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| Yes, please one side and No, thanks on the other side |
Thursday 5.45pm and my phone rings . It’s the lovely
Luiz inviting me to go to a food bloggers event at Rodizio Rico in Fulham, which opened about two months ago. I am a big fan of Rodizio Rico Islington, so I had great expectations. Unfortunately, Luiz couldn’t make to the event. It was very nice to share the table with other lovely food bloggers who I have met previously in different foodie circumstances.
Rodizio Rico was one of the first Brazilian restaurants in London. Rodizio means rotate, essentially the meats are served by a waiter in big skewers and they rotate around the tables serving a vast variety of meats. There is a self service buffet providing hot and cold fare.
The first ever Rodizio Rico opened in Westbourne Grove in 1997 and it used to be the only Brazilian churrascaria rodizio in London at the time. Others followed suit, but they are not as successful as Rico though. Nowadays there are four outlets in London: Westbourne Grove, Islington, O2 and Fulham.
We were seated outside as it was a warm evening. The restaurant was quite empty when we arrived, but it soon it started filling up with a great diversity of clientele. Once seated we were introduced to the restaurant and how things work: on the table there’s a small round card (above) one side is green with the words- yes, please and the other side is red with the words- no, thanks, so when the waiter comes around with the meat he knows if you would like some meat or not. The buffet is eat as much as you can possibly eat. We were offered a drink of our choice, I obviously choose the original lime caipirinha, which was very zingy but sweet the way I like it and off we went to the self service buffet. I always try not to get too excited at the buffet by filling the plate up and getting full too quickly and not leaving room for the rotating meat feast. Needless to say my good intentions don’t last very long. Yes, I returned to the table with a massive plate of food!
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| salad counter |
The offerings at the buffet look impeccably well presented and fresh. A good variety of salads, chillies, sauces and dressings. The hot food counter offers plain white rice, pinto beans, Tropeiro beans (beans, chopped sausage, chopped boiled eggs, spring onions and bacon and toasted manioc flour), vegetables, pasta, lasagna, farofa (toast manioc flour), big and fresh pork scratchings, ‘kibe’ (kibbeh), pão de queijo, coxinha, bolinho de arroz (fried rice fritters) , banana a milanesa (banana with a crunchy breaded coat – deep fried) among other dishes.
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| some of the salads & dressings |
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| the hot food counter |
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| good selection of chillies |
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| Above: the food counter – self service. Below are some of the meat we ate on the night, not all of them as they were quite a few different cuts of meats. Meat feast – don’t be shy to ask for a particular meat of your choice. The service is very cheery and the waiters, who know their meat, love a good and respectful banter. |
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| Picanha – top sirloin cut of primal loin – melted in our mouths |
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| boneless chicken wrapped in bacon – another winner |
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| These sausage were delicious |
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| The fabulous chicken hearts – please I urge you to tried it! |
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| Ham – MiMi looks very happy! |
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| Divine : barbecued and caramelised pineapple and vanilla ice cream |
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| The meat skewers comes around lots of times and you choose which part you want and how cooked you want |
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| The BBQ area – where the magic happens |
The place:
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| the bar area |
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| The restaurant |
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| a variety of deserts : passion fruit and mango mousse, brigadeiro pudding, condensed milk caramel all priced at £4.80 |
All in all a good meal with great company and outstanding meat. The buffet in Fulham is smaller than the Islington branch. However, the food quality and service is of the same high standard. Rodizio is a eat as much as you desire for a fixed price excluding drinks and desert. The cost for BBQ meat, salad and hot dishes buffet is £23.50 per person. They have a vegetarian version @ £18 per person , children (under 12 years old) @ £12 each and under 5 years old is free. Caipirinha costs £6, bottled beers between £3.95 to £4.15. Pints around £4.50 and half pint @£ 2.80. Their drinks menu is vast and they offer wines from all over the world.
For more info about reservation, locations and opening times: Rodizio Rico
In this occasion I was a guest of Rodizio Rico.
Would I go back? Yes.
Would I recommend? Yes.
Why? Rodizio Rico is the nearest to the real Brazilian BBQ prime meat in London, but in a smaller scale.
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| Digestive : Limoncello – cheers ! – I should say : saúde! |
This looks really great- I love when you can be involved in the prep of food at a restaurant and this looks fun and interactive. Would be intrigued to know what the veggie version is though!
I've never been to a churrascaria and I'd really like to! This one looks fab for London.
There's another pretty good review of Rodizio Rico here. It seems as if Rodizio Rico is definitely one of the best rodizio/churrascaria/Brazilian type restaurants in London
So glad you could make it, apologies for the last minute call. I thInk your review is excellent and well thought out, and hope you will be reviewing more restaurants at Hot & Chilli! Thank you for the mention.
Luiz @ The London Foodie
Crumpeats – I am intrigued too. But I am not vegetarian so I will never know.
Su-Lin – we must put that right! Let's put a date in the diary.
Russ – thanks for the comment and the link to Luiz's review of Islington branch. I really enjoy his reviews.
The London Foodie – thanks for all your support. X