On the recent positive write-up by the
london foodie, i decided to take Jo and her surrogate Aunt out to a
churrascaria type place around the corner from where we were staying in Islington.
This Brazilian way of eating out is something I’m familiar with but haven’t had the opportunity to experience. After the ladies had ordered some cocktails and me a Sagres Bohemia! ( an amber coloured portuguese beer), we grabbed a plate at the buffet counter.
In terms of service, the intention is to help yourself to salads and cold/hot sides at a buffet style island. When back at your table a round card is given to you with red and green coloured sides. The reason for this addition was explained to us by a very sweet lad who clearly hadn’t been working there long. When you’ve had enough meat, turn it over to red. If you want more, turn it over to green. Servers then proceed to go round to each table with skewers of barbecued meats.
The different types of charcoal cooked meats on offer were grandiose, with different cuts of beef, pork, poultry and offal. I particularly liked the chicken hearts and the pork loin, however i’ve never seen beef brisket done in such a way on the barbecue, which meant it was far too rare and chewy for my liking!
After getting through mounds of lovely meat we took a breather before ordering desert. A little wooden trolley got wheeled over with plastic versions of everything on offer (ace!). Having ”eyes bigger than my belly”, i went for a baked custard desert with caramel, similar to a crème caramel but massive.
A great evening was had by all, but if you do find yourselves in this kind of place then please pace yourself, i felt really wrong the next day but that was my own doing.
(Worth it though!)
