From the sight of the restaurant, it seemed like this was another drinking place/restaurant kind of establishment, so I did not have much of an impression. But hubby emphasized that a lot of social elites come here for their meals, people the likes of Tun Dr. Mahathir, local artistes, etc. And out of nowhere, we saw Tun Dr. Mahathir come strolling along the walkway towards Pavilion! (with like 5 bodyguards on the side) What a coincidence heh.
The restaurant's main offerings were tapas - snacks, canapés or finger food that originated in Spain, hence the tagline 'tapas y vinos' etched after the restaurant name.
We had Iced Mocha (RM 12) and Iced Coffee (RM 12) to kick start our day, and they were pretty decent.
Hubby wanted something light so he asked the staff to recommend him a sandwich, and they recommended him the Tuna & Cream Cheese Bocadillo (RM 15)
Just check out the chunks of tuna that could not be hidden! From the menu, this was described as 'The classic Spanish "bocadillo" - warm baguette stuffed with the highest quality Spanish tuna combined with cream cheese, olives, capers and Spanish black olives."
The sandwich did not disappoint at all. I am normally pretty skeptical when it comes to tuna sandwiches as they are normally very coarse in texture but these tuna chunks were simply a delight to consume. The cream cheese added even more smoothness to the whole sandwich and blended the tuna and the salad well.
Thumbs up from hubby too!
Next came the tapas that hubby insisted to order for me try as he said the tapas here are really good - Pollo Al Ajilo (RM 15)
What's this you ask? It is chicken sauteed in olive oil, garlic & parsley. It was a tapas recommended by the staff as well, since there were just too many tapas to choose from. The taste of the chicken was either well-marinated, or they had basically soaked up the flavor from the gravy itself. Though this looked rather normal, the taste was really appetizing, and you simply can't get enough of it. Seriously, I'm not kidding. Hubby also told me enthusiastically that the bread that goes with the tapas are refillable too :)
My dish took a while to be served - Eggs Benedict with Smoked Turkey Ham (RM 15)
My actual order was with Smoked Salmon but I was told that they ran out of that (not sure how) so I settled with the turkey ham instead, simply because I am a huge fan of poached eggs!
The menu says "Two poached eggs on toast with hollandaise sauce". And I just found out that hollandaise sauce is an emulsion, of lemon juice and butter, that is held together and stabilised by a third agent, egg yolks, to form a rich and thick sauce.
I was literally like a little kid ogling over her favourite eggs but I have always been fascinated with poached eggs ever since I was introduced to it many years back.
The oh-so beautiful gems tucked away safely underneath massive layers of smoked turkey ham!
Evidence of a well done poached egg - runny egg yolk oozing out from the well-concealed egg white - yummmsssssss~!
The turkey ham slightly paled in comparison to the awesome poached eggs but I enjoyed them no less, though I'd like it more if they had smoked salmon.
Came across some nice varieties of tapas on display and boy, they looked tempting indeed.
The al fresco area and the interior of La Bodega
While touring the restaurant, I was surprised to find wine rack over at the ceiling. Now how do they get the wines down then? Hmmm...
Another pleasant place I wouldn't mind making a return.
La Bodega @ Pavilion KL, Lot C3.06.00 Level 3,
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2148 8018
