Best Brazilian Food I've Ever Had

During our one night in Manhattan before our weekend getaway Disney cruise, Lori and I wanted to have a nice dinner in the city.  Our requirements were that it wasn't crazy expensive, it was close enough to our hotel in Hell's Kitchen that we could walk there and back, it participated in the Delta Skymiles Dining program, and that it was a type of food that we couldn't easily get at home.


After narrowing our choices down to a South African restaurant and a Brazilian restaurant, we settled on Brazil Brazil Restaurant on 46th St. between 8th and 9th Avenues.  We very much enjoyed our experience, and while the food was good, the title of the post is a bit misleading.  This was the first time that either Lori or I had tried real Brazilian food.


When we arrived around 7:00 we were greeted by a very friendly host.  We informed him that we had reservations, but that we'd like to have an adult beverage at the bar before dinner.

Blue Sangria

The bartender was awesome.  After making us each a really tasty blue sangria, she explained to us the history of Cachaca, a Brazilian alcohol made from sugar cane.  We then tried a Caipirinha, which is made from Cachaca, fresh muddled limes, and sugar.  After sipping Lori's, it was a bit too limey for me, and I'm glad I didn't order my own.

Caipirinha

Even though the dinning room looked really nice, we decided to eat out on the front porch so that we could do a bit of people watching as we ate.  It was a great choice since a few minutes into our meal some live music started up in the bar which added some nice ambiance.  


There was a Prix Fixe menu for $25 per person available, but we decided to order from the regular menu to try a few things that looked really good.  We started with the Tapas appetizer which consisted of Frango a Passarinho (fried chicken), Camarao Alho e Oleo (sauteed shrimp), and a chicken pastry.  The shrimp was very good, and the chicken pastry was both excellent and different than anything I had had before.  We really enjoyed both of those.  The chicken was a bit dry and overcooked.    

Outside Seating Area

For a main course, I ordered the Paelha - shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, clams, and white fish over saffron rice.  Lori went with the Bobo de Camarao - Sauteed shrimp with palm oil, mixed peppers, onions, tomatoes, coconut milk, and yucca puree finished with fresh cilantro.  We also decided to share an order of fried yucca.

Our Dinner

Lori's dish was fantastic.  The sauce was delicious and flavorful, the seafood was cooked perfectly, and it went well with the black beans and rice that came with it.  I even stole some of the sauce to eat with my Paelha because it was so good.

Bobo de Camarao

The fried yucca was good and came with a great aioli for dipping.  We really liked the aioli.

Fried Yucca

My Paelha was good, but not great.  There was LOTS of seafood, and all of it was cooked well.  The seafood and rice had a nice flavor, but I found myself wanting more of it (the flavor, not the food - the portion was huge).  As I mentioned earlier, I stole some of the sauce from Lori's dish to kick the flavor up a bit.

Paelha

Since we were so full after dinner, we decided to walk off our meals before getting coffee and dessert somewhere else.

Overall, we were very happy with our dinner at Brazil Brazil.  If I had to grade it, I'd give it a solid "B".  We enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was very good.  I can't compare the food to other Brazilian food, but we generally liked our choices.  On our next trip to the city, we'll likely try a different restaurant simply due to the multitude of great choices, but I'm glad that we ended here during this trip.