bodega

a small and cosy restaurant with very friendly staff. the high 4.4 rating on zomato drew us there but unfortunately the food did not meet our expectations. the dishes were overly sweet at times and overly salt on others. we ordered nearly every tapasdishon the menu, the wagu beef was the onlydishworth mentioning. considering the cost of 50 to 70 aud per person i expected better.

bodega is a spanish and latin american restaurant located in surry hills that is famous for their delicious tapas and share plates. we have heard great things about their menu so came here for dinner one night with some friends keen to try out a range of dishes. to start off, we ordered the savoury portuguese tart with miso and roast king crab. this was probably my favouritedishof the night, the tart was kind of sweet and so creamy and yet still went well with the savoury crab.

visited bodega for dinner on a busy saturday night, do definitely booking before hand as the dining area was very limited on the weekend.
we were seated at the stools right in front of the cooks which was pretty awesome, watching our dishes being cooked and plated up in front of us.
their menu are designed to be shared so we ordered quite a few dishes.
overall, dishes were above average however nothing was really amazing and really stood out though. my favouritedishof the night however was the duck & scallopdish- the duck was cooked so well and was really enjoyable.
the wine list was a little different as the variety were mainly spanish wine.
great dining experience and slightly above average.

lovely little place with delish food and helpful staff. favouritedishis the fish fingers. didn't get to try the desserts but will next time. all the food was presented well and all very delicious and tasty.

we rang saturday afternoon to book a table for two but were told they could only book us in at 6pm.  after 6pm it was walk in only and the waiting shouldn't be too long.  we arrived at restaurant at 6:20pm, surprisingly all tables were taken but we were more than happy to sit at the bar where we could see the hectic yet orderly actions in the kitchen.  as usual the dishes were designed to share and the recommendation was two from tapas and two from large shared dishes.  it certainly wasn't your average tapas.  corned beef and kimchi served on hot cross bun, a combination of sweet, salty and spicy. there was a lot going on in one mouthful.  zucchini flowers stuffed with steamed peas and ricotta was light and creamy before the heat from chilli kicked in.  beef cheek was extremely tender and rich in the sauce.  i wasn't so sure about the lastdish- crispy duck with thinly sliced raw scallops served on chocolate mole.  duce, raw seafood and chocolate sauce, it didn't quite work for me.  the interesting combination of ingredients certainly were reflection of chef's innovation and imagination. some worked, some didn't, which made it an interesting meal.  serving was on the small side, after four dishes and a couple of drinks each which cost close to $150 we weren't particularly full or satisfied. we ended up eating more food from another bar later on.

like other reviewers on this site, i came to bodega with excited anticipation. the ambience was typical of a surry hills restaurant - too-loud music, random would-be cool and hipster touches, and a similar approach was evident in their food. overwhelming flavours and richness without being satisfying in that soulful way we crave food to be - in other words, we actually ate dumplings when we got home because we weren't psychologically contented in our food. and not because of inadequate portions either - we ordered plenty of dishes. 

look, there were some nice things about bodega. the mushroom and lettuce dumplings were pure comfort food and one of the few dishes where our palates did not feel unnecessarily bombarded. the steak tatare was reasonable, though the achiote sauce totally bullied the other ingredients into utter submission. but the roast pork with clams? what the? the individual elements of thedishwere quality but taken together it just didn't make any sense, an upper scale equivalent of the bacon flavoured ice cream - quirk alone does not equate to innovation or satisfaction. and the crispy duck was simply none too crispy. the sangria was overpriced and not quite fruity enough we have only praise for the attentive service we received, but at these kinds of prices, we do expect the food to actually taste good too.

dinner at bodega ... -- the food -- (food comes in sharing plates, photos shows one portion) pork sausage, lettuce cup, pickled carrot, chilli sauce (~$4-5 per portion) pork sausage tastes like spam. the whole group was quite disappointed. this can be made at home with spam. not the type of latin american tapas we were expecting  chargrilled sa calamari, marinated green beans and almond cream ($24) calamari was tender and not overcooked. almond cream was very creamy and goes very well with the calamari. green beans added some texture to the dish. really enjoyed this dish.  pork, octopus, cabbage and green apple salad with jalapeno dressing ($22) the pork was tasty and added a crunch to the salad. the octopus was tender. the jalapeno dressing was not spicy at all. the salad was too sour for my tasting. the combination of each component clashes with each other in my opinion. perhaps trying too hard to be inventive  crispy duck, scallops, chocolate mole, avocado, old bay apple ($28) the crispy duck was little too dry and overcooked. the scallops were paper thin. literally just a 2-3 bite sized slices of avocado. i think each component clashes with each other. better to eat each component separately than together in one bite.  maple sesame beef rib with rice and pickle salad ($26) the pickle salad was both sour and sweet at the same time with no balance. the beef rib was quite tender (encased in the ball). the shell/ ball reminds me of a doughnut glazed in maple syrup. didn't really like thisdishwe came with high expectations as we all absolutely love their sister restaurant porteno. we would literally like up at porteno for 3 hours for a table as the food there is absolutely divine! however, the food at bodega definitely disappointed us. perhaps, they were being a little too creative and inventive. maybe it's just me ... i can't quite appreciate or interpret what they are trying to get across to me or even our table of people. expect to spend a fair bit but not feeli

top 5 restaurant in sydney. just love the style, the setting - everything about this place rocks

fish fingers are a sydneydishthrough and through.

great service - great food - great little bar next door to wait while your getting ready for a great feed.

bodega is a tapas joint located in surryhills. it combines south american and spanish flavours and we checked in for lunch. on the street side, it’s a fairly simple affair but inside is a large kitchen along one wall and bar seating and then a scattering of tables around and a bit of a colourful mural to the side. its also part of the porteno family so you can expect a quality eat here. empanadas are an typical stuffed spanish pastrydishand they have different ones. today there were ham and cheese and really nice with flaky pastry. bodega does tapas styled eats and you get really nice bites of food. fish fingersdishis a delicate soldier of cuttlefish, king fish and salt cured tuna (mojama). melanie’s pick was this pumpkin salad. monchego cheese, zucchini flower and pumkin. a real highlight of the meal being delicious, light with fantastic textures.   lamb neck, harissa, eggplant and yogurt was a very nicedishwith well seasoned crispy lamb pieces with a delicious fine mash. banana

amazing. seriously amazing! we were a group so had the set menu and eachdishwas fantastic. highlights were the pork and cabbage salad, pork sausage, lamb and the mango dessert! atmosphere was perfect and wait staff were attentive, helpful and lovely. all round wonderful!

the menu consists of a bunch of small to medium sized tapas dishes that aren’t exactly traditional but are inventive and unique. the moment miss k saw that there was san daniele prosciutto on the menu i knew it was going to be a must order for the night. thedisharrived within a few minutes which was quite impressive, the prosciutto was amazing in flavour and served slightly chilled

delicious. a very enjoyable saturday night chatting and sharing with a friend in this stylish tapas diner. a very elegant decor, though the chairs were not quite as comfortable as i would have liked when settling in for a good few hours of chewing the fat. there were padded benches with some of the larger tables, so i would try them next time. lack of wall decorations meant it was a little noisy, even with a small number of tables filled on the night we went. there were plenty of attentive staff who were all immaculately presented, including a very glamorous hostess with the best blonde set i've seen since 1954. stunning.
the food was excellent, beautifully presented and full of subtle flavours. we have a total of seven selections, all of which were on the small side, but together they made a reasonable meal. the mussels and palm heartsdishin particular was a taste sensation but teasingly small. the textural mix of the brisket with a fried egg was moreish and was a good choice for us before we set to on the creamy sweet desserts. at around $220 for food and drink ( three glasses of wine and a cocktail) for two it was on the expensive side, but definitely a place to keep in mind for future catch up dinners in a buzzy space.

divine!. we were a big group so we had pretty much almost everydishon the menu...
these are the highlights voted by everyone;
- scallops (omg...we ordered 3 serves!!! 9 in total)
- lamb (amazing...tender...melt in your mouth)
- pork belly
- quinoa
- zucchini


the other dishes were all so so so good. going to be a fortnightly dinner place now.

service much better than food. my partner and i were welcomed in a friendly manner and luckily seated straight away. after scanning the menu we thought it sounded promising.

however, the 'ceviche, marinated tomato, cider and buckwheat' would be better described as 'strips of raw fish and tomato saturated in cider vinegar to mask any kind of flavour and will leave a sharp acidic taste lingering throughout the rest of the meal.' as for the buckwheat, there were a handful of grains sprinkled on top. we felt we'd paid $18 for adishof vinegar. there's no way the chefs have tasted it themselves, they've got thatdishso wrong. we did feed this back to the waitress who graciously accepted that it was very disappointing.

after eating the grilled calamari dish, we started to think this restaurant had spilled a barrel of cider vinegar over all dishes that evening, albeit slightly less so on this than the ceviche. the grilled element allowed some flavour to come through the vinegar. it appeared that what they meant by 'mustard greens' on thisdishwas in fact a few leaves of watercress and rocket.

my partner ate the brisket which looked rather unappetising. pieces of meat, a fried egg and some onion rings covered in an orange sauce (bbq) and floating around in a kind of broth. it was desperately missing a carb element - maybe fried potatoes. thisdishdidn't know what it was. needless to say the onion rings became soggy in the fluid.

the corn tamaledishredeemed something of quality. the flavours were well balanced and each was fresh and tasty.

overall it was very disappointing - with one glass of wine and one beer our bill was $115, and we felt utterly robbed. two dishes terrible, one ok and one good does not justify a trip there again, nor any kind of recommendation.

i was expecting big things but left extremely disappointed, tapas is a very loose word here for tiny and less than average meals. $30 for a 100g sirloin that lacked flavour and any forms of presentational well as burnt squid and overlooked empinadas. when you are served tapas or any smalldishyou expect quality and flavour and we found little of either. i have eaten with south american friends and this is in no way comparable, anyone who has ever tried an empinada please do not disappoint yourself. i don't know how else to describe this restaurant except for ridiculously overpriced and less than average, we actually went around the corner to another venue for a meal that was 10% of the price and much better after we finished. sorry bodega but you currently hold the title of the worst restaurant i have visited in sydney