Bahia - Traverse City

Fun. on Friday evening in the fairy with friends. they offer their feature cocktails from the pitcher have enough choice to align for our group of 6 to share. service was good. not happy that we had to pay for broth.

Went to Bahia last night for some dinner with a friend. Was supposed to be four of us, we called ahead and they were very accommodating, friends cancelled, no prob. We started off with a couple drinks each, The jalapeño margarita, red sangria pretty good , and basically a blackberry smash drink, but with tequila...they were out of blackberries despite it being on the menu, but sub'd blueberry. Her blueberry drink wasn't great. Lacked flavor and alcohol for that matter. My margarita was ok. The cilantro tequila was nice but would've liked some heat from the jalapeño, no need to de seed the pepper, makes it a bell pepper then. My second drink was a Hey Honey I think with Makers, honey, and something. It was 1.5oz pour with a lot of ice and was gone very quickly. We ordered 5 plates to share. The manchego bread w cheese, roasted garlic and tomatoes, served cold...that threw us off. This was the least favorite as there was no seasoning on the tomatoes. Mussels in a chocolate mole sauce, was ok. We used the leftover garlic from the first plate to add to the mussels n bread to help with the flavor. Blue corn tostada...the one I was most excited about. Unfortunately it was very misleading as the tostada was served on a sope and not mentioned in the description. Good flavor, too much of the sope and a lot of beans. But the lamb and kimchi on it was really nice. Forgot the name but it was just pork tacos, meat was cooked and seasoned well, salsa verde was bright but had zero spice. Was served with cotija and 4 corn tortillas. Last was the croquettes with poblano and Yukon potatoes. They were fine. Nice fried outside shell, potatos we're creamy but overtook the poblano entirely. There was a red pepper sauce that had a little heat spice to it which was really nice. Bill was about 150 w a 20 tip. Considering where this restaurant is, it's hard to get ethnic food that isn't fusion. I plan on coming back to try the rest of the menu, hoping the next time is better. TC really needs at least one authentic Spanish restaurant. Also, I'd like to note our server and staff were on top of their game, great service and communication for sure.

I don't know why Bahia only has a 2 1 2 star rating other than there just aren't many reviews and Yelp decided not to recommend one of the two really good ones . We ate at Bahia last night, and yes, their prices are a little high, but the food was really tasty! We were here when Bahia had first opened in the summer and had the Prawns, which I have been craving ever since. Ordered them again last night and they were just as good as I remembered. Large shrimp cooked in the shell and cut in half, soaking in garlic butter, what's not to love?! We also ordered the Bravas diced roasted potatoes, seasoned and served with a smoky, spicy Romesco sauce and a mild but flavorful garlic aioli . We finished off the potatoes and I was still scooping up the sauces with my fork! Yum! Hubby wanted the Scallops with a blueberry sauce. I was leery that the dish would be too sweet. It was not. The scallops were seared very nicely and the blueberry sauce was only as sweet as the berries themselves, not as sweet as jam or a blueberry pie. I liked the scallops just by themselves, hubby loved the sauce. We decided to splurge and try one more dish. The waitress suggested the Octopus, which she said is her favorite. I was a little surprised to see a whole tentacle on the plate I guess I was expecting slices, kind of like calamari . It was served with more of the roasted potatoes and a delicious broth. The octopus was tender and had a delicate flavor that was enhanced by the broth. My only criticism of this dish partly because we'd already had the potatoes in the Bravas is that I would have loved if the octopus was served with some baguette slices instead, that I could have sopped up the broth with. It was that delicious!

My wife and I were excited to try this place. Service, food was excellent. This place is a good addition to the Traverse City food scene. I wish Bahia great success. Cheers!

Kerry was an awesome waiter. Food was fantastic. We liked everything we ordered to share among the 5 of us. I was convinced that I would not like the octopus but it was delicious. Scallops, prawns, pork belly was also 5 stars. Overall 5 stars. Pleasantly suprised. Highly recommend.