The one restaurant, most recommended to me by food loving friends most recently has been Bodega. One of those places that will not take bookings (oh how they make my dining life difficult!), it’s a Tapas place (yes another one for Sydney) that has a lot of buzz. For as it is 5.55pm this Saturday night there are already two patrons outside that have been waiting for 10 minutes. It’s only 5 minutes before they they are technically open so I poke my head in only to be told politely and smilingly that they open at 6pm. Hmm strict little buggers aren’t they!
So we join the two other waiting diners and within seconds are joined soon by a crowd of diners, eager to snag a table at Bodega. There are even the people from Time Out who arrive in a Time Out London cab and tshirts. It’s almost 6pm and they’ve already got a crowd baying to get in. Not exactly baying actually, the crowd is polite, and when 6pm hits and the staff comes out, everyone gets into a queue according to how long people have waited and we are all shown to our tables.
We’re shown to a table in the small restaurant with a colourful mural on one wall and a light lined bar with barstool seating where patrons can have an eagle eyed view of the chefs in action. We order from the menu after consulting our friendly waitress about the signature dishes and for the 3 of us, she recommends getting 5 dishes.
White Anchovies $8
Before we know it the first plate has arrived, the white anchovies. They’re plump, creamy and tangy, less hairy than their brown cousins and delicious. The bread isn’t particularly remarkable and I don’t eat more than a couple of mouthfuls.
Bread with oil
Argentinean style beef empanadas with salsa criolla $10 for 3
Our Argentinean style beef empanadas with salsa criolla arrives next and it fresh and hot smell entices us to transport one of these babies onto our plate pronto and dissect. Inside there are olives, like an empanada should have. They’re smaller than the ones I’ve eaten at La Paula, more of a curry puff size but they’re absolutely delicious. My sister goes on about Argentinian beef and if this is an indication, I want to try more. The salsa criolla is a perfect piquant accompaniment to it with onion, tomato and capsicum and a strong red wine vinegar flavour .
“Fish fingers”: sashimi Kingfish on garlic toast with celeriac$16
The “Fish fingers”: sashimi Kingfish on garlic toast with thinly sliced celeriac, is a dish we were intrigued by because of its name. We certainly didn’t expect fish fingers of the normal frozen variety, especially since our waitress recommended it, and what we get is four deliciously oil laden garlic bread fingers overlayed with kingfish sashimi. There’s a little too much diced raw onion on top for me but I do love the sashimi and crunchy, garlicky oily bread fingers. Gina finds it too salted for her so I dutifully eat her remaining slice (poor Teena can’t partake as she is pregnant).
Zucchini flowers stuffed with corn paella wtih manchego cheese$20
The colourful Zucchini flowers are one of my favourite ingredients when stuffed, battered and deep fried. In this case they’re not and the corn paella filling which is actually sauteed corn (no paella rice) is interesting although I can taste a vague bitter taste in it. I don’t hate it but as I eschew bitter tastes (something my father in law, a naturopath says isn’t good for me) I leave my second one for Teena or Gina.
Seared scallops with pickled Wagyu tongue,cabbage & celeriac salad $20
The Seared scallops with pickled Wagyu tongue,cabbage & celeriac salad appears next, three fat thick scallops seared on one side only and laid on top of thinly shaved Wagyu tongue. To the side is the cabbage and celeriac salad dressed with a light mayonnaise emulsion. The three together are delicious, the Wagyu tongue just lovely and delicate combined with the texture of the fat juicy scallops and tendrils of salad.
Spring Chicken with lentils $28
Our last dish, the Spring Chicken with green lentils is one that we ordered both on the recommendation of the waitress and the delicious smell emanating from the kitchen. The chicken is tender and very juicy and comes with a slight swirl of creamy potato puree.
The dessert menu looks enticing, particularly the Banana Split: Cream flan, dulce de leche ice cream, ginger biscuit and banana but as we’re going to a Sugar Hit afterwards we beg off. Although thinking back on it, I’m sure if I had put in a bit of effort I could have had two. Regrets regrets…
Bodega Tapas
216 Commonwealth St Surry Hills NSW 2010
Phone: +61 2 9212 7766
Lunch: Thursday & Friday from 12pm
Dinner: Monday - Saturday from 6pm
Email: bodega.restaurant@gmail.com
No Reservations, all members of a party must be present before being seated
http://bodegatapas.com/
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16 Comments | Add your own
The anchovies the empanadas, the zucchini flowers, the chicken, all looks yum. Not a huge fan of scallops tho…will definitely give this one a try…
Scallops and Wagyu …I’m sold
mmm I LOVE tapas. I must come here one day…. however I’m never a fan of no reservations. That’s the only thing that deters me!
I’d visit, though Tapas never seems to fill me up
Lovely photos as always!
Hi Reemski-I’d love some more empanadas as a midnight snack right about now! Just remember to go early if you’re going on a Saturday night as I have had friends that have been turned away on a busy night.
Hi D-Hehe Wagyu tongue no less! I don’t know if Wagyu tongue is more tender than regular tongue treated the same way but it was delicious!
Hi Teresa-I know, I loathe no reservations places. I really have better things to do than try and get into a place to eat!
Hi Cappucino-Yes you may have to order a few dishes to get full but all the better to try the more food! Thankyou so much!
Ooohh another place on my list of places to dine is bumped up due to your post haha. Hmm they really have a new twist on the Spanish tapas don’t they?
wow great food
you can have the fish all to yourself, but the zucchini flowers and empanadas? i’d fight for those.
Hi FFichiban-Yes there are the Spanish ingredients present but all done in a different way!
Hi snooky doodle-Yes indeed!
Hi grace-haha yes that’s right, you don’t like seafood. Sure, it’s a deal!
It’s a great little place isn’t it
My favourite dish, surprisingly, is the vegetarian cauliflower one.
Hi Y-The waitress recommended the cauliflower salad but the allure of the fish and scallops proved too strong
As an aspiring food blogger myself, I love your website!!!
I also love Bodega, and its such a shame that you missed out on the Banana Split, which I recently declared was the best dessert I have ever had (and I have had a lot of desserts.. )
Also the spanish ham is amazing !
Hi AL-Thankyou so much! That’s lovely of you to say
I know, talk about regrets, I should have so tried to squeeze the banana split in. I think perhaps it calls for another visit?
I’m intrigued by the popularity of this place!
The anchovies looked good and I love fried pastry.. it’s a huge weakness, in any form. I also LOVED the look and sound of the ‘fish fingers’.. Mmm Mmm, especially with garlic toast. I was very curious about the celeriac on top? How did that go? I noticed celeriac in a couple of the dishes you guys selected.
I tend to avoid Tapas because to me.. it always equals: Too much $ spent and belly not full!
That’s been my experience anyway with Spanish restaurants -even with a la carte full sized meals (I know this place wasn’t Spanish).
Please tell me what is “Pickled Wagyu Tongue”? Is it the tongue of a Wagyu cow? Or beef shaped into a tongue? How’s it pickled?
I’m also curious about what’s on top of the chicken? The spikey looking stuff. More celeriac/cabbage?
Tell me more about this bitterness thing. If something tastes bitter to the palate is it bad for you? Or just specifically for you?
Sorry if I’ve asked too many q’s!
Hi Maria-I love fried pastry too, as if it weren’t buttery enough already!
The celeriac didn’t do much for me, I preferred just the fish fingers with a smaller amount of celeriac.
My husband avoids Tapas for the very same reason. I can usually get full on 2 dishes so it suits me fine.
The pickled Wagyu tongue is the pickled tongue of a Wagyu cow from the looks of it, and very thinly sliced. It was gorgeous. I don’t know how it is pickled though!
My father in law told me that it is good to eat bitter things. I don’t actually follow his nutritional advice though but he is a naturopath. I just don’t like strongly bitter things (mild I can put up with but won’t love) and won’t eat them and they can put me off a dish.
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