La Bodega — Restaurant in Great Britain

La bodega used to be one of my favourite places to get food in the city I happily travelled halfway across the city to visit it, but unfortunately after some of its recent changes I will no longer be visiting. While the staff are just as lovely as before I was saddened to hear that half the staff base has been let go.

The menu has also changed, being once a refuge for people with coeliac disease it no longer is a completely gluten-free kitchen. With so few completely gluten-free kitchens in the city it's a big blow to the coeliac community. The cafe also now only features half the menu it once did, with even further reductions on weekends due to a smaller staff pool. This particularly applies to arepas with only the chicken arepa being available when I visited. Prices have also increased drastically compared to a couple of months ago. This can be seen on the old menu compared to the new one.

There's also a reduction on tables as well with no larger tables left for groups over 2. With the reduced tables it's feels very cramped when sitting, and depending on where you're sitting you could be shoulder to shoulder with other customers. A complete change in atmosphere to how it once was.

It's clear that the focus for the cafe is now more tailored for take aways which is fine if you live in the area but is unfortunate if you're travelling to it for a sit down meal.

While I wish the owners the best due to these changes I can no longer give 5 star, and won't...

Absolutely stunning place. Genuinely never had food like it. Pulled pork and white rice aside, everything on my plate was a new flavour.

Best guac I’ve ever had? Yes. Best salsa I’ve ever had? Yes. The plantains and whatever else that thingmy was were tremendous carriers of flavours to my gob.

I personally had the pabellòn criollo and my friend had the bandida arepas and both were cracking pieces of kit. They were incredibly well seasoned and spiced building a taste sensation I’d been craving for a while. Star of the show for me? Black beans all day.

Staff were incredibly friendly and forgiving for the pronunciation and were happy to walk us through the menu. There are toilets and outdoor seating plus it’s easy to order to sit in or takeaway. We were lucky to get a table as it does get busy on a Saturday, but my goodness is the place worth a visit.

10/10 would dine again. Thanks...

The food at this place is truly wonderful and worth the visit. So all praise for those working in the kitchen. However, and unfortunately, the guy who is usually at the till, taking orders and making drinks, is truly miserable, has zero understanding of customer care and services and makes it very difficult for people to want to return to his cafe, so much so that I doubt I would visit the place again. This is such a shame because there seems to be a person with vision behind this cafe and I had even given this guy the benefit of the doubt a few times. But unfortunately, his attitude has proven again and again to be rather toxic. Time for this business to find someone else to take orders and care of the customers, or seriously, many others, like me,...