for patatas bravas with sauce that I can actually eat - so much food, so little time, it's easy to get distracted!

I scoured the Good Food Guide and found Bomba, conveniently located a couple of blocks from work. I emailed Senor Gringo directions and we were off. I was particularly enticed by the idea of a workers lunch where you could choose three sample sized dishes to try, who wants one when you can have three? For $15 we each got one tapas (snack), one raciones (portion) and one verduras (vegetable).

On the way in I had a quick peek at the food on the tables around us and I assured myself I could definitely eat the patatas bravas - it appeared they served the aioli on the side in true fussy eater style (although as I would discover later, they had specially requested it that way).

We were seated at the bar where we waited and waited and waited to be served. Eventually, while in the midst of mixing someone else's drink, the bar tender asked us if we were ready to order. I assured him we were and gave him the opportunity to finish what he was doing. He then just stared at us. Oh, he wanted to take our order while he was otherwise occupied. Fine, plenty of people have better memories than I do and are capable of such a task. I was willing to give it a go. He took our order but as he was walking away he double checked it and realised he made two mistakes. It made me think seriously, is it trendy these days to bypass the trusty notepad and pen? I won't be offended if you have to be write it down. Anyway, as long as it was all correct at the end of the day, he can do whatever he wants.

I chose tomato rubbed bread with serano jamon, braised lamb and chickpeas with mojo verde and freekah salad with cauliflower, almonds, barberries, sumac and mint. Senor Gringo ordered a spiced lamb cutlet, braised oxtail bocadillo (sandwich) with guindilla pepper and patatas bravas for me to try and him to enjoy - I couldn't resist the freekah salad and he was happy to oblige.

Our tapas items came out quickly. My bread with jamon was freaking delicious. Nice, subtle, fresh flavours that made my mouth sing. Mmm yum. Thank you Bomba. Off to a good start. Once I extracted myself from my food bliss moment I turned my attention to Senor Gringo who was not so impressed. When he cut into his lamb cutlet it looked, for want of a better word, soggy and was apparently pretty flavourless - it was covered in yogurt so I didn't give it a go. Senor Gringo does make fantastic lamb at home so his expectations were high but  this dish definitely looked disappointing. Poor Senor Gringo.

I was ready for more but I was perhaps a little naive in expecting to have a quick meal at a Spanish bar, especially on a Friday. We waited close to an hour for our next dishes - so did the tables around us as there wasn't much food in sight. The couple at the bar next to us complained they had waited 20 minutes for their drinks. The bar tender said, in a surly voice, they take a long time to pour you know. This caused me to have a giggling fit which was shyly encouraged by the couple beside us but earned me a dirty look from the bar tender. Sorry!

Apart from the fact that our lunch took over an hour and thirty minutes, which I had to apologise to my boss for, the food was worth the wait. My freekah salad was divine with all the right combinations. The fresh herbs worked well with the berries, the dressing was zesty and the roasted cauliflower brought it all back to earth with a mellow buttery flavour without any butter in sight (I double checked). For my raciones, the chickpeas just tasted like cumin and overpowered the mojo verde, which was a little sad, but the lamb by itself was well cooked and satisfying.

Senor Gringo's oxtail sandwich was bland again, poor thing, but the patatas bravas gave him at least one happy food moment and I shared my dishes with him. I will definitely go back but not at lunch time when I have things to do, you can't enjoy your meal here if you are watching the clock. Overall, I am glad that I had the workers lunch as it gave me the opportunity to try a few things and figure out what I want to order next time. Well done folks.

Two ticks, just leave it for the evening or your day off.