El Bodegon – Spanish Tapas with friends – Orlando

El Bodegon is located right off of US 17/92 / Orlando Ave / Mills Ave (it has many names), a little north of Fairbanks Ave / Aloma Ave on the right hand side. I was here this evening to join up with a friend, Annette, the once and future Elite Yelper, who had grown up here in Winter Park and was meeting up with her friends for some tapas here at El Bodegon.

At the entrance of El Bodegon stands a statue of a bullfighter in his regalia, greeting you to the large wooden doors. Inside, the feeling is like that of a restaurant in Spain, small and quaint, intimate with a soundtrack of flamenco guitar in the background.

Annette and her guests arrive and we begin our tapas feast. I debated at first whether or not to get the red wine sangria, but hey, we are at a tapas place and they were originally meant to be enjoyed with a drink after all. Our friends remark that they like the feeling here at El Bodegon much more than Ceviche’s which has a less intimate, chain-y feeling downtown.

Our server is kind and accomodating, although a little slow at times. We begin with the tortilla espanola, a large fluffy spanish style quiche made with delicious potatoes. Definitely a favorite.

We also had the patatas a la brava, boiled red bit potatoes sauté in Louisiana red hot sauce and alioli, which we enjoyed so much that we ordered it 3 times. We also ordered the tapas de la casa, which was a bit disappointing for the price ($17), which came with a few slices of ham and chorizo, manchego cheese, and a few pieces of olives. I really enjoyed the clams in tomato sauce though as well as the croquetas de jamon, Spanish ham croquettes with alioli sauce and the pimientos del piquillo rellenos, Spanish baby peppers stuffed with crab meat in romesco sauce.

Overall, El Bodegon was a enjoyable restaurant though can be a bit pricey, especially if you order two pitchers of sangria with your meal. Definitely go in a group to share and taste and split dishes. The night was fun and I had a good time over the stories of old yelp battles and travelling lost stuffed animals. We ended our meal with a sweet dessert, the crema catalona, the special brulee made with cinnamon and sweet pears.

Tasty chomps rating!!!!
4 out of 5 tapas bite sized chomps!!!!

El Bodegon Tapas & Wine
(407) 628-1078
Winter Park
400 S Orlando Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789