Bodega is a South and Latin American bar/Cantina on Bennetts Hill in Birmingham City Centre just off New Street, and owned by Bitters N’ Twisted.
It offers a wide selection of tapas style dishes, street food, Burritos, Tacos and a number of larger traditional plates. It also has a completely Vegan menu and excellent vegetarian options.
Bodega is a fun-time and colourful place, the cocktails flow, the food comes out fast and service is pacy. It’s a brilliant place to indulge with friends, for parties and for sharing a work or shopping lunch. It’s also open on Sunday for that downtime and Sunday smooch with the city.
For Ruth and I it was a Friday night dinner, not the Channel 4 comedy kind, but the cocktail/tapas/Streetfood kind.
On the Friday we visited Bodega was busy, bustling, and vibrant as I would think it is most Friday evenings, and with a cocktail list that speaks of fun and good times and a wallet full of money Bodga is an education on excellence and high standards with its drinks list. From Tequilas to Rum based drinks the list will cater for everyone.
Bodega has a small bar area near the entrance by the window, so if you feel the need you don’t even have to eat. The decor is fun too. Iron cast furniture, quirky cactus murals, vibrant colours. Cafe style seating is mingled with funny stools, and with its exposed light bulbs and brightly coloured murals Bodega sells spicy and flavour, with an atmosphere that’s a real contrast from the glum rainy English weather in March outside.
The food, from Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, is freshly made and easy going and full of variety for vegetarians and vegans.
Find Pips Hot Sauce at Bodega
Ruth and I ordered cocktails to begin. Two Margarita’s. They were excellent, and always a good choice at Bodega. A classic, well made with a good strong tequila flavour, with salt on the rim.
I also ordered a Caipirinha, which is Brazil’s national cocktail made with cachaca, sugar and lime. It was very refreshing and had a sweetness that was complimentary to the spicy food. Another top cocktail. Ruth ordered another margarita.
Bodega also offer bottled beers, non alcoholic cocktails and a good wine list.
Plus a happy hour from. 5-7pm on cocktails.
For the food we chose to stick with the smaller sharing plates, the streetfood as we’ve found them to be the best from previous visits. And sharing is fun and social.
Ruth ordered for herself a pulled Pork Burrito which she enjoyed.
I ordered a vegetarian burrito- from the streetfood section of the menu, roasted vegetables, black beans, and cilantro lime rice. The Burrito had a good spicy flavour ( I ordered hot) with the tortilla holding the filling well, and the depth of the veg with the spicy salsa packing a zing which was lovely.
The rest of the food we shared.
We shared small house nachos (vegetarian variety) crisp well seasoned flour tortillas, topped with some lovely mozzarella chedder and sour cream and punchy salsa and guacamole. Very impressive nachos crisp, with good flavours. Recommended.
To accompany the Burrito We chose from the light bites part of the menu:
Batatas fritas: delicious sweet potato fries with chipotle mayo, crisp and with a good flavour.
Frijoles: Black beans cooked until velvety, with a good garlic flavour with roasted cumin seeds and s subtle hint of chilli and sour cream. Though not pretty to look at it was a good complimentary dish to the Burrito.
Spicy Slaw: a nice fresh homemade slaw with a South American Twist.
I also recommend the jalopos peppers from previous visits.
One of the dishes Ruth and I enjoy the most at Bodega is the Churros desert. We had to order two, we loved the rich caramel sauce against the warm doughnuts. A Mexican favourite, and also ours. Perfect for dipping or with coffee. We orders two espressos.
The food we are was plentiful, it had a good spicy flavour and did what it says on the tin. It’s fun, vibrant and good for sharing.
Where we found Bodega to suffer is with the service which we felt was inconsistent, hurried and though attentive it felt underwhelming and it had a care free nature about it. Some of the servers were friendly others we felt were not bothered. We felt that they could have explained the menu to us checking we understood the quite complex but good layout. Advising how many sharing dishes you should choose between two. Our waiter who asked for our order was a bit gruff to be honest and unhelpful.
In saying that the food and the cocktails are the real deal and as a pop in kind of place Bodega can’t be beaten for fun and very decent South American dishes.
For Vegetarians and Vegans it’s one of the best places to visit in Birmingham and well recommended.
Bodega Birmingham, 12 Bennett’s Hill, B2 5RS
0121 448 4267
http://bodegacantina.co.uk/food/menus/
@BodegaBirm
You can also get 20% off with the Independent Birmingham card. Offer is on Monday-Thursday 3-6pm and all day on Sunday.
Thanks for reading.
Andy 😊
We paid for our own meal and all opinions are honest as always.
It’s advisable to reserve a table at Bodega at busy times to avoid disappointment.
Barebones Pizza 
The dishes were served on a cute tray and the 2 sauces in their individual pots. 
I could never profess to being The Voice of knowledge on all curry restaurants, but I know a good one when I see it. 
As we didn’t order a starter Ruth and I decided to sample some of the veggie side dishes with our main courses. Ruth had ordered a meaty main and I ordered the Panneer Bengum Bahar, homemade paneer (cottage cheese) cooked in Royal Almond, curb and yogurt sauce. 
spicy potato curry
we paid for our own meal. All opinions expressed are my own and honest as always. 
Barebones pizza produce wood fired pizzas. Pizzas are cooked in a wood fired oven to a Neopolitan style and are very generous in size from their strikingly funky red van. 
It was a real pizza, crispy, nice toppings, great fresh thin base, cheesy, and looked a proper Italian pizza. 
I’m really looking forward to the Foodies Festival and full details can be found on their website.
veggiefoodie 