bomba downstairs

good atmosphere, friendly service.  food was a bit of a mixed bag, loved the machego croquetas but the kingfish was a bit average. likewise the burrata and tomato with anchovy was delicious but in the duck paella the rice was a bit gluggy and salty.  great patatas bravas!

sensational lunch deal. the $15 lunch deal here is fantastic - good range of options, great quality, generous serves. $5 extra for a drink to top it off. you can't do better!

formerly the aylesbury, the restaurant undertook a revamp last year and became what we now know as ‘bomba’. the restaurant has retained much of its rustic, casual interior and generous bar seating with owners jesse garner and andrew fisk coining the establishment as a ‘spanish workers bar’. with the range of menu options and affordable prices, it certainly lives up to the claim. bomba offers a $15 express lunch menu that is excellent value considering the prices of fixed lunch menus in melbourne cbd ($25-35). this is structured perfectly to suit casual diners, a corporate lunch or group dining. the ‘tapas’ section includes a choice of several small bites, ‘raciones’ which is a medium sized dish and lastly, ‘venduras’ which are side dishes to be shared. charcoal grilled corn with grilled maize grilled corn has become somewhat infamous in recent years, following its popularity at mamasita , variations of the dish has been popping up

came without a booking and was seated at the bar. spanish tapas with decent sizing considering the style of food. flavours were interesting, although the time i went the food seemed a bit heavy handed with dill.

this place was good overall; i came here twice in 2016. the tapas was between good and excellent; i loved the manchego cheese fritters; cheesycand rich however not oily, the leek added some sort of extra flavouring and freshess to it. we also ordered the deliciously flavoured and tender lamb ribs, however for me the star was the paella with seafood. it had a great flavour of seafood and fish mixed with saffron (usual for a paella) however i find for the portion sizes the price was quite a lot ($38). i would, however, go back here again; quality ingredients and nice ambiance; staff could work on their people skills and be warmer though.

the prawns with paprika was nicely fried and packed a punch, which was complemented quite nicely with the cook aioli.

the meat for the lamb ribs fell off the bone and was slightly oily, but had good flavour, with plenty of fat that made me hungry for more.

the bone marrow was disappointing and lacked the character i was looking for. the pumpkin pino straciatella was similarly disappointing as the mild cheese was overwhelmed by the sauce

could be better with improvements. i could have gone either way on this. narrowly i went with ‘doesn’t like it’.
i went here with some work friends, a group of 11 for the $15 lunch. overall the food was good, the pork jowl was really good apparently. i enjoyed the corn but felt the leek wasn’t great: too hard, too stringy, too boring. it certainly didn’t satisfy as the ‘main’ part of the lunch selection.
overall people enjoyed the food, however the main complaint was that there wasn’t enough of it. for $15 it wasn’t bad value given the quality, but i think you would be better off charging $20 or maybe even $25 if you gave 25-50% more food. it really was not enough to be satisfied, every single person agreed.
one thing which really annoyed us was the ordering of the patatas bravas. for dietary reasons, one person in the group got their own smallish but satisfactory platter of potatoes (which were lovely mind you). the remaining 10 of us were made to share between two larger platters, which were in no way commensurate in size given they were for 10 times the amount of people. if we had gone on our own and ordered exactly the same meal we would have received the individual platter, so we were paying the price of going as a group. we all thought this was a cheap touch. i mean how much do potatoes cost? it certainly made everyone hungrier, that’s for sure.

great food, tired service. 

the 4 of us had about 15 dishes big and small and all were great.  the prices were also fair. the seafood were all fresh and had tangy sauces.

the service was poor. we had 3 different wait staff and each one looked more tired than the next.  not sure what's going on there. 

the room is a little weird. it's had to get comfortable on the high tables, and there are so many of them.  and something about the decor is off, you feel cold and bored. 

conclusion:
great food let down by poor service and uneasy decor.

great environment and service. i came to bomba for my anniversary dinner last night and loved everything about it... we had a drink in the bar upstairs first and the atmosphere for a sunday night was fantastic. the bar staff were very friendly and helpful!
the dinner we had downstairs was fabulous... i do love the sharing style of dining at the moment and the portion sizes and quality of all the food was exceptional. i will definitely be coming back and recommending this place to all of my friends.

i love bomba. every time you visit the food is always great. and you can finish the night off on their rooftop bar. the food is spanish and the staff very friendly and helpful

one of my favourite restaurants in melbourne. the food and service is fantastic. overall bomba is quite good value. the "feed me" option is very filling at $45 pp.

great food & service. went here before the friday night footy! was blown away by the service. had the $45 dollar set menu, left satisfied. the food was yummy! the ambiance was just perfect! would recommend! i will be back!

the tapas style, spanish inspired food here is great. not to mention the hefty and creative drinks menu and the cocktail menu, which is something to make a trip for alone. i've never been upstairs but the ambience downstairs is quite lovely and pretty cosy. recommended for a date venue.
we were a large group and ordered the set menu, which offered a fantastic variety. the first out were the fresh oysters. for the non-oyster fans, the chopped broccoli, almond and goats curd toast with housemade morcilla (blood sausage), was the replacement. i don't mind fresh oysters but someone heard me wrong, and i ended up being glad to get a piece of the toast instead. it may have been my favourite dish of the night! the flavours just came together so spectacularly, while the bread was toasted to perfection, crispy on the outside with a degree of fluffiness on the inside. the greens, nuts, and subtle but tasty goats cheese culminated beautifully, and i don't recall tasting anything like a blood sausage on there, but i think it contributed a slight savoury touch. this was followed by the charcuterie, (which i believe was jamon) and also the leek and machego cheese croquettes. the jamon was excellent, you could taste the quality in the texture of the meat. it had substance despite being so thinly sliced. the croquettes were very nice, the filling had spark and was tasty. the wild mushroom and oloroso soup with crispy jamon came in a very small serve, not much bigger than a shot. it was a nice intermission for the palate, being smooth and creamy, with great flavour. i would have preferred it just like this, as the crunch of the jamon was a bit out of place in the midst of the smoothness. next we're the marinated lamb ribs with sumac yoghurt. these were succulent and flavourful, the yoghurt adding a pleasant and subtle tangy note. last of the starters was the charcoal grilled corn with dried maize. i found this to be quite delightful, as the corn was pretty nicely charred, but had a host of other flavours, with the crunchy and slightly salty maize, and the tasty mayo like sauce, which had been infused with something good.
i enjoyed only one of the mains, and this could be because i was getting full already, but i still maintain that the pedro ximenez braised pork jowl was too dry for me. on the outside it was bathing in this delectable looking sauce which gave the impression of succulent meat. perhaps this increased the shock at the dryness. the cauliflower was puréed and easily lost in the thick sauce. the other main was the star--being charcoal grilled moreton bay bugs with spicy harissa and jamon migas. the flesh and taste was great, although i wasn't getting much charred bbq flavour from it. the harissa and migas added a bit more character to the taste too. salad was served with these two mains-- it was pickled red cabbage with golden raisins. pretty good combo with the pork.
dessert was quite a pleasant affair but not mind-blowing. the chocolate croquettes were a bit of a disappointment for me. hazelnuts were heaped on too copiously, and combined with the crispy coating of the croquette, left the palate too dry, for there was not much of a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate filling to soak it in. the custard lacked any character really, but did help somewhat with the dryness. the churros with chocolate was simple but pretty good. churros were fluffy inside, crispy outside and the chocolate made for good dipping. the highlight was definitely the turron parfait. the texture was nice and creamy, balanced by the crumbly bits and the nougat. the strawberries and the delicious filling of palo cortado (rare kind of sherry) poached cherries added fruity excitement. quite a delight for sweet-tooths.
and those cocktails? very good! the amaretto sour was yum--i'm not usually a fan but this one was nice and smooth and the almond liquor wasn't overpowering so you could taste all the goodness underneath. my 'pirate's special' was pretty nice too. lots of strong flavours in there, but these were balanced nicely with some fruitiness from the lime and raspberry.
bomba is a great venue for many reasons and it's obviously quite versatile--there's so many things going for it.

103 lonsdale street, melbourne bombabar.com.au tagged under: australia , bars , melbourne , restaurants , spanish food , tapas , wine may 7 2015 comments reviews cooking travel soap box about me contact

another adventure. last night we spent a memorable couple of hours enjoying the most divine spanish fare at bomba downstairs. we were celebrating my husband's 75th birthday and our first visit to bomba was just the icing on the cake. our every need was catered for, including a table in a quieter part when our adjoining larger group was a bit loud, without us having to ask to be shifted. the service was superb and the staff were just so friendly. the menu was explained in detail and this helped considerably when making choices. we had a theatre date after dinner and this was taken into consideration. we were able to enjoy a leisurely meal in a very relaxed atmosphere. we will most certainly be visiting bomba again and telling others of our experience there. well done!!!!