Bodega

Bodega: Washington, D.C., USA

I believe, in Spanish, that the word bodega means “neighborhood store”.  However, in DC, particularly the nightlife of the Georgetown area, this Bodega is more than a store.  It serves up some moderately scrumptious tapas and is an apparent hot spot for not just happy hour, but a night out on the town for drinks, particularly…sangria.  While I abstain from the alcohol, I did swing by here to take Momma L. for a little feast.  We both needed a pick-me-up from some pretty hefty news that day, and what way to take the mind off a few things other than a good meal?

I have to admit that for Georgetown and for DC, I was not impressed.  The last place that I came to eat tapas in this city was Estadio.  That, by far, won the paper plate award for tapas.  For some reason however, I had a recollection of having had some good food at Bodega in the past, roughly five or six years ago.  Perhaps at the time, my foodie tongue was at a noob stage and so I couldn’t discern the difference between good tapas and bad tapas.  Or perhaps, I had just never had the chance to eat good tapas and therefore thought that it was good tapas!

However, we did order up a few dishes that night that had a few plates which differed from the norm a bit.  I’m going to try and do a different kind of summary for these plates to see if it makes reading a bit easier.  If it is, I hope you’ll be kind enough to leave a comment and let me know if you prefer format or the previous format I was always using.

Pan Con Tomate: thin sliced baguette with fresh tomato paste, topped with jamon iberico.

• light flavor, yet filling
• hearty and generous toppings of jam
• full of flavor yet not too salty

pan con tomate

Bacon Wrapped Dates: battered, wrapped dates with bacon

• moderately breaded
• breading masks bacon flavor but tones down sweetness of dates
• breading is somewhat like fried mushrooms, it’s not battered, slightly heavy

Seared Scallops: two seared scallops with a scoop of mashed potatoes

• overly salty: Momma L had to eat bread with the scallop
• mashed potatoes (are you kidding me?!)
• $11 for two scallops = too pricey, especially if it’s over-salted
• scallops were over-cooked = double boo.

scallops

Beet Salad: baked fresh beets over greens with goat cheese

• good amount for the price
• beets were not overcooked, well paired with the cheese
• one of the lightest yet freshest tasting things on the menu
• first time I’ve liked eating beets, ever.

Calamari: lightly breaded calamari slices

• under-seasoned
• scanty amount for the price
• goes well with the overly-salted scallops though (HA!)

calamari

I would say that if I ever chose to go to get tapas in DC again, I would definitely opt for Estadio over Bodega.  The ambiance is nice, if you are going for that boozy, dimly lit and incredibly loud restaurant.  Not to mention, we had to sit at the bar and the bartender did not refill our drinks once even though the bar was supposed to be full-service.  Triple boo.

All in all, a summary:

• pan con tomate: ***.75 (3.75) stars
• bacon wrapped dates: *** (3 stars)
• seared scallops: *.5 (1.5 stars)
• beet salad: **** (4 stars)
• calamari:** (2 stars)

If you want to check out Bodega on your own trip to DC, you can find them here:

3116 M St NW

Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-4733

Until next time, bon apetit!

R/g

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31 Mar This entry was published on March 31, 2014 at 21:08. It’s filed under restaurants, tapas, The Gastronome and tagged DC restaurants, food, restaurants, small plates, tapas, Washington D.C.. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.