Closing Time: Two Blocks Too Small for Two Brazilian Restaurants in District VI
While times seem to be tough for North American themed-restaurants in District V, a more nuanced situation faces the different groups trying to operate Brazilian restaurants in District VI. Yes, that's right - as of a few weeks ago, there was not only a basement restaurant on Eötvös utca called the "Rio Grill" offering up Brazilian specialties, but work going on not much more than 100 away on a giant new Brazilian joint called Braseiro, in the premises of the former Grand Café Oktogon, which perished in last summer's wave of restaurant closures. Our guess is that the proprietors of the Rio Grill saw what was going on around the corner and decided they didn't stand a chance. Either that, or they discovered that there is no appetite in Budapest for Brazilian, in which case the dancers in the floorshow we hear they are going to have at the yet-to-open Braseiro better be a whole lot better looking than the ones in the pictures they have up right now.
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had lunch at the rio grill once and by the time we wanted to return for dinner the doors were permanently closed.
amen on the women who appear on the braseiro posters. the one plastered in all the windows on aradi could compete for the title of the the ugliest ho in the 'better' districts of budapest.
grand cafe oktogon should have perished long ago for the attitude of their wait staff, which i can only suspect reflected that of the establishment owners. it was a nice looking place i made a point to avoid.
Well, I'm brazilian and I should say that I just don't expect much from a Brazilian restaurant being opened by russians (heard it's going to be expensive too)! Let's see the outcome next week.
Jeez, kindda harsh there, Klara. That the girl on the poster is by far non-ugly, ok, but calling her a ho... Where did that come from?
Anyways, nothing better than a feijoada at Jo's place once a month on a sunday! Too bad she doesn't think about opening a restaurant!
Bon apétit!
Hi, I'm another Brazilian that is very upset with the extreme bad taste this restaurant is already exposing. And, Brazilian food is something very complicate as the main ingredients are not available in Budapest.
If there are going to be semi-naked girls dancing arround bad food I will pray (or do some macumba, the Brazilian black-magic) for this bad-sample of our culture close as soon as possible.
@Renata: So is it possible to use macumba in a positive way, to make restaurants *good*? If so, please spread some around the whole town!
Let’s not bitch about it too much. Brazil is on another continent, and by the time you get the ingridients over here, they will be too late to consume. Unless you trust defrost* and deliberately agree to nuke and destroy the orginal taste.
Was at the opening of Braseiro. The restaurant’s interior is far better than its exterior. Though, my ideas about „brazilian” style were profoundly challenged by the predominantly swedish-inspired black-and-white overlapping loops on the furniture and cherry-wood, which didn’t quite match golden-green, liberally fonted menu and program cards. Yet, the Amazon spirit of the printed materials did serve a mental link to the carnival blow-ups by the enterance. Later they materialized in flesh and feathers on stage, as well en video on multiple LCD screens. Suppose the gaudy facade was meant to appeal to our peep-show insticts, thus beckoning customers into a carnival of, first of all, bare, and only then empty stomachs. Nevertheless, there is something there for the empty ones as well.
Rodizio, or Brazilian way of serving various meats brought to you on a skewer, is ’the’ authentic gastronomical feature of the restaurant. If you are a vegetarian, or about to join Meat is Murder movement – don’t even think about reading further. Carnivores, for you! The rodizio grill is let-your-taste-buds-sizzle-excellent: filet mignon, siloin, roast beef, chicken hearts, turkey chunks wrapped in bacon, and all kinds of grilled fish in addition. Maestro of the grill is Brazilian- and Russian-speaking, which puzzles the days out of Hungarian waiters, yet they appear to be pleasant and nice, unaffected by langauge tensions in the kitchen. In fact, they speak good English. And smile. The restaurant’s carte du vin is composed half of Hungarian wines, half – European, i.e. French, Spanish, Italian. In a about a fortnight they are expecting delivery of wines from Brazil. Exciting news! Worth dropping by then.
At desert the space filled with aroma of freshly-ground brazilian coffee and cigars. Also a la carte. Caramelized banana with cinammon, orange cups with vanilla pudding, zappy pineapples in lime and truffles sprikled with coconut completed the carnival. On stage came the drumming band, out came the bare-stomached dancers in feathers, brazilian diva sang lambada, and at the exit guests received complimentary green baseball cap and a white t-shirt with the name of the restaurant in green. Don’t know if they were gently suggesting a dress-code, but if you come there in your sziget t-shirt, not sure if they let you in.
Sorry Vera, but I smell a rat - you are just a little too invested in your comments not to be 'invested' in Braseiro
@CuminfromtheCold: Thanks for your meaty comment! It's worth investing - Rodizio is really very good there. Cheers.
Vera, you don't happen to be an investor in this restaurant, do you? It is not very difficult to sniff out planted comments.
Wilbur, against all odds, I'm not. Liked it with a writing skill. That is all. Check out the place for some objectivity before passing any judgments on either the author or the place.
"Check out the place for some objectivity"
Having lived here for 5+ years and seeing too many half-asses attempts at North an South American dishes, I feel pretty comfortable in stating that I have strong doubts it would ever come close to the way you present it. I was already to go to the other Rodizio next to the EasyHotel, actually excited, until Hungarian friends who liven in Sao Paulo said it was no good. What else am I supposed to think?
Wilbur, why not think for yourself... Are you some kind of mindless sheep? Or are you like most of the expats here who come to piss n' moan over all things budapest. You know..blah blah things are too expenive blah blah complain complain. Cant find Kraft dinner blah blah how dare they raise there prices to cover costs blah piss piss complain complain.
The Rio Gill is closed, as their website and the blurb above say. The photos of their dishes are still searchable though. No comment. Have to say Brazilian chef at the "giant new Brazilian joint called Braseiro" seems to know what he is doing.
"Someone who wonders"
Yes, that is exactly what I am, but for your records, sheep, even mindless ones, do not go "blah", its much more of a "Baaa", since we can not make the 'l' sound.
Aside from calling me a mindless sheep, do you actually have a substantive point? I mean, we are trying to have a discussion here about foreign cuisine here, and express different opinions about out experiences here in Budapest. I guess my opinion concerning the few good foreign dining alternatives and that I trust the opinions of my friends upsets your view of the world and makes me as sheep.
Why not start a thread talking about the Hungarian kitchen, I would be happy to talk about many of the great meals I have had here.
My guess is that you one of the people here who just go "Fart, fart...expats only complain, fart, fart, they should all go home,fart, fart, no one has a valid opinion but me, fart, fart....