El Bodegon Tapas Bar

***ED Note: looks like El Bodegon is closed for business as of August 2010***

We went totally in a different direction for lunch the other day, in food and location, and went to Fishers to try out El Bodegon. I love the idea of tapas (small plates) because you get to try lots of flavors without too much of a commitment. And this place has lots of options, with plates starting at $1.00 (for a slice of Serrano ham or manchego cheese on a piece of bread.)

We started out ordering what we thought was quite a bit of food for the two of us for lunch, but ended up ordering even more. We ordered the aforementioned Serrano ham and Manchego which were both really good. I think I like Serrano ham even better then the Italian Prosciutto, in general I think it has more flavor. The bread they were slicing and using as a base was also really nice bread. It was sort of like a baguette in size, but has a slight chewiness to it that went really nicely with the various toppings. In this first round we also ordered a beef empanada, some anchovies (on bread as well), the tortilla (or sliced potato and egg dish) and the garlic shrimp.

The empanada was a little bland, although obviously handmade and quite lovely to look at, it needed a little something to jazz it up. Maybe a tangy sauce or some onions (ok, maybe that isn’t authentic, I don’t know, but still). It was clearly the weakest thing. The garlic shrimp were the best thing on the table and hubby promptly ordered another dish as soon as we gobbled up the first round (there are only 3 small shrimp on the tapa plate). There were large hunks of toasty garlic which were the best part. Those combined with the shrimp and the garlic-y olive oil were outstanding. They also offer these shrimp as an entrée which would be something I would seriously consider ordering in the future.

The tortilla was just ok, also needed a little jazzing up. It was a wedge of a traditional Spanish tortilla, slices of potato stacked on top of each other and held together with egg. I have had really good ones before, but I can’t for the life of me tell you what about them made them so other than I guess they must have just had more seasoning. The anchovies were just canned anchovies on the bread. They were good, as far as canned anchovies go. I was sort of hoping for those beautiful white anchovies you see in Europe, but I guess that was asking too much.

In our second round, we also ordered an arepa, which is a corn meal based sort of mini sandwich. They have Venezuelan arepas and Columbia arepas which are different in style (the Colombian ones being thinner, more almost like a tortilla). At our waiter’s recommendation, we ordered one of the Venezuelan ones, which sort of reminded me of a biscuit made with corn meal. Sort of like a cross between a biscuit and corn bread. It was dense, and had a wonderful crispy exterior. I really liked this aspect of it. We got one with seasoned shredded meat and avocado. Had a slightly Mexican flavor about it—with the shredded meat and avocado and corn meal. It was tasty, although it needed one more thing to make it really stand out for me. There was one on the menu that included chicken, avocado and mayo which I would like to try, because the mayo might just be enough to take it that next step.

Just for fun, we also had a glass of wine which we also enjoyed. They serve Spanish wines, and it was a simple wine, but if you closed your eyes, ate your food and sipped the wine, and listened to the music playing, you could feel like you were in a little restaurant in Spain, and not in the middle of a strip mall in Fishers. Something about the wine reminded me of house wines you get in any little café in Spain. Now, this is not to say the interior of this restaurant is going to wow you (I said, close your eyes). It is very simple, and frankly, a little barren in spots, but there are a few areas that are very nicely laid out, like the little shelves full of Spanish products for sale. It could use a little softening up, maybe some curtains or carpet, but then again, lots of places in Spain would be similarly decorated I am sure. The food also has some Venezuelan and Colombian variations (the various arepas etc.) The owners are making an effort to bring the foods they know to Indy diners. Unfortunately, there were not a lot of diners there, although there were always at least a couple of other tables. It is also kind of hidden on the backside of a strip mall near Wal Mart, so they also probably don’t get a lot of drive by customers.

I love having somewhere different to go, with lots of menu options, including a different lunch special every day. Nothing there was amazing, but it was unique and this City needs more diversity. The spice of life and everything right?

El Bodegon Tapas Bar
8510 East 96th Street
Fishers, IN 46037
317/841-3350
www.elbodegon-indy.com

BARcelona Tapas

I know, it is a chain, and I tend to stay away from them as much as possible, but it is something really different in this City, and something different is always good (and it isn't a very big chain after all--just 2 locations as far as I know). Plus it is open on Mondays, and all the other places I was thinking about going were not.

This is my second visit to BARcelona (they write the name that way, it is not a typo), and my first was probably a good year ago. I wasn't blown away the first time, which was why it took me awhile to get motivated to go back. But I do appreciate the idea here, real Spanish-style tapas in this Midwestern City. Every other City in the world seems to have it, and now we do too. Tapas originated in Spain after all, so there should be lots of things to make and try.

I have to say, I am impressed by the size of the menu and the choices offered at BARcelona. They have a lot of the classic tapas like potato and cheese tortilla Espanol (more like a piece of quiche made mostly with potato), Serrano ham with manchego and these yummy, crunchy breadsticks and lots of other seafood and meats. The only repeat we had from the first time (read, the only thing worth ordering again) was the Serrano with manchego cheese. I love Serrano ham--sort of like Prosciutto, but for plain eating, much better in my opinion because it is really more flavorful. I liked taking a piece of the bread stick, layering a sliver of the cheese against it, and then wrapping the whole thing with the ham. Delish.

We also ordered the tortilla--and it is really good. It comes with a lemon which is great squeezed on top. It is room temperature and comes out fast. It is a nice, classic Spanish starch to have with the other things, particularly if you order several meat items.

We also tried the bacalao, or potato and cod cakes (more like fried balls). These were the biggest disappointment. I only had a taste and left the rest. There were so many better things, they weren't worth eating.

We had the goat cheese with bread which was basically a tomato sauce with a large hunk of goat cheese that was all heated and served with garlic bread. It was quite good, tasted like it could belong in an Italian restaurant though. Hubby LOVED it.

The little plate of mixed marinated olives were good too--a nice salty cut for some of the richness of the food. I wasn't too sure about the whole pickled garlic cloves mixed in--are you supposed to eat those? They were quite hard and I thought must be very intense---are they just for flavor? I will probably never know as I will probably never try one unless someone tells me they aren't that strong!

We had one of the day's specials too--a Spanish bouillabaisse of sorts with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops in a garlicky, smoky, yummy sauce. For some reason the consistency of the cooking was a bit off. The mussels and clams were really good and well cooked (meaning properly cooked, not well done). The shrimp was pretty good. The calamari was questionable--a few pieces were ok, but a lot of it was very rubbery, the worst thing that can happen to calamari. The scallops were inedible they were so rubbery. It all must have been cooked the same amount of time, which you just can't really do with that many types of seafood. That broth though, WOW! If they just did a mussel and clam dish in that broth, it would be perfect! And sadly, I scanned the menu and I didn't see anything cooked in that sauce. It's a shame.

Our server was really nice and the food comes out fast, as it is finished in the kitchen (as tapas should be). So you generally get the cold and room temperature stuff first, and so on. The nice thing about tapas, you can share several and then if you want more, just order some more. Or if one is not so good (i.e. cod cakes) you don't feel like your whole meal is ruined. It was also quite crowded for a Monday which is nice--and the atmosphere is really like a tapas place you might find in Europe. We had wine, but the margaritas looked quite good as well.

We also had dessert--bread pudding with a caramel sauce. It was as good as it sounded. Rich and large enough to share with at least one other person, if not more.

All in all, we'll be back. And this time sooner I think than the last time.

BARcelona Tapas Restaurant
201 N. Delaware
Indy 46204
317-638-8272
http://www.barcelonatapas.com/