Meat

[scarlettina]

I am an unrepentant carnivore. (Well, sometimes I repent, but not enough to stop.) I am in Portland, Oregon this weekend, visiting with all my best beloveds here in town. Last night a subset of that group went to dinner at Brazil Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse that gives new meaning to "all you can eat" because it's very, very good indeed, and you want to eat more not because you can but because it's all so delicious you can't help yourself.

We were seated at our table promptly upon arrival. A server gave us the rundown: we can go get salad at the salad bar. And then he pointed out a red coaster on the table. He told us that when we were ready for meat, we should turn it over; the other side is green. As daviddlevine put it, that turns on the meat spigot. Servers come by with swords pierced through queues of meat of many different kinds and preparations. They will slice off as much or as little as you'd like. When we returned from the salad bar, we found garlic rolls and fried polenta sticks on the table. And then the meat started coming: tri-tip beef, mustard beef, bacon-wrapped filet, linguica, shrimp, ham, chicken hearts, chicken legs, chili-lime pork. And it went on from there. Truly, it was remarkable and all very well prepared. And the meat stops coming only when you turn the coaster to red again.

Toward the latter part of the meal, they asked us if we would help them reorganize tables a bit because they had a large group come in. For our trouble, they treated us to dessert. I had the Brazilian chocolate cake, which may be the Platonic ideal of chocolate cake.

The only complaint I might have is that I thought the wine list was somewhat limited. (You can see it on the website.) Nevertheless, we had a delicious red Coppola Cabernet Sauvignon that complimented the meal well.

If you're in Portland and you have the chance, I recommend Brazil Grill without reservation (except that having a reservation will be a good idea). Don't eat too much earlier in the day; you'll want to try everything on offer. It's completely worth it.

Comments

[solcita.livejournal.com]

I looooove places like that. There's one that my family goes to in Salt Lake City all the time, called Rodizio Grill. We have a couple in Seattle, too! There's The Grill from Ipanema in Belltown (my favorite in the area) and Novilhos, which is in Factoria and I think they just opened one in SoLU, and I've heard of one more but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I've heard of the Grill from Ipanema but never been there, mainly because the name is so, well, corny. But obviously, I have to try it!

[ckd]

I've gone to the chain version of those (Fogo de Chão) with a group of fellow geeks/engineers (work outing). The table discussions about optimizing the timing of the green/red signaling, making sure you have a sufficient but small meat buffer, techniques for choosing types of meat, etc were a lot of fun....

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

We had such a good time. I have no idea that this was A Thing.

[garyomaha.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun! We've avoided trying this style of restaurant -- not that we don't want to, but rather because, sadly, getting older has gone along with eating less. I cannot imagine such an experience without trying (or TRYING to try) everything. Omaha doesn't have such a venue. So, we'll definitely need a road map and tour guides if/when we ever do take the plunge. Perhaps you can lead!

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I'm in, baby! :-) I understand about trying to eat less. I fail at it miserably, but I try. :-) I'm surprised Omaha doesn't have anything like this, being in beef country and all. On the other hand, I suppose ethnic food is tougher to come by there--although I could be wrong, never having been. I had some of the best steak of my life in Montana, but it was Beef, A Man's Meal, none of this frilly schmancy ethnic stuff. :-)