Bodega Tapas & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Central Core

My girlfriend and I stopped there for Dinner before the UFC fight this Saturday at Rexall Place. We started off with the Caprese salad and that was quite delicious. As for our main course I ordered the Roasted Chicken and the side of mushrooms with the turnip salad. The plate was well presented however, the Chicken and the mushrooms were extremely bland. The turnip salad wasn't to bad however one again was extremely very bland. The only thing I did enjoy salad was the texture of the salad. I was extremely disappointed with my meal had a few bites and asked it to wrapped up it to go. My girlfriend ordered the 🌶 Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta for her main dish well it came out with these tiny bits the size of bacon bits that was apparently the spicy sausage. We had a good chuckle in the quantity and the quality that she had received with the dish. The pasta was soggy and falling apart as she ate a few bites more she pretty much gave up on the dish and asked for it to go as well. My girlfriend gf went to the bathroom and as we both discussed before she left that we hated to complain but this was terrible. I decided to state that my Girlfriend wouldn't say anything however as you can see the noodles were over cooked and should have been blanched noodles. The waitress agreed and ask if there was anything else she would like I stated she would live a tiramisu as that is one of her favourite dishes. She went to talk to the Manager that evening he seemed very uninterested. The waitress came back apologized profusely and took it off our bill but the dessert we would have to pay for. We ordered this and we gave it a 3/5 For the record our waitress was great! The atmosphere was very lovely. The Sangria was really good but overall left there hungry and dissatisfied. We paid our tab and I got lucky as soon as I walked out there was a guy asking for change . I didn't have any but I gladly offered my leftovers and hoped he we would be more satisfied then me 😅Needless to say we will not be returning to Bodega and will not recommend this place to...

Bodega is the sister restaurant of Sabor, which is my favorite restaurant in Edmonton (and always in the top five according to most lists). Like Sabor, the hardest part is figuring out how to order because the tapas, while delicious, quickly add up. Having had the paella at Sabor, we decided to skip the pricy mains and combine some tapas, an a la carte protein and small charcuterie.

Cod fritters never disappoint and were perfectly seasoned without being fishy. We love the empanadas which you can have with various proteins. (We split beef and lamb.) They are never greasy and always flavorful. Garlic prawns are reasonably large and perfectly flavored without being oily or overly garlicky.

Unfortunately, while billed as a Portuguese restaurant, our visit to Portugal last year kind of ruined charcuterie anywhere else for us because nothing can match the quality of meats and cheeses in Portugal or Spain. However, they do offer a good selection of North American and European meats and cheeses that are tasty but a tad pricey. Still worth it if you enjoy cheese boards. We skipped the meats because they are overpriced by our standards.

As an a la carte protein, we enjoyed the 8 ounce short ribs which were cooked medium with delicious chimichurri on top. While we didn’t order an appetizer this time, we’ve had the mussels and would recommend them along with most others but perhaps you’d skip some tapas and choose a main instead if your budget allows.

Cherry cheesecake is tapa sized but quite tasty. Service at the Ellerslie location is excellent and wait staff are cordial, friendly and offer suggestions as they do on the downtown location. Overall, Bodega is an excellent choice for what it offers but expect to easily spend between $120 to $150 if you want to walk away full...

The food here was great. Definitely worth the visit. Though I enjoyed it quite well, the service could use a little help.

We are from out of town and the receiving area was not as welcoming as one would hope.

To note, a few steps up is their fine dining and the casual place for the tapas (Bodega) which we ended up going as we didn't have resos, was right to the left when you walk in. However since we didn't know this lay out we walked into the recieving area which is located as part of the fine dining area. Fine dining was fully booked. The guy who recieved us was pretty annoyed when we came up the stairs already. I can feel the tension as I leaned in and ask if they have room, this guy pointed out with one finger to Bodega and said somewhere along the lines where"we are booked, go there and see if there's tables that can accommodate you." I mean I've been called names, at times when restaurants sees me due to my androgynous style I've been refused - but what set me back was his finger. He didn't give me the middle finger but he might as well have. It was rude and very not helpful. It was a snowy day and I was wearing my So Kate's (for those of you who know, the struggle was real, getting out of the uber in a freshly snowed street in my 120s, going up the stairs happy we could finally eat though aware there maybe chances we could get denied due to the high season and time, then that finger as I bewilderedly came down the same steps in same shoes ow and there were no railing as this entrance is huge)!!!!

Our server almost redeemed herself and we still gave her a hefty thank you at the end. But really that dude may have been the GM - he may need to retake customer service...