Food, Food, Food in Rio????

[trilingual]

I don't have any recommendations beyond the ones I've already mentioned here, but for anyone watching calories I strongly recommend the "por kilo" restaurants where you pay by the weight of the food you buy. Ordinary Brazilian restaurants tend to serve batallion-size portions and it's hard to exercise will-power when confronted with so much food. At the "por kilo" places you can control things much easier, since you select what you want to eat yourself from the various buffets. Many of the "por kilo" places are quite nice, with a considerable variety of salads, among other things. Besides being convenient, the "por kilo" places are usually inexpensive. You should be able to have a satisfying meal for R$10 - 12.

 

Also, particularly at lunch time, some regular restaurants offer a "por kilo" buffet in addition to their à-la-carte menus.

 

For those who haven't been, this is the way it works: You'll be given a card when you enter which you mustn't lose! Help yourself to what you like and take your plate to the weighing station, where your card will be marked with the value of the food you've taken. When you sit down, a server will come by and take your drink order and will also mark your card. You can go back to the buffets as much as you like, just remember to have your food weighed and your card marked each time you do that. When you're ready to leave, take your card to the cashier, pay, and have your card stamped. In most places you'll need to surrender the stamped card to the burly enforcer at the exit in order to leave.

[axebahia]

Porcao for meat, Flamengo - most breathtaking view in the world.

 

Satyricon for fish in Ipanema.

[axebahia]

Caesar Park, Saturday in Rio for feijoida is a must.

 

Yemenja in Ipanema is a must for Bahian food, and yes you can do seafood there too!

[Mavica]

Where we ate

 

Here’s a summary of some of the places we took meals at during our recent visit:

 

Máriu’s

Av. Atlântica, 290-B

Leme

- Excellent all-you-can eat “Churrascaria”-style seafood restaurant with a great cold buffet. Waiters circulate with platters of grilled shellfish, and assorted seafood . . . including lobster tail, whole Dungeness Crab, etc. Upscale restaurant with “nautical” decor. About US$20 p/p for the meal, drinks extra. People "dress up" a bit, and if you arrive in plain beachwear you might feel out-of-place. Same restaurant has a beef restaurant adjacent, same name.

 

Carretão

Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 112

Ipanema

- Excellent all-you-can eat “Churrascaria” beef restaurant with a great cold buffet (including a Sushi bar). Waiters circulate with grilled beef of all sorts and stop coming back only when you holler, “Uncle”! Upscale, contemporary, decor. About US$10 p/p for the meal, drinks and a few side-dishes are extra. A place with a smartly-dressed (but, not too dressy) crowd. A short walk from/to the gay beach at Farme de Amoedo. There’s a branch of this same restaurant in Copacabana, and maybe other parts of the city.

 

Siqueira

Rua Siqueira Campos, between Av. Atlântica and Ferreira.

Copacabana

- This was our favorite restaurant, and we ate here more than anywhere else. It’s a “kilo” restaurant with a huge hot/cold buffet that‘s replenished non-stop, has great salads and a terrific selection of deserts. It’s a large, busy, and clean restaurant . . . seemingly very popular . . . and it has a handsome waitstaff! Food costs about BR$20 per kilo. Sometimes I ate a lot, drank a couple of beers, and my bills never exceeded BR$20. It’s less than a 10 minute walk from the Atlantico Copacabana Hotel, a 15-20 minute walk from the so-called gay beach at Copacabana, and around the corner from Disco/Bar Incontrus and Corujinha Restaurant.

 

We also ate at Maxim’s, Bofetada, and Confeiteria Colombo. Maxim’s was okay, but nothing to write home about; although, it's convenient to the gay beach at Copacabana. Bofetada is okay for after the beach in Ipanema, but more a fast-food sidewalk cafe than a full-fledged restaurant. The guidebooks recommend Confeiteria Colombo for coffee and pastry, and my suggestion after visiting the second-floor buffet is that you should follow the guidebook recommendation; the food was overpriced and lacked quality (in comparison to every other restaurant we visited).

 

Okay, this is my “list.”

[TinyBubbles]

RE: Where we ate

 

Believe it or not, Meia Pataca right on Avenida Atlantica has really, REALLY good food.. I know that it is notorious as a place where str8 guys go to pick up the local hookers, but the food is actually really, really good..They have a steamed Shrimp dish with garlic that is AWESOME, and their grilled lobster is really good also.....

[trilingual]

RE: Where we ate

 

Some other unlikely looking places can have good food. Corujinha, for example, serves a generous and very tasty "frango à passarinho" (a kind of garlicky pan-fried chicken cut up in small Chinese-style pieces) which is more than large enough to split with another person. It's an excellent thing to snack on while enjoying your beer or caipirinhas. . .

[Guest Deweywop]

RE: Where we ate

 

I remember being bowled over by some big Mineiro buffet restaurant in Botafogo. I think it's part of a chain and was called A Mineira. Mineiro food is the cuisine of Minas Gerais, a beautiful, colonial state well worth the short visit from Rio. The food is hearty, rib-sticking stuff, but with lots of vegetables and intense greens. I also ate at Sri Mole & Co. way at the west end of Copacabana. They get rave reviews for Bahian food. I would give Bahian food a few more tries, but the first time felt very heavy (lots of coconut milk and palm oil).

[+ Axiom2001]

RE: Where we ate

 

Well, guys-- we have just three more days before we depart for Rio; we thank you tremendously for your suggestions; if you have others prior to this coming Wednesday, include them also.

Obrigado! Thanks very much! Muchas gracias! AX

[+ Axiom2001]

Within nine days from today, I'll be in Rio awaiting Carnaval.

During this time, my friend and I would like to dine at some places which have been recommended at this site. So fellows, although some recommendations are in the archives, we'd appreciate your listing your favorites in Rio only! Yes, we do plan to watch those calories while imbibing! :)