EBG Rating: 7.7/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
The typical Bodega range – Tuborg/Carlsberg, Danish schnapps and basic corporate back bar of alternatives.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
A Brunt Vaertshus/Brown pub on the corner of the street. Small with the typical ensemble of old wood, fruit machines, twee artistry, lamplight and cigarette smoke.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Some places have ‘it’ and some don’t – this one does. Cosy, venerable, and atmospheric. Feels intimate during the day but comes alive at night too.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️
Snacks, fruit machines, smoking permitted, TV

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️
Fair value for the basic goods on offer.

Description:
A good example of what the phrase ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ means. Bodega 48 may look to some like the most routine corner local, and on many dimensions it is. A Brunt Vaertshus/Brown pub with the typical ensemble of old wood, lamplight and cigarette smoke. However, it is the execution of those and other qualities which sets it apart, making it not only the average neighbourhood living room, but a genuinely atmospheric and endearing hangout.

A small pub, Bodega 48 still feels cosy and intimate when it’s quiet, the kind of pub that doesn’t just make you feel welcome but comfortably swaddled among its out of time decor and close atmosphere, the sort of relaxation that inspired the creation of the pub.

Wholly unpretentious, the dual fruit machines, ashtrays and cast of regulars on stools at the bar seem part of a dreamy ensemble here rather than just some cranky, scuzzy old hole. Some places have ‘it’ and some don’t – this one does.

(Added November 2024)