Street Gourmet LA set up a tasting dinner for me, Gastronomy, and Food She Thought to get the word out about this little 15 month-old gem run by a native Carioca, Luciene Peck.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/LA/RioBrazil/interior.jpg)
If you can't go without alcohol during your meal, you'll be happy to know that Rio Brazil Cafe has a BYOB policy with no corkage. As an extra treat for that night, Street Gourmet LA brought us two bottles of artisanal cachaça: Isaura from the Minas Gerais state that he had brought back from Brazil (not available in the US), and Weber Haus from Rio Grande do Sul, available at BevMo.
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/LA/RioBrazil/cachaca.jpg)
The batidas are made with cachaça, condensed milk, and of course the fruits in question (either passionfruit or coconut cream+milk).
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/LA/RioBrazil/batidas.jpg)
As starters we got a couple of little savories. The coxinha de galinha translates to "little chicken legs" and is a drumstick shaped savory filled with shredded chicken. While here they serve a smaller "party-size" portion, in Brazil they're typically closer to the size of a real chicken leg. The
risolis/risoles is the crescent-shaped savory you see below, filled with cheese, meat, chicken or shrimp.
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2725/4117129777_4c346a4af4.jpg)
They were served with Luciene's own pimenta which held a lot of flavor.
Most things in Brazil are served family style with rice, so we did the same thing here. A set of entrees came with a plate of arroz (white rice), including:
1) abobora com carne seca (butternut squash with home made beef jerky)
2) Bobo de camarao (shrimp in a yucca cream), succulent shrimp in manioc meal, coconut milk, dendê oil(palm oil),
3) feijao-black beans cooked with pork meat, bay leaf, onions and garlic.
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/4117118073_616f0375d7.jpg)
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2691/4116080690_1bfe78d042_o.jpg)
Moqueca de peixe (fish stew): cod with peppers and tomatoes, dendê oil, and coconut milk. This dish originates from the state of Bahia, but the Rio version is lighter since it's made with less dendê oil.
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/4116070122_d32db30b19_o.jpg)
The climax of the meal was one I had been waiting for all along:
Feijoada completa(complete feijoada), the national dish of Brazil traditionally served on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The feijoada is a black bean stew made with pe' de porco( pork trotters), rabo(tail),costela( ribs), carne de porco (pork meat), carne seca (beef jerky). Cooked for a long time with onions and garlic, we could smell this from the kitchen, whetting our appetite while waiting for the dish to come out.
The completa meal included couve (collard greens).
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/4116065686_027cd4e82c_o.jpg)
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/4116089894_930744b073_o.jpg)
For dessert we shared three different types of sweets:
Coconut Cream with boysenberries, mousse de manga (mango mousse), pudim de leite (Brazilian style flan).
![](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2485/4115306003_e4754a058d.jpg)
Rio Brazil Cafe is a wonderful little place serving up some delicious and authentic Brazilian Carioca food. With a live music performance on Saturday nights and a BYOB policy (they're also going to start a Cachaça club where you can keep a bottle there), there's no reason this place should stay hidden. Do give it a try.
Oh and by the way, they are also on restaurant.com so you can get a gift certificate to make your meal even cheaper from this link:
Rio Brazil Cafe
![](http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z306/burumun/LA/RioBrazil/riobrazil.jpg)
3300 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 558-3338
![Rio Brazil Cafe on Urbanspoon](http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1476959/minilink.gif)
Hi burumun,
ReplyDeleteSweet! :) I'm so glad you got a chance to try Rio Brazil Cafe (I loved my visit as well). :) Thanks for the great review (quite a few dishes I'll have to try next time). Isn't their Feijoada wonderful? :) You've had arguably the best version in L.A. so far (unless you can get a Brazilian family to cook it for you :).
I want. I want.
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