Whatever resplendent refections or fabulous feasts you’ve previously partaken in, nothing prepares you for a Brazilian barbecue. Fair warning: This meal – known as a rodízio in its homeland, where it’s a cultural institution – is not for vegetarians.
Or the faint-hearted.
As you enter the restaurant past a buffet bountifully stacked with cold cuts, seafood, salads, cheeses and breads, you can be forgiven for wondering how you’re going to manage. But that’s not even the beginning. Once you’re seated, a waiter places a wooden block on the table, with one end painted green and the other red.
Even the Brazilians are impressed
Essentially, green is “go” and red is “stop.”
The moment you turn that block the green way up, they’re on you. Skewers of meat from all sides, straight from the fire and still sizzling in their juices. Eighteen different cuts of beef, each with their own dedicated carver insistent on serving you to your specifications. From flank to filet mignon, from brisket to the famous picanha rump steaks.
If that’s not enough, there’s chicken legs, chicken hearts, sausages, pork joints, pork cutlets, grilled pineapple, and all manner of sides including the customary black beans. And when you’re just about done with all that, they’ll come back again expecting to feed you even more. The first “No” is never enough, and the red paint on the block no longer seems relevant, so intent is each carver on stuffing you with some of the best steak you’ll ever eat.
Those living outside Brazil may have come across a Brazilian barbecue in their own country. Yet according to Brazilians themselves, there’s only one place to try rodízio outside of South America – Portugal. One Brazilian I’ve met here claims she actually prefers to go to a rodízio when she visits Lisbon than at home, because the experience is fully authentic but less than half the price it would be in her native São Paulo.
The selection of meat, hot sides and buffet food outlined above costs an all-inclusive 28 euros at Lisbon’s best Brazilian barbecue!
Here in Portugal the entire staff at the restaurant you go to, from the head chef to the waiters, are likely to be Brazilian. Which ensures that everything is done in the style of a traditional rodízio. And as well as the finest beef cuts from Brazil and Argentina, you have some of the best pork anywhere in the world, sourced directly from Portuguese farms.
A lot of rodízio options
There are various different rodízio options in Lisbon, from the popular chain Chimarrão to the Central Brazilian-style Sabor do Mineiro and the Portuguese-run Prazeres de Picanha. One place stands above all others, though. The original and the best. Fogo de Chão.
Fogo de Chão may be a global brand of rodízio restaurants, but branches elsewhere have nothing on Lisbon’s entirely Brazilian experience. For example, US branches have apparently never heard of grilled pineapple. And UK branches in London and Brighton offer a single plate of British-style rump steak and chips for almost the same price as the entire all-inclusive Lisbon picanha menu.
If you’re not visiting Brazil itself anytime soon, the only place worth trying a rodízio is Portugal. And when you do, here are a few tips to help you make the most of it.
Don’t fill up on the buffet
Tempting, I know. All that garlic bread, pasta salad, premium cheese, chorizo, traditional pão de queijo, calamari … the list could go on. But the whole point of these carb-heavy sides is to distract you from what you’re there for – the meat!
Before you know it you’ll be slumped in your chair with the block already switched back to red and only two slices of half-eaten steak on your plate.
By all means, make the most of the buffet, but in small doses. Take one or two things you’re curious to try, and garnish your plate with a minimal helping of carb-free salad.
Pace yourself
The start of a Brazilian barbecue can be overwhelming, with platefuls of food served at you from all directions without a second’s notice. If you’re not careful, you could soon end up with a mountain of meat in front of you, most of which will go cold and dry as you attempt to force your way through it.
Remember, this isn’t a race. Take all night if you need to, and savour each piece of beef on its own terms. Don’t be afraid to give the carvers a polite-but-firm “No.” It’s your dinner, after all.
A digestif midway?
This might sound like an odd suggestion. Yet with so much meat to get through a half-time pause and a stiff drink to activate those digestive enzymes doesn’t go amiss. In fact, it can be the basis for finding your second wind (no pun intended!) later in the meal.
My recommendation would be cognac, although a Brazilian caipirinha cocktail also does the job.
Prioritise!
The one drawback of a rodízio is there’s simply too much to try. Unless you’ve got a spectacularly large appetite and a particularly resilient stomach, you’re unlikely to eat every type of meat you’re offered.
Inevitably, you have to prioritise according to personal taste. Always ask which cut or type of meat you’re getting before you’re served.
And check whether the piece of meat on offer is cooked to your liking. The beauty of a rodízio is you don’t have to request a specific way of cooking. The skewers will simply keep going back and forth between the fire and the tables until they’re well-done. Just choose your moment, and your piece.
Picanha is king
Ultimately, picanha – or Brazilian-style rump steak – is the beef cut everyone in the restaurant is waiting for. With a fatty coating that naturally bastes the meat as it melts in the fire, picanha is perfectly suited to flame-grilling.
It’s rarely the first cut out of the kitchen, though. So bide your time, save some space, and don’t miss out!
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Read more about Lisbon here in Dispatches’ archives.
Alex Beaton
Alex Beaton is a writer from London, UK. His published works include a guide to starting a business in Warsaw, a fictionalised account of his time living in Egypt, and a 2013 report of the political situation in Bulgaria. He has also written extensively about his travels in France, Portugal, Italy and Malta.
