El Bodegon

El Bodegon
8510 East 96th Street
Fishers, Indiana  46037

El Bodegon is a Tapas Bar and gourmet shop.  Although the store has a few grocery items, it is what you find in the deli case that makes this store unique to the north side of Indianapolis.  Inside the case, you will find many meats and cheeses imported from Spain and South America.  Although the prices are high, the quality and authenticity looks good.  You can buy the product to take home and prepare or choose items off their menu and have them prepared for you.

What I Got:

Paella Valenciana (Seafood Paella) $7.99 (far left of photo)

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of versions of paella in existence.  This paella was fresh and just out of the pan when I walked into the store and it smelled great.  The seafood included some whole shrimp that were quite large, some squid and some small clams mixed in with the rice.  Unfortunately, the dish was overcooked with the seafood being rubbery and the rice too soft with little taste or seasoning and clearly not cooked in fish stock.  This was a special on the menú and is one I would avoid if it happens to be on the menu if you visit.

Tapa de morcilla de arroz (Rice-filled blood sausage tapa)$2.50 (top right of photo)

I tried this because the sausage in the case looked excellent and it was something completely new and unique to me.  The bread tasted fresh and the crust had a nice crunch like you might get in a European bakery.  The sausage was freshly made and the rice complimented the sausage nicely.  They key here is fresh.  Unlike the chicken empanada this was fresh making me wish I had ordered a couple more tapas to try.

Empanadas Argentinas con pollo $1.99 (bottom right of photo)

I love a good chicken empanada if it is well made.  If you have never had an empanada, it is like a turnover that is stuffed.  Although this one had a good shape and size to it, the turnover was chewy and the chicken inside was dry.  It was only after I ordered that I noticed they were pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp at a counter behind the main counter.  What could have been great was a disappointment.

Service

I waited for 15 minutes to get my order and there were only two other customers in the store.  Considering that there were more employees than customers, I found the wait time to be unacceptable.  I took advantage of the time to talk to both of the other customers and both were returning customers that had favorable experiences previously.

Would I Buy it Again? Of the three items reviewed, I would only try the tapa again.  However, I like to see a place with a unique products succeed in a city with little character and many strip malls.  Per the recommendation of the other customers, I will go back and try one of their Spanish Bocatas made with a crusty bread, olive oil, Serrano ham and manchego cheese along with some more of their tapas.  A follow-up review will be posted early in 2010.

-EatHSE

Tags: Chicken, el bodegon, empanadas, Food, mexican, paella, rice, sausage, seafood, Shrimp, squid, tapas

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Food Reviews, Location: Fishers, IN. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.