La Bodega

On Jan 10th 2009 I went to La Bodega with my friend Cassie. It is a Tapas Bar and Grill in Regina. When we arrived it was busy and we had to wait a little. One small problem was that there was no place to wait for a table. It is in a renovated character home and they never created a seating space for waiting customers. so we stood in a room which was for a large group and waited for our table. We didn't wait too long and we were seated in the bar area at a little table in the back. it was a good size and it was kinda nice being away from all the people getting crazy drunk at the bar. It was very loud and it was hard to have a conversation without yelling at each other! we were so excited to be there and we were committed to trying new things that we had never tried.

We started off with 3 dishes. The first was Fois Gras and Italian Truffles (terrine of Fois Gras and truffles served with croustini). It was interesting because the fois gras was so creamy and didnt have an extremely distinct taste but I loved the texture. The truffles (which i had never tried before) were different. They really tastes 'earthy'. It's not like they tasted like dirt but there was a distinct taste that made me think that these were just plucked from the ground. The two mixed together were a good combination and I think I prefer them together than appart. I liked how they were presented as well.. kinda like a yin yang..one side completely creamy fatty duck liver and the other this earthy fungi but they go great together. the next was the duck, which I was not super impressed with. The outside was nice and crispy but the duck was kind of tough. Not what i would expect of a restaurant like this.

Next we had the Mushroom Strudel (mushrooms, nutmeg and herbed cream cheese, wrapped in phyllo and oven baked). I am not a really big mushroom fan but this was really good. we actually tried the two other dishes before and these were slightly cold by the time we got to them but they were still really good. the cream cheese with the mushroom and the phyllo was a great textural combination. The spices were great and it actually made me like mushrooms a little bit.

After the first three I was able to convince Cassie to try the steak Tartare (ground raw beef topped with an egg yolk, accompanied by minced onion, parsley,anchovies, capers, Dijon mustard and toasted baguettes). we were completely oblivious on how to eat this and thank goodness for our waiter who explained that we were suppose to mix it all together and then put lemon juice on it... or we would have just taken and spoonfull of raw meat and jammed it in our mouths! so me and cassie did our duty and mixed the meat with the egg yolk and then began to mix everything else in and the squeezed the lemon juice on. our one mistake was squeezing too much lemon on.... or maybe ordering this in the first place. we had both never tried this before and it was fun to try but it wasnt to either of our tastes. it actually kinda tasted like seafood to me. the texture was not that great.. I thought it would be more like rare steak but it was a totally different texture. if you want to try something different, by all means order this. I dont know if i would order it again.. and its not due to the quality of the steak tartare.. just my personal taste.

For dessert we got the chocolate fondue (Dark Lindt chocolate with fresh seasonal fruit and nuts). i enjoyed the fondue just because it was fondue. the fruit they gave was unusual and not that great for dipping in chocolate.. we had honeydew, cantelope, oranges, pineapple, watermelon and apples. There were no banana's or strawberries which are soo great with chocolate. The best part of the fondue was the chopped up nuts or toffee in the middle that you can dip your chocolate covered fruit into. it was wonderful!

We had a great time at La Bodega. Our waiter was THE BEST and we never had to wait very long for our food. I am dying to go back and try some other interesting things that they have on their menu. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you're looking for something different... and they make a pretty good sangria as well.