J-Pa mans up in Brazil

Though this blog is all about Texas BBQ, we graciously acknowledge that places other than Texas have their own version of BBQ (says the guy who’s not from Texas). We brought you Julianne’s take on BBQ in Europe. Now, here’s Jason’s take on Brazilian BBQ:

Here’s a review of two places I checked out while in Brazil. All the pics are from Na Brasa, the 2nd place I hit up. We all have heard about these Brazilian steakhouses – Fogo De Chao, Texas de Brazil, Churrascaria Plataforma the list goes on and on…Churrascaria as it is called in Portuguese. This is a style of Gauchos of Argentina/Uruguay and the southern part of Brazil!

The first place I went to was called: Churrascaria Roda De Carreta - some people refer to it as 35 C.T.G. I went here for lunch with my co-workers. This was an older looking building; reminded me of a Texas dancehall or something…wood everywhere, and a wooden dance floor; apparently they do gaucho shows in the evening…missed out on that.

Like any good churrascaria, they have a salad bar – very simple salad bar here folks… I barely put any of it on my plate. I sat down and was ready for the meat! I had a lot of what they call picanha – which is actually rump steak. The part of the meat right before the tail. This is the picture every Brazilian BBQ place shows as well; the 3 beef chunks that look like a kidney. Anyways this stuff rocks! Honestly some things I had no idea what part of the meat it was; I just knew it was beef, pork, chicken, sausage or lamb. It was all tasty. My favorites were the filet mignon chunks infused w/ garlic! So good!!

Only suspect thing I ate was chicken heart, but I’ve eaten chicken hearts as a kid (hey growing up Korean you eat all kinds of stuff) it’s a local favorite in Brazil! Flavor can be intense, and texture is chewy. I wish I took pictures at this place, but I didn’t have my camera. Here’s a link to the website: http://www.churrascariarodadecarreta.com.br/. Beef: 9.5; pork (I love pork): 8.5; didn’t eat the chicken but had chicken heart: 7; salad bar: 8

The next place I went to my last night in Porto Alegre is supposed to be the best in town! Everyone knew the name of this place; Churrascaria Na Brasa! This place is so famous that it supposed closed down Fogo De Chao, it used to be in Porto Alegre but they couldn’t hang. Unfortunately I was a little under the weather but forced myself to go to this place, I had too…

My appetite definitely wasn’t there, which only resulted in not eating a lot. But I tried my best folks…Upon entering this place, you can tell it’s nicer; the layout is fancier…they have cloth on the tables unlike the other place. People were dressed up, and the salad bar… yea you just look at the salad bar and knew…this is definitely more upscale.

Again, didn’t spend too much time at the salad bar. Picked up some palm hearts, capers, some bits of arugula and cheese. Here, I definitely had more of a selection: Beef, chicken, sausage, pork, lamb, wild boar. I must say the wild boar was awesome: 9.5; beef: 9; didn’t eat chicken here either but did have the hearts: 5; definitely had a stronger flavor than 35; lamb was excellent: 9.4. The people here were gracious enough to show me the kitchen and took pictures of me, it was a sweet setup!

BBQ in Brazil gotta love it! I’m now a fan of Brazilian BBQ even more after seeing the culture and the roots and origins of this style of BBQ I just wish the prices reflect that of Brazil! I won’t tell you guys how much my meal there was….