Seafood? More like NERF balls.
On first glance Bodega looks great. The decor is a little trendy (I'd hate to say it but almost exactly the same as Lolita). You walk in through a coffee shoppe door and down some stairs. If Bodega were quiet (which I will comment on later) you'd be sure to hear the baristas making the frothy coffee drinks for the hipsters next door, but I digress. On to my recent dining disaster.
Bodega pimps itself as a posh, classy, fine dining establishment. The only part of the dining experience that was fine or classy were the prices. We walk in 7PM Saturday night. We have reservations. We are seated right away. Unfortunately it was in front of a portion of the dining room curtained off for a private party that can only be described as raucous. Across from our table is a couple who appeared to have been living on public square and who had not bathed in at least a week. I don't mean to be a snob (ok well maybe I do) but if you want to go to a fine dining establishment. . . . PLEASE BATHE!
Our waiter is fairly quick to come for our orders which we shout to be heard over the party
I order
Lemon drop martini 10
Lobster mac and cheese (for us to split as there wasn't much worth ordering on their tapas menu) 12
Jumbo tiger shrimp with mushroom ravioli 23
The boyfriend orders
a stella 5
Mediterranean Seafood Pasta (special) 32
First come the drinks. His beer is draft beer kinda impossible to screw up. My lemon drop however, tastes like rubbing alcohol no lemon and the sugar rim runs all the way down the stem. We have no water glasses so I can't even wipe the stem of my glass to unstickify it. Soon after the lobster mac n cheese comes. Ok so it's mac n cheese by definition nothing too difficult any first year culinary student can make a decent batch (as well as many American amateurs), this mac and cheese was GREASY and OILY and had way too much wine in it. The lobster meat is in HUGE chunks and over-cooked. We weren't impressed but it wasn't unpalatable. We just hope for a better experience with our entrées.
The entrées emerge from the kitchen. They both appear ok, but looks can be deceiving. For starters the shrimp in my entree was neither jumbo nor tiger (a minor culinary faux pas). The lobster meat in the Mediterranean pasta was chemically treated pollock aka imitation seafood (more than a minor faux pas). The shrimp in both entrées was majorly overcooked it was chewy dry and rubbery like a NERF ball. The pasta had a nice sauce with just enough curry to compliment the cream. The mushroom ravioli however was SYSCO (maybe I have the brand wrong but it was brought in) and not mushroom it was bland cheese. There was mushroom in the sauce. The sauce resembled Durkee brown gravy from powder though so it was anything but redeeming.
We asked to see a manager after a few bites each. He listens (well half-listens) takes our plates back to the kitchen. He returns and asks if we would like to try something else. I say absolutely not and that we refuse to pay for the entrées. He comps the entrées but we still have to pay for the drinks and app (bad customer service). We pay our bill and tip the poor waiter who was mortified all the while being watched by the bartender and manager who were giving us every old world curse imaginable.
Next morning I wake up very ill.
A word on desserts. They had 4 or 5 listed on the menu all obviously brought in from an outside vendor likely SYSCO.
Don't miss
Driving past this place
Hit or miss
um. . . service
Avoid like the plague
Eating anything from this sad excuse for a restaurant