In his spacious new digs just outside the CBD, Spanish chef Javier Codina is unashamedly going back to his Barcelona roots, with a tapas menu that includes deep-fried sweet jalapenos stuffed with goat’s cheese, and soft red piquillo peppers jam-packed with tuna salad and resting on a muddle of Persian feta, herbs, capers and olives. Both are seriously good, brimming with flavour and perfect with a crisp, dry Godello varietal from Galicia, one of several Spanish wines by the glass.

Reef fish ceviche is firming as a favourite, the delicate white flesh enlivened with drops of orange blossom, lime zest, shallots and salmon caviar. Some entrees (entremeses) cross the border to France – silky-smooth duck liver pate with PX jelly, and pork ribs with celery remoulade – but dense squid ink rice, topped with garlicky scampi, returns to Codina’s homeland in a classic dish of his childhood. A Mibrasa charcoal oven turns out succulent, smoky tenderloin and wagyu rib  fillet, and a wine shop specialising in Spanish drops is coming soon.

After 20 years in the CBD, Moda’s move to the bustling Barracks is set to attract a more casual crowd, equally happy to sit up at the bar, cosy up in a leather banquette or pull up a stool at the steel bench in the open kitchen.

Must-eat dish: Squid ink rice with scampi