PHUKET: Looking at a map of the world, Phuket, Thailand is about as far-off as you’ll find a way to possibly get from the soccer-and-samba-crazed nation of Brazil. But don’t buy your ticket to Rio just yet, Patong’s newest restaurant has saved you the trouble of flying halfway around the globe and introduced a taste of Brazil right here to Phuket.
Rodizio derived from the Portuguese word for wheel means rotation and is the generic title for the all-you-can-eat restaurants, massively popular in Brazil, where an countless rotation of barbecued meat is served to diners straight from the skewer. It also refers to the methodology of cooking, where the skewers of meat are rotated over the new coals and moved up and down to regulate the temperature at which they are cooked. And that’s precisely what you will note whenever you come to Rodizio; take a peek through the broad glass window into the kitchen and you can watch mesmerized as meat laden skewers spin tantalizingly over a glowing charcoal fireplace.
Located in Soi Patong Tower, just off Patong Beach Road near the Banana Walk Mall, Rodizio is the brainchild of the team behind Churrasco, another well-liked a la carte South American style steakhouse at close by Jungceylon. Clearly their love of prime quality beef knows no bounds and Rodizio is their newest gambit to seize the culinary imaginations of meat-lovers in Phuket.
Manager and Chef Jair da Rosa hails from Brazil and he has labored in eating places, each out and in of the kitchen, in Sao Paulo and Saigon, for more than 15 years. His experience allows him to re-create an genuine Brazilian style and lots of the recipes for aspect dishes similar to Feijoada (a bean and pork stew which is Brazil’s national dish) and Pao de Queijo (a delicious cheese bread created from cassava flour with a chewy center) had been handed all the method down to Jair by his mom.
After helping your self to some sides from the buffet selection, which includes contemporary greens, salads, rice dishes, roast potatoes and more – to not mention genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and thin slices of Parma ham the carnivore’s feast is set to start.
When they say all you presumably can eat, they actually mean it. A seemingly countless array of perfectly grilled skewers of glistening meat and seafood are offered to your table and utilizing the tongs provided, you grab slices as they are trimmed off with a razor-sharp carving knife and put them in your plate. everything I tasted was a delight; chunky pork sausages, marinated chicken wings and nuggets of pork fillet wrapped in bacon. Other meats on supply, relying on availability, embody pork ribs, fish of the day, shrimp, squid and lamb.
But that was solely the start. Next got here the most popular reduce of beef served in conventional Brazilian Rodizios, which is named Picanha. This is the topmost part of the sirloin, which has a layer of fats to keep the meat sublimely juicy and tender while it’s slowly grilled over the coals. The Picanha alone is cause sufficient to visit Rodizio and no meal there can be full and not utilizing a liberal helping.
Perhaps probably the most surprising cut we encountered was the Cupim, which comes from the distinctive shoulder hump unique to the Brahman breed of cattle. This giant chunk of beef is gradual cooked first, earlier than being finished over the charcoal, leading to a flaky, nearly white, meat that melts in your mouth with a taste unlike any meat I even have ever tried a uniquely Brazilian taste.
There are also several a la carte options available, corresponding to a 250 gram Wagyu rib-eye steak, salmon steak, Rodizio burger or Brazilian lasagna, all of which embody the sides buffet. But for the genuine Brazilian experience, we heartily suggest the all-you-can-eat choice.
To complement your meal, there’s a solid wine list to select from, that includes some suitably South American wines from Chile and Argentina, in addition to many other choices from France, Italy and Australia. If Forbidden is not your factor, perhaps a fresh Brazilian Caipirinha cocktail, made to Jair’s original recipe, would be more to your liking.
As the evening continued, our meal was punctuated with servings of sliced, grilled pineapple designed to serve as a palate cleanser between the various meat dishes. Along with this comes servings of collared greens, Brazilian cheese bread and caeser salad, rounding off the meal fantastically. If you have any room left, you’ll have the ability to prime off your meal with one of many classic deserts on supply, which embrace chocolate brownie, tiramisu, lemon sorbet and grilled banana or pineapple with ice cream.
This Sambadrome scale feast (if you don’t know what a Samba-drome is, perhaps you want to guide that ticket to Rio for Carnival after all) is all included for the single value of 690 baht, making it an entertaining and great-value night time out to enjoy a few of the very best quality food in Patong..