Bodega revisit, Surry Hills
It’s been a year since my last visit, and it is still my favourite tapas place in Sydney! I was catching up with M1 and M2, they both have yet to come here, so thought I would suggest it. Both Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milgate are permanently at Porteno, so Nic Wong and Joel Humpreys have taken over the reigns as head chefs of Bodega and I was keen to see what they had to offer. The menu is still quite similar to last year.
We started with the chipotle pulled pork steamed buns with pickled carrots ($6 each) – these little babies were absolutely delightful! Tender, succulent pulled pork with soft steamed buns, it was so easy to eat half a dozen of these. Definitely my favourites!
The poached ocean trout dolmades with green chilli yogurt ($6 each) were a hit amongst the diners. The green chilli yogurt was a wonderful complement.
Couldn’t go past the fried spiced calamari with aioli ($18) – luscious calamari with spices and the aioli was just like icing on the cake.
M1 couldn’t resist but order the steamed pork belly with warm salad of onion and shiitake mushroom ($24) – he is another pork lover! Thinly sliced pork belly which just melted in your mouth – it was as good as I remembered it to be!
‘The Mother’ wanted mussels which came with a side of fried bread (which is usually eaten with congee).
The mushroom and garlic ($12) was lovely, strong garlicky flavour.
Corn tamale with black beans and avocado ($12) was a hit. Loved the combination of black beans, and avocado and eaten with corn chips was scrumptiously good!
We were all stuffed, and could not fit any dessert, although the banana split was very tempting! Think both Nic and Joel has done quite well, my favourite is definitely the chipotle pulled pork steamed buns, followed by the steamed pork belly and fried spiced calamari. No doubt we will be returning soon!
Please note they don’t take reservations, so be there early if you want to avoid the queues!
GA’s ratings: 8.5 / 10
216 Commonwealth St
Surry Hills, 2010
Ph: +61 2 9212 7766
I’ve wanted to go here for ages, and now I want to go even more! I just love Tapas…must visit ASAP!
woah the pulled pork buns look all kinds of amazing!
Wow – a lot less South American than I remember! Pork buns?!
Oh I love dolmades!!! Those steamed buns look fab!
Yum! Looks delicious. I’ve been looking for a decent Tapas bar in Sydney for a while now so I’ll have to give this one a go!
hey @misspiggy – definitely must visit ASAP! love the pork buns here.
@chocolatesuze – i wanted to eat at least half a dozen on my own but think my friends would be appalled!
@tina – think its still South American, with a little of an Asian twist?
@diningwith a stud – steamed buns were AWESOME!
@nic – definitely worth checking it out! go early, queues can be horrendous!
I love tapas but have never eaten here. Looks really yum.
Haven’t been there but apparently they’re deviating from the original theme… not that it’s a bad thing, though.
If all goes to plan, I am going there tomorrow night. If I can get a table…
hey Lau – go early!!! 6 if you can… as it will get quite busy!
Another “need to get my bot there” establishment. It all looks fantastic.