Muito Bom

Porcao
Churrascaria Rodizio
Av. Infante Dom Henrique s/n | Aterro do Flamengo,
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ph: (21) 3461 9020

Coming to Rio de Janeiro, I have made it a point to try the ever famous Brazilian barbecue served at the local churrascaria rodizio. For those who are not familiar with this kind of Brazilian restaurant, this is where you will find a few meat cutters or passadores making their rounds carrying different kinds of barbecued meats to serve you until you break into meat sweats, seriously. Yes, this is not the restaurant for the hard core Peta activists, this is where a huge variety of meats and in large quantities may be consumed. Vegetarians may frown upon the idea of an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant but meat lovers will surely jump for joy.

Stumbling into Porcao, one of Brazil's more popular churrascaria chain was actually an accident. My then-boyfriend-now husband and I were taking a stroll on Botafogo's sea wall while admiring the gorgeous Pao de Acucar when our tummies started grumbling. Seeing the huge restaurant from a far already sparked my curiosity. The husband told me that it's Porcao and it's a bit pricey,"Is it good?" I asked and when he answered "Of course" I was immediately sold.

Tour buses parking outside the restaurant and seeing fellow eager, hungry "gringas" like me racing to the door is definitely a good sign. Upon entering, we were greeted and quickly led to a table and once we were settled, we wasted no time and headed to the salad bar and quite a feast to the eyes it was. Salads were definitely not limited to vegetables and dressing but was an array of mouthwatering appetizers calling you out to try them. Seafood dishes, cheeses, Italian antipasto and local delicacies such as heart of palm dishes were all yours for the taking. We didn't hold back as we stacked our plates and headed back to our table and we noticed plates of rice, fried bananas, cassava flour called farofa, french fries, onion rings and their locally brewed beer called chopp were already waiting for us. We started to consume our delicious food when the passadores started to make their rounds to our table. The first meat to grace our plates was the top sirloin cap or simply called picanha. I took a break from the feast of salads and seafood and tried it... as I took one bite and tasted a morsel of the picanha, I thought I had died and gone to meat heaven. I swear to god, this was the best tasting meat I have ever put in my mouth.

The picanha was delicately seasoned and melts-in-your-mouth succulent. Sea salt, charcoal and the cow's fat made it the most sought after meat at the churrascaria. One after another, I had tried all the other barbecued meats including lamb, sausages, steaks, ribs and chicken heart but nothing beats the deliciousness of the picanha. Quitting meat will definitely not happen if I move to Brazil and if you want to know what I mean, pay a visit to Brazil's best churrascaria rodizio when you get the opportunity, taste their picanha and thank me later.