Bodega on Main paella a winner

Following a tip from my friend who'd been to Bodega on Main before, before, I went to try the paella. As we were first-timers our server suggested the Paella Mixta, which is the "normal" one.

TIP: Some prices are WRONG on the online menu (as of Sat-Mar-19).

TIP: Lots of gluten-free items!

Pisto Andaluz ($6) stewed peppers, tomatoes, squash, onions

• Boooring. Get something more interesting.

Piquillo Con Bacalao ($12 for 2 pieces)

• Special of the day.
• Salted cod wrapped in piquillo pepper and with a sweet sauce.
• Sweet sauce juxtaposed with the slightly salty cod nicely... but $6 per piece? Argh.

Paella Mixta ($28)

• Winner! Just price for portion is a great deal -- You get a plate that's like 2-3 mains worth.
• Lots of really flavourful rice (though on the salty side).
• Tender calamari, not hard-rubbery.
• Two HUGE prawns. Even the smaller prawns aren't wimpy shrimps.
• Lots of mussels and clams.
• Sadly, you have to dig up chicken and sausage like rare treasure.
• If you are daunted by the prices of everything else for tiny tapas plates, just order this and nothing else. Not only will the price fill you up, but averaging $14 per person as a main, this is a steal for what you get -- and at $28 per order, it's already $2 more than just a few months ago.
• Just for this fab deal, Bodega gets maximum marks even with OK service and a too-busy room.

Bombon de higos ($7 for four) figs filled with almonds, mascarpone, and dipped in chocolate

• Four large figs. They use whole figs which are obviously not of exactly the same size, but of whatever size they grew on the tree.
• Quite a heavy dessert because of the chocolate as well as the generous amount of almonds stuffed inside. Best for four persons, each person getting one fig.
• Overall sounded more interesting than it was tasty. Light sweetness from the fig, strong chocolate presence, and the rest was just a heavy filling feeling from the dense nuts. I recommend you to have had only a light dinner before going for this dessert. Or maybe they'll let you have a half portion.
• Came very quickly to the table, and chilled, so I suspect these are pre-made and sitting in the fridge ready for deployment.

Super-busy first-come-first-served room that was almost full on a Friday night even at 5:30 PM! Some pretty hot servers.
Music is loud but the ambient conversation is what makes hearing your dining companion across the already smallish table from you almost impossible.

Would be nice if they labelled the washrooms as such. Three non-descript doors opposite the open kitchen are unisex bathrooms.

TIP: Starting 2016-Feb-1, every Monday 15% of food sales are donated to Rethink Breast Cancer.