Bodega Restaurant

Came with my group on the weekend for Winterlicious Lunch. The service experience was excellent. We tried a bit of each others dishes .Now for an evaluation of the dishes ordered:
STARTERS
Sweet & Bitter Greens: Hearty salad with a healthy variety of greens and vinaigrette.
Rabbit & Pistachio Terrine: Everything blended perfectly in this dish. Enjoyed it and you should too. My only concern was that the crostini could have been just a little softer as it is easier to chew, and handle on the plate with cutlery. Otherwise a perfect start to the meal.
MAINS
chicken breast ‘coq au vin’: This dish while presented well but was a bit too dry. Considering it is supposed to be braised in wine, there was not much of a wine taste in it. Do not order it
duck confit & succotash: The duck has a crispy skin, and very soft meat. The succotash complemented the duck well. Order this and enjoy it
DESSERT
banana bread pudding: Was decent. Banana flavour could have been a bit stronger considering it is a banana bread pudding. More rème anglaise & toffee sauce should be added so the pudding can be eaten easier.
berry cobbler: Well presented and tasted nicely. Was a bit difficult to work with when trying to scoop a piece to eat. Dont order it
I recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants to try. I would have loved to try the dinner but I like to try new things and for a return trip the quality of some of the dishes needs to improve.

What a horrible experience! We are SO disappointed. I have no complaints about the food as it was above average but the service was the WORST I’ve seen.
The first impression was great: cute neighbourhood, convenient location (we walked from Kensington Market), cozy setting.
Upon entering the restaurant, our waiter lead us to our table. A few minutes later when he came back to hand out our menus, he did not introduce himself as our waiter nor welcome us to the restaurant. He actually did not even SAY A WORD to us until our full party arrived 20 minutes later and he came to take our order. Again, no introductions nor welcoming us nor explaining the menu… he was simply taking our order. He was dressed differently than the other waiters so we wonder if he is the manager. There was another server who gave us our bread and he was friendly and smiling.
We are a party of 6 and we ordered from the Winterlicious menu on Sunday. We were told the duck confit was sold out, but it was nice that they had a streak frites substitution. Our reservation was for 1:00pm and the waiter took our order at around 1:20pm but by 2:30pm, our entrees have not arrived yet. We had to flag down our waiter and ask why our food was taking so long. He explained that there was a large group who ordered before us and the kitchen was taking care of their orders. That’s bull… we watched other tables who arrived AFTER us who got their entrees BEFORE us. They even got duck confit!!! I understand the kitchen can get busy but our best guess is they forgot our order.
Once our food finally arrived, it was around 2:45pm, more than an hour after our order was taken. The steak came out too charred but the trout was flaky and yummy. Our waiter finally talked to us again and asked if everything was fine… but this was AFTER we had finished the food on our plates. After another wait for our dessert, we FINALLY finished our meal at 3:30pm.
When the bill came, there was a mandatory charge of 20% tips (because of our party of 6). This was absolutely fine IF service was better but we were forced to pay that amount for bad service. I do not recommend Bodega to ANYONE after we were treated SO poorly.

We went in the dog-​days immediately after New Year, and although quiet, the service and food were still of high quality.
It is exactly what you would expect from a good French Bistro. Good steak frites with excellent frites. Well executed salads and fine fish alternatives. Oh, and a lovely mushroom risotto, by the way.
Full and reasonable wine list.

Our experience at Bodega was so conflicting that it averages out to 3 stars.
Bodega looks like a cozy home from the outside and it was very quiet when we entered. Our server was friendly but didn’t know anything about the menu. Never have I had such clueless service; it was actually quite shocking. We asked him what main dish he would recommend and he responds with two first course dishes. Okay, maybe this was a mistake. Then we ask again, which ENTREE is popular. He rambles off saying that the paella is wonderful. Um, paella is not even on the menu. Right. Then I ask about the cioppino dish, which is described as a fish stew. He says that cioppino is a kind of tasty fish (wrong) and then when we mentioned a fish stew, he said, «Oh yes! That one is very popular!» although we were just talking about that same dish. Altogether we were not impressed by how unknowledgeable the server was; he actually knew nothing about the menu.
After all of that and learning nothing new about the menu, boyfriend and I decided to go with one Prix Fixe dinner ($ 35), because we could order the blue crab cakes, cod and a dessert, in addition to steak tartare, terrine de foie gras and pan-​roasted branzino.
The food was really a hit and miss.
— blue crab cakes (prix fixe): absolutely delicious, full of crab meat and the herbs really highlight the crab taste
— steak tartare: not memorable, boyfriend thought the meat wasn’t cut correctly
— terrine de foie gras: it had a weird lingering alcoholic taste after each bite and we couldn’t even force ourselves to finish this dish; the fat along the edges should’ve been removed
— cod (prix fixe) and branzino: these mains were delicious and much better than the first course dishes
— lemon tart (prix fixe): good tart lemon curd and shortbread crust
Complimentary bread was good; it was grainy and hearty.
All in all, a disappointing experience and I still cannot get over how aloof the server was (and I never am affected by service!). He also messed up our bill by charging an extra cod dish.

I love the location and the staff and the menu and the patio. But all the food was ho hum. Nothing terrible, but all of it was lacklustre. We tried scallops, poutine, beet salad and crab cakes. Meh. It felt as if a line cook from TGI Friday was subbing in and doing a decent job of getting food out in time.

Came here with friends for French food.
Decent place, good service, food is pretty delicious
Price is pretty high, three people ~160 $

My cousin had his engagement dinner here, so we had half the restaurant and bar to ourselves and much of the outside patio.
I was really impressed. It was small and classy but it didn’t feel try-​hard or snobby at all. The bartenders were are really sweet and helpful. We all had a shot together at the end of the night! :)
The food was delicious!!! Really nice place, I’d totally recommend it.

Summerlicious — Decent menu, wait staff was nothing special, lovely atmosphere.
Ordered the crab cakes, steak and fries and crème brûlée. The crab cakes were delicious and still hot when it go to our table. Crispy outside and soft flaky crab meat on the inside. The steak was cooked to medium rare as requested but the fries were a little plain and reminded me of McDonald fries. The shallot butter that came with the steak was amazing. Wanted the strawberry rhubarb tart for dessert but the menu suddenly changed so got the crème brûlée instead. Couldn’t really taste the white chocolate in the crème brûlée.
Overall, would rather try the other restaurants on Baldwin St first before going back for a second time.

Came here for summerlicious.
It’s in a cool little neighbourhood with other bars/​cafes/​restaurants, most with patios.
The summerlicious menu is pretty good. Had the rabbit terrine for starter which was very nice but a bit dry. For main I had the chicken supreme — chicken was very well cooked, the market vegetables were cooked well but a bit underwhelming and the sauce hadn’t been reheated properly because some of it was still a bit gelatinous, but tasted good. Had the sorbet for desert which tasted good was extremely sweet.
Service was from a fairly smarmy waiter, beer was flat, but the wine was good.

For tapas, we had
1) mushroom and brandy poutine which was disappointing. The poutine was lacking mushroom, brandy and cheese. It was honestly an overpriced and small order of French fries; not worth the $ 8
2) lamb sliders, cute and nicely presented but very very small. There was 3 sliders in one order and cost $ 12. Not worth the price tag
Entrée, I had Caselette and Duck confit, decently priced at $ 23. Duck was good but the rest of the dish was too salty for my taste.
Overall it was an okay meal, not sure if I would return

I have a soft spot for Bodega but honestly, I had the worst entrée there last week. It was supposed to be Risotto, and I feel responsible 1. for ordering it — what was I thinking? 2. for not sending it back — we were with guests; we were in a hurry; I second guessed myself — ‘maybe it’s just me’ .
The risotto was white rice combined with halved plum tomatoes and sundried tomatoes sitting on top of a runny, pungent olive brine sauce. I’ve never seen a risotto like this. For starters it wasn’t an arborio-​style rice, and as far as I could tell it hadn’t been cooked in the stock. It was as if the cook had no idea what risotto was. No idea! It was horrible. Sorry Bodega. I should have sent it back and saved you the bad review. .. but how is it that you ever let it out of the kitchen? In the past, I’ve had a lunch meal that was as good as this one was bad. Two different cooks?

A group of us came to bodega for lunch during work. The restaurant was about 30% full so we got seated right away — and then it all went downhill.
We got $ 23 prix fixe which is a good deal considering the mains range from about $ 15-​$ 25. I ordered:
— roasted beet salad
— beef bourguignon
— warm banana cake with toffee sauce.
My workmates ordered the calamari salad, the salmon, cassoulet, and crème brûlée.
Firstly the food is just. meh. I have never had such unexciting french food. It all was lack luster, required some salt and just a little bit more care. The beef bourguignon was good but I could have made it at home. It needed more wine to add depth.
I tried my friends cassoulet — just awful. The dessert was good but not great.
I could overlook the bland food if the service was good — however we were there for 2 hours! It took forever and considering the restaurant wasn’t busy and we ordered off of the prix fixe menu it makes no sense.
Overall the food here can be made by any average home cook, and you won’t have to spend two hours sitting hoping your meal will eventually come.

Came here for Winterliscious on a Saturday night. Only reservation was at 5 pm. Happy Hour drinks from 4 to 630 so it worked out nicely. 5 dollar pints and 6 dollar cocktails. Awesome!!!
Had the crab cakes which were excellent. The beef rib was only OK. And the maple pudding was the best part of the meal.
Service was prompt but not that inviting or friendly. Very transactional but at least our water was always filled. The decoration was nice and charming (converted old house).

First things first: service is terrible here. My brother and mother took me here for my birthday last night and we ordered from the Winterlicious menu.
The waiters are cold. One offered to level out our table and our orders were taken fast. However, the food took a while to arrive. I had the blue crab cakes (it was delicious), the baked chicken (ok– I can get much better chicken at Ruth’s Chris and really should’ve gone there) and for dessert, the mango pudding and vanilla ice cream. Portion sizes were good and I must admit that I was mighty full after the meal.
Overall, I’d give the food a ⁴⁄₅. HOWEVER, any tastiness in the food was overshadowed by the terrible service. My brother, mother and I finished our appetizers and main courses and we literally sat there for 10 minutes after each course with our empty dishes left in front of us. This is even though at least two waiters walked by and saw the empty dishes.
Our water was refilled once (refilling being the mark of great service) and only because my brother asked the waiter for it. NO ONE came to ask how the food was– NOT EVEN ONCE. When it came time to pay, we were charged for 4 Winterlicious patrons when there were clearly only 3 of us and when my brother pointed this out, there was not even an apology.
I’ve patronized many restaurants that partake in the Winterlicious event over the years and this is the first time that I’ve had a bad experience and on my birthday no less. It’s pretty idiotic of them as if i were a restaurant, I’d use the Winterlicious event to market to potential customers. Way to leave a bad impression on potential customers. Never returning to this place and taking my business and network of friends and colleagues elsewhere.

I chose Bodega for my department’s Christmas Lunch at work; we have a large party and couldn’t find anywhere that could accommodate our group and had a menu that everyone would enjoy. After some searching, I stumbled upon Bodega and the choice was made.
Bodega is a house that’s been remodeled to be a restaurant. There are two front rooms and we sat in the larger one with the bar in it. I think bathrooms are in the basement but I didn’t venture down there so I couldn’t tell you!
We had a party of 11 for lunch so it took some time to get everyone’s orders straightened away. The server was a bit aggressive in her approach to the table for the duration of the meal but that’s probably just a personality thing. Our server was also the bartender, so she wasn’t always paying attention when we needed drink refills or a new fork or something.
I cannot go to a place like this and see poutine on the menu and NOT order it. WOW. OUT OF THIS WORLD. Soooo insanely good. If I hadn’t been with my coworkers, I might have licked the plate clean. Such a delicious combination of mushrooms, cheese and fries. I ordered the lamb shank for lunch and again, OUT OF THIS WORLD. This lamb shank is the best I’ve ever had. It was smothered in some kind of delicious sauce with cranberry reduction and perched atop truffle mashed potatoes. A few of my coworkers tried the lamb shank and agreed that it was by far the best thing on the menu.
I was happily surprised with Bodega; I was a bit worried with some of the mixed reviews that I saw online, but Bodega pretty much hit it out of the park. We did have one negative, one of the servers handed a plate to my boss and it ended up burning his hand. It was an unfortunate occurrence, and I’m not sure if the restaurant did anything to make up for it, but otherwise, the meal was very good and everyone enjoyed. I look forward to coming back to Bodega again and perhaps trying that lamb shank again… excuse me while I drool onto my keyboard.

This place is a dump. The room smelled. The food was limp and burned. Never again. Stay away.

Went here with my boyfriend and best friend for her 20^th birthday. First thing that I felt as we walked in, the servers didn’t really take us seriously. Most of the patrons there looked a lot older than us (business folks). It took forever for our server to take our orders (even our drink orders) and the restaurant was relatively empty.
When our food finally came, the portion sizes were on the smaller side. I was really shocked at the size of my boyfriend’s steak though. It was minuscule! And to be honest, his plate didn’t look good what so ever. Also, my paella was supposed to come with mussels but it came with chicken instead. Our server didn’t inform me that they ran out of mussels when I ordered.
The ambiance is really nice though.

I organized a girls lunch for a warm Saturday afternoon. Bodega was not our first choice — none of us had been there. We were actually scheduled to go to One in Yorkville.
After re-​evaluating menu’s and reviews, we decided to go with Bodega. I cannot stress what a perfect choice Bodega was.
From the moment we walked the restaurant row of Baldwin Village, to the steps of Bodega, it was bliss. The patio seating for our group was perfect. We were seated in a corner of the patio with greenery for privacy. The service from the get go was neutral. It wasn’t overly friendly but it was not bad. Throughout the lunch I suppose the waitress warmed up to us.
The waitress was very patient with the 5 of us, through our orders. The food was brought up in unison, which is always amazing. Each course was well portioned, and delicious. I had gone for the mussels to start — about 8 mussels. Very tasty sauce, and clean mussels. My main was the trout, which was crusted and beautifully presented. My dessert was the fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Overall it was an absolute value for 3 courses PLUS a mimosa for $ 23.00. We kept ordering drinks and chatting well after lunch, embarrassingly it went on for about 8 hours… in turn it became dinner time! (We walked over to Chinatown for that!). We were never asked to move, never felt hurried to leave, even though many walk-in’s were seen entering the patio area. Did I mention after she brought the bill as one total, she quickly acted on breaking up the bill upon request?
Overall, it was the perfect choice as stated before. Food 4 stars, service 4 stars. And it was not that the food or service was that outstanding. It was not innovative food, it was not cutting edge modern fusion. This is a traditional French Cuisine restaurant. It was the simplicity of the fresh food and amicable service that worked together.

What started out as a torrential downpour Friday evening, it thankfully cleared up by 7pm just in time for our 8pm reservation. In the heart of small Baldwin Village Bodega was a first time for all of us! Dim, intimate, and classy Bodega is a hidden gem in this victorian style house. The beautiful décor, crystal white table clothes, comfy seating, and ambience is the perfect setting for a beautiful evening. Summerlicious menu had some great choices and here’s my review!
escargot and sweetbreads ⁵⁄₅
fusilli, pommery mustard, brandy, tomato, and cream!
Ive always wanted to try Escargot! and I’m glad I ordered it. Perfect melody of flavors from the pommery mustard, cream, and brandy made this dish! and added some added flavor to the escargot! The fusilli was a nice addition to the dish, much like a mini pasta salad!
grilled alberta flat iron steak 4.5÷5
shallot butter and frites: Cooked to perfection… MEDIUM! Tender, and full of flavor! and as always a little butter goes a long way. The homemade frites were so delish! a plate alone would have been yum… actually… an extra side order!
strawberry rhubarb tart with whipped cream ⁵⁄₅
Wish I could have ordered a second serving!!! sort melt-in-your-mouth…simply yum.
The service at first was a bit slow, but later on picked up his slack! nonetheless a gem that I will definitely be visiting soon!

***BRUNCH REVIEW***
Bodega is nestled in a residential area on Baldwin Street, itself being a house-​converted restaurant. While one may think that such restaurants would go undetected compared to those on major streets, Baldwin Street is reeling in the crowds. Bodega is neighbour to the likes of Elle M’a Dit and Kinton Ramen.
I came here on a Saturday afternoon with one of my girlfriends for brunch, which is served between 11AM — 3PM.
The coat room rids the restaurant of the usual bulk and clutter. The restaurant is separated into two rooms, with the bar on the left.
Don’t expect any reverse spherification or artsy-​fartsy presentation — but do expect delicious food. The food here can be described as classic French done really well, with a few surprises here and there.
Cue the Pan Seared Scallops ($ 12) — which sit atop a bed of spinach and slice of sautéed apple in a light curry cream sauce. I definitely had my reservations about the curry dominating the natural flavours of the scallops, but it was light as the menu said. This generous 3-​scallop serving was perfect for sharing. It’s good to know that not every restaurant charges you $ 18+ for one lonely scallop to show up at your table as you bumble through the task of slicing it 2 ways and transferring it onto sharing plates. (Yes, if you want to be my friend, then you’ll have to share!)
I opted for the Terrine du Foie Gras ($ 19) which is labelled as a house specialty. I took them up on their pairing recommendation of a 2 0z. glass of Henry of Pelham Late Harvest Riesling ($ 9). The terrine had a smooth mouth-​feel even if erring on the side of un-​spreadable and served with tiny slices of toasted baguette. Think cream cheese vs. block cheese — this one definitely leaned more towards the block cheese. The greens could’ve benefited from a toss in the salad bowl as I felt like a cow on the pastures eating this unadorned roughage.
For our mains we opted opted to «eat like the boys,» with a Grilled Steak Sandwich ($ 14) and my Grilled Sterling Silver Flat Iron Steak with Eggs ($ 18). My steak was cooked to a nice pink medium-​rare, with baby bok choy, cabbage, fingerling potatoes and onions. I thoroughly enjoyed feeding my cold with this juicy slab of protein, but the onions were cooked to a mush which garnered images of semi-​liquid and bland foods that one eats when one’s sick. I didn’t try my girlfriend’s sandwich, but she said it was a bit chewy. The healthy serving size also meant she had to take half to go.
The service at Bodega is attentive without being intrusive. The servers topped up our glasses of water when they were running low, and checked in with us from time to time.
We finished off our afternoon affair with a foamy latte and coffee. We unfortunately didn’t end on a sweet note as we had originally intended as we were comfortably full.
I would definitely recommend Bodega as a brunch spot as the atmosphere is very cozy and homey and the service is great!