Bodega Y Tapas
Bodega Y Tapas is the Spanish arm of Esmirada's group of Mediterranean and European restaurants. This was one restaurant on my to-try list, as I'd already been to Don Quijote and The Tapas Tree (renamed Octapas), and I wanted to see how this compared to the rest.
We met up with Kang for dinner, and since he'd suggested Spanish food, we took the opportunity to try Bodega Y Tapas together. Dishes are all served in tiny sharing portions, it's like the Spanish version of our Chinese dim sum. We could sample more dishes since we had another person to share the food with.
This was such a let-down, there were more misses than hits, and dinner was so unsatisfactory. Service was incredibly slow and choppy, and haphazard. Despite the large number of wait staff, we had trouble getting their attention to take our orders, and to pay our bill. Our glasses of iced water only got refilled once throughout the entire meal. Oh and this is not the place for first dates, it's extremely boisterous. And every once a while, diners get to smash plates on the floor (it's apparently some Spanish custom thing) so you'll want to cover your ears for this one.
We started off with the Solomillo De Atun Con Tomates Marinadoes ($15) seared tuna with marinated tomatoes. Tuna was caramelized well on the outside, and still had a moist pink centre. That said, this was unremarkable and very forgettable.
The Gambas Al Ajillo ($15) prawns simply sauteed with olive oil and garlic was one of two dishes I liked. Prawns were fresh and sweet.
The Champinones Al Ajillo ($9) garlic mushrooms in olive oil were also fantastic, but then again, this is a difficult dish to go wrong.
The bad thing about the Revuelto De Setas ($10) chanterelle scrambled eggs, was the uneven salting of the dish. Salt was sprinkled over the dish after it was cooked, and not whipped together with the uncooked eggs, which resulted in some parts of the dish being completely tasteless, and others too salty. This would otherwise have been a brilliant dish, eggs were fluffy, moist and cooked-just-right.
The Carrileras De Wagyu Al Chilindron ($15) wagyu beef cheeks, held so much promise, simply because it was wagyu beef, but this wasn't discernibly wagyu standard. It could have been ground chuck for all I know. Still, this wasn't too bad. Tender and flavoursome, but not drool-worthy.
The Magret De Pato, Pera Baby Y Su Salsa ($15) of pan-roasted duck breast with pear gastrique, and baby pear was a huge disappointment. Duck was gamey, overcooked and chewy.
The Solomillo De Ternera Salteado ($15) beef tenderloin cubes in port jus, and a dollop of tomato butter was also unevenly salted. Worse still, the salt was sprinkled AFTER the beef was cooked. I could see undissolved salt crystals on the beef cubes. I'd have thought that it was cooking 101 to salt the beef while cooking, and not after.
The Paella Espanola ($14) saffron rice with seafood was really quite bad. This was really like fried rice, without the moist fluffy quality that's distinctive of good paella. Also, the mussel was still raw, which was quite unforgivable.
Bodega Y Tapas
442 Orchard Road
Orchard Hotel #01-29
Tel: 6735 3476
Open daily from 11am to 12midnight
Website: www.esmirada.com
We met up with Kang for dinner, and since he'd suggested Spanish food, we took the opportunity to try Bodega Y Tapas together. Dishes are all served in tiny sharing portions, it's like the Spanish version of our Chinese dim sum. We could sample more dishes since we had another person to share the food with.
This was such a let-down, there were more misses than hits, and dinner was so unsatisfactory. Service was incredibly slow and choppy, and haphazard. Despite the large number of wait staff, we had trouble getting their attention to take our orders, and to pay our bill. Our glasses of iced water only got refilled once throughout the entire meal. Oh and this is not the place for first dates, it's extremely boisterous. And every once a while, diners get to smash plates on the floor (it's apparently some Spanish custom thing) so you'll want to cover your ears for this one.
We started off with the Solomillo De Atun Con Tomates Marinadoes ($15) seared tuna with marinated tomatoes. Tuna was caramelized well on the outside, and still had a moist pink centre. That said, this was unremarkable and very forgettable.
The Gambas Al Ajillo ($15) prawns simply sauteed with olive oil and garlic was one of two dishes I liked. Prawns were fresh and sweet.
The Champinones Al Ajillo ($9) garlic mushrooms in olive oil were also fantastic, but then again, this is a difficult dish to go wrong.
The bad thing about the Revuelto De Setas ($10) chanterelle scrambled eggs, was the uneven salting of the dish. Salt was sprinkled over the dish after it was cooked, and not whipped together with the uncooked eggs, which resulted in some parts of the dish being completely tasteless, and others too salty. This would otherwise have been a brilliant dish, eggs were fluffy, moist and cooked-just-right.
The Carrileras De Wagyu Al Chilindron ($15) wagyu beef cheeks, held so much promise, simply because it was wagyu beef, but this wasn't discernibly wagyu standard. It could have been ground chuck for all I know. Still, this wasn't too bad. Tender and flavoursome, but not drool-worthy.
The Magret De Pato, Pera Baby Y Su Salsa ($15) of pan-roasted duck breast with pear gastrique, and baby pear was a huge disappointment. Duck was gamey, overcooked and chewy.
The Solomillo De Ternera Salteado ($15) beef tenderloin cubes in port jus, and a dollop of tomato butter was also unevenly salted. Worse still, the salt was sprinkled AFTER the beef was cooked. I could see undissolved salt crystals on the beef cubes. I'd have thought that it was cooking 101 to salt the beef while cooking, and not after.
The Paella Espanola ($14) saffron rice with seafood was really quite bad. This was really like fried rice, without the moist fluffy quality that's distinctive of good paella. Also, the mussel was still raw, which was quite unforgivable.
Bodega Y Tapas
442 Orchard Road
Orchard Hotel #01-29
Tel: 6735 3476
Open daily from 11am to 12midnight
Website: www.esmirada.com
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