So we've already touched on what to do and what to see when you venture to Brazil and Argentina but we barely touched on the food. Considering the amount of research we do for meals, we figured we would share our favorite spots for food that might not be found in a traditional guide book.Just a few weeks ago, we mentioned our methods for researching prior to taking a trip. We mentioned guide books as one of our main resources and they really are wonderful when it comes to all the top attractions. But now, with the abundant amount of social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, it's easier than ever to seek out unique places to visit on your trip. These media outlets led us to discover secret cafés, bars that require a passcode to enter, and tiny farm-to-table eateries that don't even have a printed menu. Here is our list of favorite food during our South America vacation. Rio de Janeiro: Santo Scenarium - Located right next to Rio Scenarium, a very famous bar/Samba dance club, Santo Scenarium was littered with Cariocas (people from Rio) on their lunch breaks. We were able to snag a table in the back and ordered up all local cuisine. We got one of the main dishes of Brazil, Feijoada stew and a couple rounds of their national dish, the caipirinha. This was not the only place we ordered caipirinhas but they were definitely the strongest here. Pictured is the Feijoada we ordered. We really enjoyed the flavor and would recommend trying it if you go. Confeitaria Manon - a café and pastry shop in the city center. Many of the touristy parts of town had juice bars so finding a coffee house meant venturing into the interior of the city. Confeitaria Manon is in a beautiful Art Deco open air building and pretty well hidden, we just happened to have good directions. They had a whole bake-case filled with delicious treats as well as coffee, tea, and sandwich options. The hardest part was ordering. Again, we were in the city center so the English speakers were non-existent (at least while we were there). We tried Spanish, then a convoluted version of sign language with pointing and finally one waiter said "sit" so we sat. They brought us the pastry and coffee and we paid from our table. Considering the amount of inconvenience we were, all the waiters were friendly and helpful. They might have been cursing at us in Portuguese but to our face, they were lovely! Aprazível - now this place you will find in almost every guide book and Pinterest food blog there is. Aprazível is well known and there's a reason. Not only was their menu extensive and their wine list vast but the views!!! The views are the main reason any tourist should take a taxi up the side of the windy mountain to enjoy this restaurant (see the intro picture for example). We made it there just in time to see the evening dawn turn into darkness and the city lights all sparkled down below. We made reservations through our hotel and enjoyed some red meat and Brazilian wine before finishing the night off with their signature dessert Banana Santa Teresa (pictured)! Alessandro & Frederico - located in the prominent shopping area on Ipanema beach. We we taken to Ipanema via our tour bus after our excursion to Christ the Redeemer. It wasn't our plan to have lunch on Ipanema beach but once we got there and realized the dining options were plenty, we decided to stay and grab some lunch. We recognized Alessandro & Frederico from one of the "best lunch" lists we reviewed and decided to go for it. Now part of our experience might have been based on the fact that it was 90 degrees that day and we dined outside but we concluded that for the price, the food wasn't as good as we had hoped. But we did enjoy the proximity to the shops and beach. After lunch we hit up some local boutiques and then walked to a juice bar for some açai smoothies. EntreTapas - we've shared the story of the tapas restaurant in our guest blog post over at onemoderncouple.com, but due to the amount of awesomeness, we thought we'd include it again. I believe we had four rounds of shareable plates as well as a few caipirinhas and finished off with two desserts. It was very unexpected that we found this place but we were so glad Pinterest led us to the street! Porcão - On our last night, we decided we couldn't skip on a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. Porcão is rated number one in Rio so we made a reservation and indulged in the all-you-can-eat experience. To be honest with you, we've dined at a Fogo de Chao (a well known, authentic Brazilian steakhouse in the states) and that experience matched Porcão very well. we are in no way trying to say Porcão wasn't as good, instead we should be lucky to have such awesome food back home that can live up to the level of a traditional Brazilian steakhouse. BUT, considering it wasn't any cheaper to have it in Rio verses the U.S., we'd say find an off the beaten path restaurant that you can't get in America and skip the all-you-can-eat spots! Pictured below are the food cards. You flip it to "yes" if you want the waiters to bring over meat options and once you're plate is filled, you turn it over to "No" and they skip your table until you have the green side showing again. We highly recommend hitting up a Fogo de Chao if you have one in your area! It's quite the experience. Notable mentions - açai smoothies or juice from Polis Sucos, coconuts from a vender on the beach, and a dulce de leche churro from any food cart you can find!
We really enjoyed all the food we had in South America and Rio started us off on the right foot. Check back later this week for a second Foodie Edition on Argentinian delicacies! Until Next Time, C + D
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorChase & Dani here, providing Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|