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.

Things to Do for Adults on a Disney Cruise

If you've never been on a Disney Cruise, chances are that you have the perception that they are geared towards kids and families.

It's true that kids and families will love the activities that Disney provides, and I saw many smiles on the faces of both parents and kids that we encountered on our cruise.

Walt Disney is famous for saying, "You're dead if you aim only for kids.  Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."  As a couple traveling without our kids on this cruise, we found that Disney kept this in mind as they designed their ships.  There were plenty of adult-only areas, activities geared toward adults, and quiet places to relax on the ship.  We also appreciated that soda was free, you could bring your own adult beverages onto the ship, and that the cost of specialty drinks on the ship was very reasonable.

Instead of explaining each activity, I'm going to post scans below of the "Personal Navigators" from both days of our weekend cruise.  These are placed in your stateroom each day to explain activities and events going on aboard the ship.

Day 1, Page 1

Day 1, Page 2

Day 1, Page 3

Day 1, Page 4

Day 2, Page 1

Day 2, Page 2

Day 2, Page 3

Day 2, Page 4

Pictures from Disney NYC Weekend Getaway Cruise

I'll be writing and sharing more about this cruise and the day Lori and I spent in New York City before embarking, but I figured I'd share some of our pictures since I have them uploaded.

Disney sure knows how to do things right.  The cruise was fantastic.

Finding (Relatively) Reasonable Parking in NYC

For our anniversary, Lori and I will be spending a weekend in New York City.  We got what seems to be a really good deal on a cool looking hotel on the West Side for a night, and then we'll be sailing on a 2-night Disney Cruise to nowhere out of the Manhattan Cruise Terminal on the Disney Magic.  I'm sure there will be reviews in future posts of both the cruise and the hotel.

Image:  Flickr/Trodel

One of our concerns was finding reasonable parking.  I don't have any reservations about driving in Manhattan as I've done it several times before, but I know that parking rates can be outrageous.  

Our original plan was to park our car in Weehawken, NJ and take the ferry into Manhattan.  It's a beautiful way to arrive in New York, and the parking rates at the Port Imperial Ferry Terminal seemed to be reasonable.  

While searching around, though, I found a website (BestParking) that gives the rates for most of the garages and lots in Manhattan.  Using that, I found that I can park near the hotel and cruise terminal in the City for just a few bucks more than the cost of parking in New Jersey and the cost of the ferry.  The site also has an app for most phones and appears to give parking rates for a variety of other cities and airports, although I haven't checked out any of those features.