We have an office tradition where birthdays or special occasions are celebrated by going out to lunch and having the bosses pay for it, so we very muchly obliged and headed to Viva La Vida in Smith Street Mall. For those who have been living under a rock or are visiting Darwin, Viva la Vida is a wine and tapas bar, one that is very popular with the ladies come sundown thanks to the buff topless waiter guys that are commonly seen about at that time. Nothing wrong with that of course, but not my kinda scene. Perhaps one day (far away) when my gym sessions finally reap rewards I'll rock up as a waiter myself. One can dream.

Lunch however is a different story. There's a great value plated lunch menu where most of the items are $15 give or a take a few bucks (tostadas, salads, quesadillas, paella, chilli con carne and a Spanish casserole). Vegetarians will be delighted as well with more than a few options to choose from instead of the usual token salad tacked. Orders are taken at our table, and while we're waiting for our meals to arrive we get to soak in the wonderful lunchtime vibe of the mall under the shade of the giant Raintrees. Great spot during the lovely dry season, although you won't be seeing me eating alfresco here (or anywhere else outside) come build up.

Any hoos the moment of truth comes and our meals arrive not too long after and all are looking like art on a plate. The dozen of us are all amateur food critics, so it's a good sign when it suddenly goes silent as we all chow down with intermittent mmm hmms from the ladies and awesomeness' from the lads. It's 11.20 at night and I'm depriving myself of much needed sleep to write this, therefore I won't be going through all the dishes individually and just say that everything tastes as good as it looks.

You can go the tapas route if you want instead of the plated options, although I wouldn't call them remotely good value sitting next to the plate lunch meals. Most of them are around $12-$16 for appetizer sized plates (not to be confused with the actual appetizers on the menu), so either make sure your boss is paying or come on pay day.

I should probably mention the beverage menu - if a good drop of wine is your thing then look no further. With what must possibly be the biggest wine offering in Darwin, the 10 page long list should have you covered. I matched my meal with a lovely iced orange juice. They do breakfast now as well from 8am 7 days a week which I have been meaning to check out, but that will have to wait for another time. Overall a great spot for an quick and easy lunch if you stick to the lunch specials. Would visit again, which is exactly what I did a few days later.