Simply Spanish

We stopped by Simply Spanish at South Melbourne Market for a light afternoon bite while exploring the area. Although we were still quite full from lunch, the cozy and inviting ambience of the restaurant drew us in for a quick snack before dinner. We ordered the grilled squid with sauce, as well as a serving of (tiny, frozen) shrimps. The squid was fresh, but overall the seafood didn’t quite meet our expectations—especially the shrimps, which tasted more like they came from the freezer than the market. We also tried the deep-fried chicken, which was crispy but came with a dipping sauce that was a bit too sweet for our taste. Overall, Simply Spanish has a nice atmosphere for a casual stop, but the dishes we tried were a bit underwhelming, especially given the location inside the vibrant South Melbourne Market. It might be a better spot if you’re looking for a relaxed setting to enjoy drinks and tapas, but the quality of the snacks we had could be improved.

Ideally located at fabulous South Melbourne Market, Simply Spanish offers a variety of deliciously prepared traditional Spanish food. Service provided by staff was very friendly and professional. The Paella's being cooked onsite look appetizing and the air if filled with the mix of fragant saffron, toasted rice, etc. Once you try it, it is a smorgasbord of flavours that are a delight for the palate that make you want more. I also had a Tapas serve of twice-cooked pork belly (served with quince and apple sauce), which was cooked to perfection, firm springy to the touch with a rich, savory aroma. Simply Spanish is definitely the place to go to should you feel like trying delicious traditional Spanish food. Highly Recommended !

A must-visit at the market. The big pan paella is iconic—rich, smoky, and packed with seafood, chorizo, and perfectly cooked rice. Watching it cook in the giant pan adds to the experience. The beef cheek tapas is melt-in-your-mouth tender, slow-cooked in a rich glaze over creamy mash—absolutely divine. The pork ribs tapas are just as impressive: smoky, sticky, and fall-off-the-bone good. Fast service, bold flavors, and real Spanish soul—this place never disappoints.

AI recommended this for lunch. Excellent seafood paella - moist and you can taste the seafood stock in the tasty rice. Packed with seafood that was fresh and properly cooked. Beef and cheese empanadas are very tasty too. The beetroot, cheese, honey and walnuts salad was sweet and tart at the same time, helped to whet the appetite to finish the paella which h can feed 3-4 people. Surcharge of 10% on weekends.

We stopped by Simply Spanish for a quick snack after browsing the market. Unfortunately, the tapas we ordered didn’t live up to expectations, especially at a $64 price point. We tried the meatballs, ribs, and garlic bread. The meatballs were quite dry — they tasted like they may have been reheated rather than freshly made. The ribs were tender, but the sauce was underwhelming and had a canned taste with a bit of pepper. The garlic bread was overpowering, with a heavy amount of raw minced garlic between the slices that threw off the balance. To be fair, their paella is advertised as a bestseller, so maybe we just chose the wrong items this time. But based on what we had, I’m not sure I’d be keen to return.

Had the best classic paella ever! Served in its own pan for two (Not the big pan) it was perfectly cooked with that ideal crispy, just-burnt bottom that makes a true paella. Packed with flavor and generously topped with 6 mussels and 4 large prawns, every bite was perfection. The atmosphere and staff made the experience even better—warm, welcoming, and truly enhancing the meal. Highly recommend!

We had a paella takeaway from Simply Spanish. The paella itself was quite tasty, flavourful and well-cooked, with a good balance of ingredients. However, it was a touch on the salty side, though not overwhelmingly so. The portion size also felt a bit small for the price, making it slightly expensive considering the quantity. We visited on a Sunday and had to wait in line for about 10 minutes. Despite the queue, the service was efficient once we reached the front, and staff were friendly and quick to serve. All in all, still a very decent option if you’re craving paella!

One greek lamb paella and one serve (2) croquettes for $51 takeaway. Service was exceptional, no complaints there! $51 for two croquettes and a slightly flavoursome risotto with minimal lamb and potatoes seemed to be overpriced in my opinion. For the price I wouldn't go back. Not value for money.

The paella was amazing but the seafood pasta may have been better. The ambience is cool; so much so that we forgot about the rain outside and just enjoyed our meal. Service was friendly and prompt.

Arrived at the Sth Melbourne restaurant around 7.45 and were seated quickly as there was only one other table of 3 in the restaurant. Ordered 2 cocktails and then a tapes of beef cheeks and then pulled pork paella from our lovely waitress. Meals came quickly and were delicious. This is when the night began to turn as sour as my pisco sour. As soon as we finished eating, our plates were whisked away and the bill presented to our table. Then the supervisor came and asked "how do you want to pay?" We said we weren't quite ready yet as we were still finishing our drinks. She glared at us over her mask. We asked are you closing soon? "We are already closed". It was 8.35pm. At no time were we told they were closing at 8.30. "why, do you want us to leave?" We asked with a smile. We were sure she would say "no worries, ladies, take your time". Instead she glared at us and said deadpan "yes". We looked at each other aghast at her rudeness. She said "you were told we close at 8.30 and the kitchen closed st 8pm". No. We were not. "Yes you were!" She was adamant. No we weren't. By not taking our word, she was basically insinuating we were lying. She then proceeded to argue with us. She would not accept that we hadn't been told. We said we are trying to support the local businesses by eating locally and spending money here and our experience here is not conducive to a return visit. She just glared again and said "it is my responsibility to ensure we close on time. We can't stay open just for you" It's at this stage I want to point out that, although our waitress and the other server who brought out our meal were totally lovely, but didn't tell us about closing time, we want to ensure they don't get in any trouble.  It was the manager who made us feel totally unwelcome and angry.  It was this manager who was rude. Her management skills are sorely lacking. She was not friendly and had no customer service skills. This was a very poor experience. Won't be back, and won't be frequenting the CBD restaurant again either in protest. And by the way, google says you close at 9pm. I hope management reads this.

Oh my goodness, just thinking about Simply Spanish has my mouth-watering! The vibe at the South Melbourne Markets was alive and buzzing. Simply Spanish was packed and it was only midday. We ordered the lunch special - house paella with chorizo and seafood and it did not disappoint. The seafood was fresh and it came with mussels even! There was so much flavour to the paella and it had that little bit of crunch. It was sheer joy! Party in my mouth! The service was perfect. Staff was friendly and fast. The waiter came back to check if everything was fine. I wish I had more time there to relax with a jug of sangria, rather than rushing back to work. Maybe next time. I'll be back, Simply Spanish!

I come here all the time whether to enjoy dining there enjoying people watching or taking it away. I order the paella as it's simply made to perfection. The seafood is delicious in it too. The service is always great when I am here. Consistently great taste and they deliver an award winning Paella!

Spent the morning at the market looking at all the wonderful food and crafts in there. Went to Simply Spanish for lunch and had a great meal. Had the paella and Moroccan chicken salad washed sow with red sangria. Delicious! Servers were friendly and ate outside. They cooked the paella outside where people could watch. Great way to advertise lunch!

Pretty standard for breakfast. Got the vegetarian breakfast with extra tomatoes instead of mushrooms. Tomatoes had a nice charred flavour but were a little undercooked and harder to cut. With breakfast I like tomatoes a little softer. Can't fault it but it wasn't exceptional either.

Had the simple paella from the large pans and it was scrumptious!!! You can taste the saffron, chorizo, chicken flavors all blended nicely together. The rice was perfectly moist and seasoned. It's the perfect paella. The sangria, on the other hand, was a bit light. Opt for a nice glass of wine instead.

Simply Spanish is a little Tapas bar positioned out the front of the South Melbourne Market. They have a huge wok style cooker out the front that they use to make the traditional Spanish dish paella, just the smells coming from this little stall are enough to make your mouth water! For about $12.50 you can get a pretty decent serving of the brightly yellow coloured dish, however prawns will cost you an additional $2 (prawns are are a standard ingredient in Spain so not sure why they are additional in Melbourne.) The Paella is a hearty dish and although I definitely found the portions great, the flavours were not quite as strong as I was expecting. Still a good option to fill you up while wandering through the market, Simply Spanish do lunch Wednesday to Sunday and dinner Thursday to Saturday with live entertainment and traditional Sangria to keep you dancing.

The food is great the coffee is fantastic and the staff are friendly and helpful, I had the mushroom and spinach paella it was delicious. The only criticism I have is the prices are a bit high for a market venue. The alfresco dinning is also lovely, they have many options for the unpredictable Melbourne weather

While walking to the South Melbourne Night Market today, I had to keep myself from salivating as I passed by the huge Paella pans set up on the walkway outside Simply Spanish. Needless to say when we were done with the markets, this thriving restaurant was the dinner venue of choice and without even looking at the menu, we ordered Paella. It came quite promptly and the serving was pretty decent (for $12.50). Sadly though, the delicious looking paella was a little bit disappointing. It was nice but not great! But I could be biased because I only recently came back from a holiday in Spain and I remember the paella to be gastronomically amazing! We actually did want to try other things on the menu but after the paella, we really couldn't so we washed it down with a chilled glass of sangria (of course) and promised to come back soon to sample the rest of the menu. Next time though, we'll probably leave the paella out.

Coffee is delicious. 2 chorizo croquettas for 8 bucks. Winning. Their award winning paella for 14.50 is a sizeable portion for two and delicious. Not super amazing but pretty good for the price. Will definitely go back to try their wines and other tapas dishes.

They have a selections of Spanish wines and unique spiced sangria to accompany your meal. Their staff is knowledgeable and able to help you with your food and drinks selections. Overall the tapas are well prices, paellas are very affordable and they have a quick take away paella packages as well. Simply Spanish has two other branches in the CBD, one at Bourke St and the other is at Elizabeth St. On market day they have small stall in front of the restaurant with several big pan of special paella's.

Really happy service staff, deliciously cooked meat to my requirements and plenty of Spanish speaking clientele. Scrumptious!

I'm torn when writing this review - the food was good, the service was good, it was reasonably priced and it's well located in the vibe of South Melbourne Market. But there was something about the place which just didn't grab me - when I left it was a case of "Let's go, that was nice" and it was almost instantly forgotten rather than "Oh... That was really good! Must come back!" I can't put my finger on it - the only thing which occurs to me is that the atmosphere was a bit flat, and there wasn't anything to make them stand out. That said... If you're in the area and you fancy some good Spanish food, you won't be disappointed.

If you can resist the paella, cooked in a giant pan and served up to customers, if you can resist from drooling over that yummy delicious smell wafting over towards you, and can turn your nose up at the beautifully cooked seafood, then do yourself a favour and order the potato tortilla. The latter is a traditional tortilla, much more like a frittata than what gets wrapped around a burrito. It comes served with a choice of sauces (the one I always order is green, vinegary and spicy, but I can't remember for the life of me what it's called. Try everything until you get the one you like). This is real Spanish food, to be accompanied by wine, women in red dresses and lots of music. Best served hot, with lots of summer.

Was over at the South Melbourne Market this afternoon to grab some fruits and veggies for our weekly juicing, and (being hungry) decided to check out Simply Spanish (on the recommendation from a co-worker). Like most (if not all) of the eateries at South Melb Mkt, there's always a packed al fresco patio to enjoy (if you can find a spot), or you can beat the wait by eating inside (usually a tight space, as well). We took a seat inside this time around. SS has a tight footprint, so it really reminds me of those little cafes in Barcelona. I started with my favorite thirst quencher, lemon lime & bitters. The menu is short-n'-sweet, with almost all paella dishes. We just decided to go with the straightforward original paella ($14.50 for eat-in; $13.50 for takeaway). Since SS already has the paella going full-steam out in front of the restaurant, there wasn't much of a wait to be served. The bowls of paella were served piping hot, rich with the scent of chorizo and saffron, with a good amount of chicken, mussels and calamari rings. The entire dish was cooked extremely well, and the flavors were robust. Surprisingly (to me), even the calamari rings -- which I thought might be tough as the paella seems to be cooking for long periods out front -- were nice and tender enough that you could simply use your fork to cut it. My paella bowl was simply wonderful; my partner's dish didn't get as many mussels, and one of his mussels hadn't opened (and it still had an attached beard), so he was a tad bit disappointed (still, though, he really liked the flavors). Simply Spanish did, indeed, take me back for a moment to my Barcelona days...! :D

This is the kind of place that makes you travel. The atmosphere on a sunny market day is quite unique, with the hungry crowd gravitating around the giant paella pans, soothed by Latin accents and Spanish flavours. Their paella is the best I had in Melbourne so far. It's perfectly cooked and served generously with heaps of seafood. Combined with a lovely glass of Sangria or a pot of their refreshing Spanish beer on tap, you are in for a very good time. The staff is very friendly. And they have good Chouros.

Consistly good Spanish food and friendly staff. The tapas and paella's are better than many that I've had in Spain. I've worked my way through the menu and my favourites tapas are the prawns in garlic and the pork belly.

Convenient location (across from work). Nice outdoor patio area and seating to have a chat. Yummmmmy coffee and reasonably priced for the CBD! Will bring my 4 workmates there for the $8 spanish brekkie in a couple weeks! More reviews to come ...

I've eaten here on each of my trips to Melbourne and was pleased with the paella. Although I would have rated it 5 stars upon my first impression, I had heard, and sadly experienced, that the quality of the paella was not quite as good as it once was in its heralded past. That said it is still very good and I'll be going back often.

Impressive! Nice place, wonderful food, waiters were spectacular and attentive. Great place to come alone, with a partner or friends!!!