Churrasco Brazilian Style BBQ – Sydney

It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is going to restaurants. That’s not true, there’s also the movies, but you’ll be reading about those soon. Meanwhile, after about a year in Sydney without feeling the taste of home, I’ve been to two Brazilian BBQ places in the past month or so. The first one was somewhat disappointing, therefore I still needed one that would actually make me feel – at least a little bit – as if I were back in Rio Grande do Sul, the state in Brazil where the best barbecues are made. The place of choice this time was Churrasco (which, incidentally, is the Brazilian word for barbecue). We went there last Monday. Just to make sure, we made reservations the day before, but they were not necessary. By the time we got there, at 19:30, there were customers, but the place – which is quite big – was far from full.

The entrance. Not my best picture ever.

The area where we sat

There was still another area, so you can see there’s seating space. As per Brazilian tradition, Churrasco works with an all-you-can-eat system, including side dishes and the barbecue itself, which is brought to the table by waiters. As soon as we where seated, we were offered drinks and the food started coming. Side dishes didn’t take long, but before they touched our table there was already meat there.

Yes, please!

So, this is how my meal started:

That’s ham glazed with orange and seeded mustard, with rice, black beans and farofa (cassava flour). The glazed ham is not exactly Brazilian standard, but the sides where spot on. I don’t really have a great picture of the sides, by the way, because my friends starved themselves in preparation and dove head first into the food as it touched the table, hehehe. Anyway, this is what I can show you.

The fourth item, which wasn’t in the previous photo, is potato. Well, sides are fun and all, but what matters is the meat. Here it is (click to see the pictures in full size).

Those are obviously just a part of all we had, I just couldn’t bring myself to take pictures of everything. I was busy enjoying, and I tell you: it was good. The meat was tender, well seasoned, and there were options of rare to well done. I’ll go for rare any day, and I was very happy with what I got. Among the options are rump cap, sirloin, eye fillet, chicken hearts, chicken wings, chicken sausage, pork chorizo, some of them with two or more different preparations.

If one thing was not perfect, it was that the chicken hearts only showed up right at the beginning, and there were only three of them for the four of us, and when we were just about done with the meal – I asked for them as a final serving. Hadn’t I asked, I’m not sure we’d have even seen them after that modest early appearance.. By the way, they also have other cuts of chicken, as I mentioned. I just don’t really go for chicken often when in barbecues, that’s why there are no pictures or further comments.

Overall, I can’t even tell you what my favorite cut was. Most of them were just beyond reproach. So much so that I kept eating long after I’d told myself I was satisfied. A new option came around, and I just had to have it.

Other stuff. The place is nice, in a kind of stylish old school decoration, leaning towards dark in terms of lighting, and not too noisy. The service was efficient and very friendly. The price is a bit on the high side, $44 per person, which means it’s not somewhere one can go all the time, but it’s definitely worth it once you realise what you’re getting for it. They also have desserts that look delicious, but I’ll have to go back just for them one day, because there’s no way I’d give up on the room for meat to have dessert that night. Oh, yes, talking about going back, that’s a place I’ll certainly visit again for the meat, as well as the dessert. And, before I forget, they also have this Guaraná Antartica, by far the best guaraná soft drink there is.

And I guess we’re just about done here.

Kidding, there’s one more thing:

Churrasco Brazilian Style BBQ Sydney is at 60-70 William Street, Woolloomooloo, NSW.

Svens Viking Pizza

Well, here we go for one more ethnic restaurant. It’s time to go to Sweden now. Svens Viking offers Swedish pizza, which brings a different concept from the ones I’m used to. The base is very thin, possibly the thinnest I’ve tried in my life. The toppings are lighter and – as they claim – healthier. The menu presents a reasonable variety of options, and the pizzas are named with words from Norse mythology, so you can try a Thor, a Loke, an Odin or an Asgard. I wonder where I can find Iron Man themed pizza, hehehe.

Odin – The God of Wisdom

I opted for the Odin – The God of Wisdom (olive oil base, beef eye fillet, roasted garlic, potatoes, goat cheese, fresh thyme). Now, although I can say the pizza was good – and it certainly felt healthier than the kind of pizza I usually have – it was too soft in flavour for my taste. When I have pizza, I expect a stronger sensation. I also tried a slice of Frö – Worshiped as a Male Fertility God (beef eye fillet, sauce béarnaise, fresh mushrooms, onion, cracked black pepper) and it was tastier, but still not quite the way I prefer. They do have three options under the title “Aussie favourites”: margherita with fresh basil, pepperoni & cheese and  smoked ham & pineapple.

Bye the way, the price of my pizza was $25 for the large size. I would have tried their Viking beer, but they’d run out, unfortunately.

The place is nice and comfortable, decorated according to the theme, but with no exaggeration. Service was quite efficient and friendly. I would say it definitely is a place to visit from time to time, when one feels like trying something different. Or, if you prefer Swedish pizza to the more traditional one, Svens Viking is a restaurant to drop by often.

Svens Viking Pizza is at 354 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction.

More texts about restaurants:

Tommy’s Beer Cafe
Chimmichurri Bar & Grill
Zen Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Chimmichurri Bar & Grill

A few days ago, I visited Chimmichurri to use a voucher I purchased via Groupon. Being Brazilian – and not having been to any Brazilian barbecue places since moving to Sydney – I was very excited at the opportunity. Initially, I tried booking on a Thursday (I sent them an e-mail on Monday). I was then told that they were booked out for Thursday as well as the whole weekend. Then, I tried Tuesday, at 9p.m. I was told that Tuesday was available, but they could only sit us at 6 or 8:15. My friend might have to work until around 8, so we had to take a risk, but thankfully things turned out alright in that matter.

Upon arrival, we had to wait a little bit to be seated. We were then seated at a table which had no plates or cutlery, and those took a while to be brought. When the plates were brought, mine was dirty. I asked one of the staff for another one, and he told me it was not dirty, it was clay. It didn’t seem like it was only clay to me, and as he saw that I didn’t like his answer, he started making jokes. Later on, it became clear that his style is “extra-friendly”, but at that early point, I was about to get up and leave, had I not already paid for the voucher. By the way, upon discovering that my friend was Swedish, he also tried to be friendly by saying a dirty word in her language. Bold move; she didn’t find it too funny. Also, no one actually collected my voucher number; when we were seated, I asked the lady who escorted us about it, she said she would grab something to write on and return to our table; she didn’t. Later on, I reminded another waiter, who in turn called someone who I presume was the manager, who also didn’t have anything to write on, so he asked to take my phone (I didn’t get around to printing) to the front and redeem the voucher. But the capital offence was none of those: they forgot to put us in the system. For over half an hour we sat there, as the waiters who carried the meat ignored us, and when we finally got one of the other waiters to our table, he said that we would get the side dishes, they would bring it as soon as they were ready, and the meat would follow. A few more minutes, and this waiter (the same from the plate incident), walking past our table, grabbed one of the other waiters and told him to check if we had been added to the system. He asked it in Portuguese, which I happen to speak. So, there it was. We’d been forgotten. From there on, perhaps realising that they had commited a deadly sin in customer service, everyone seemed very dedicated to treating us nicely. I guess that counts for something. We got the side dishes soon after, and when we asked to repeat some of those, we got the replacements quickly as well. We should have gotten garlic bread, which we didn’t, even after asking one of the waiters for it, but at that point, garlic bread was a small detail for an otherwise very eventfull evening.

As a side note, the environment is quite nice. The restaurant does look good.

And I didn’t even talk about the food yet. Well, it tasted good, I must say. The side dishes included rice, potato salad, Brazilian vinaigrette and chimmichuri. I’m not a fan of either chimmichurri or vinaigrette, but the rice and potato salad were alright. There were enough options of meat to keep us entertained, including varieties of beef, lamb, pork and chicken. There was no chicken heart, which is considered peculiar in Australia, but is insanely popular in Brazil. The rump cap took a long time to show up, but it was quite good. In terms of flavour, the evening was not disappointing, if it wasn’t marvelous.

Overall, I must say I don’t plan on going back. I don’t believe the service was unwilling – only understaffed and unprepared. But, with all the problems we’ve had, and with all the other options of Brazilian BBQ places I’ve yet to explore in Sydney, Chimmichurri is most likely destined to be a part of my past.

Chimmichurri Bar & Grill is at 23 Ward Ave. (Darlinghurst, according to their website, Potts Point, according to 131500).