City News

The food, fun and friendliness that characterises the Latin way of life arrived in Birmingham on Tuesday 14th September.  Bodega (pronounced boh-dey-guh) is unique in Birmingham, the only independent bar and restaurant offering South American food and drink.  Styled as a ‘contemporary cantina’ Bodega offers a laidback environment where the food is fresh, homemade and well priced, the interior has numerous quirky designer fixtures and furnishings and the wine and cocktail menu offer some of the region’s finest drinks.  

Food wise, Bodega offers both tapas/street food staples such as tacos, quesadillas and burritos as well as fresh salads and homemade specialities such as chilli, Brazilian fish stew, Colombian stuffed peppers, Peruvian Chancaca glazed Salmon and Milanesas a caballo (a popular Argentinian dish consisting of a 4oz steak topped with sliced ham and 2 fried eggs).  In other UK cities the burrito has taken off as a popular lunchtime take-away option and Bodega is delighted to be the first venue in Birmingham to offer this choice to its customers.

On the drinks side as you might expect from a South American restaurant the choice of top quality tequilas is the best in the city and likewise the variety and choice of Margaritas.  The cocktail menu has been devised by Matt Marriott of Island bar, Bodega’s sister venue so the quality and imagination are top quality.  In addition there is an extensive collection of Chilean and Argentinean wines, the widest choice of South American beers in the city and best of all the cocktails are available for £4 between 4pm and 7pm each day.

The Sugarloaf bar downstairs acts as a feeder bar to the main restaurant at the weekend.  As bookings are only taken for parties of 6 or more if all the tables are full then people have the opportunity to visit the basement venue for a pre dinner drink and the likewise for post dinner drinks after their meal.  Sugarloaf has been themed using Mexican wrestler and Day of the Dead imagery, a uniquely quirky and vibrant combination specific to Mexico.  Sugarloaf is available for private bookings on Sundays and throughout the week and is able to cater for up to 50 people in a banquet style seating arrangement or up to 75 people standing.
 
Matt Scriven, the owner of Bodega, runs a number of other venues in Birmingham which all aim to offer a uniquely independent theme to the Birmingham nightlife, these are the traditional yet contemporary Victoria pub, the cocktail/rock’n’roll themed Island Bar and more recently The Jekyll and Hyde which has a gin parlour which doubles as a function room.
“With Bodega we aim to bring something new to the Birmingham restaurant and bar scene. Bodega will provide the perfect mixing pot for locals, professionals, shoppers and visitors and provide the city with an independent South American restaurant to be proud of” said Matt.
     
Menu details can be found on the website – www.bodegabirmingham.co.uk