Tag Archives: meat restaurants

Casual Restaurant Critic re-visits Asado Brasil

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic was in the mood for meat as part of a protein-intensive, carbohydrate-depleted diet regimen. Since Better Half was away there was no reason to go to a fancy schmancy restaurant and the Critic didn’t feel like cooking for one, so the idea of Asado Brasil and their never-ending supply of chewy, fatty meats was appealing.

Upon entering (the door is opened for you when you approach, a small, but welcoming detail many other Merida restaurants might adopt as well) the Critic was greeted warmly by one of the owners; not the one that looks like the Haitian voodoo priest in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die; the other one. Nice to be recognized and to see a smiling face when entering a restaurant.

A Mexican (as opposed to a Brazilian) waiter immediately arrived at the table and asked, in a theatrical voice and a flourish of forearm and hand, if the Critic would like something to drink.

“Una copa de vino tinto, por favor” said the Critic.

“Una copa de vino tinto” repeated the waiter, obviously a fan of old movies and, with another dramatic flourish, retreated to the bar to fetch a glass of something red which arrived a few moments later, very chilled and tasting vaguely Merlot-ish. Good enough for the meat-fest about to come.

And the meat arrived almost immediately after indicating to the thespian waiter that no, the Critic was not having any of that salad bar right now. Turkey cooked with bacon, chicken wrapped with bacon, sirloin, sausages, chicken hearts, and all manner of beef and pork arrive on large skewers (this is a rodizio style restaurant) and portions are cut and served to your hearts content. A very satisfying way to spend an hour on a Saturday afternoon.

When the Critic could eat no more, he visited the salad bar for some watermelon dessert and found it to be the best part of the melon: the center, cold, crisp and sweet. A perfect way to balance out all the salt, fat and protein!

The total bill, with tip came to $300 pesos for one person which included one buffet, one glass of wine, and one glass of Maracuya agua.

That New Meat Place with Giant Skewers next to Walmart

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , ,

How’s that for a title?

Either the Critic was too distracted or never did find out the name of this “Brazilian” rodizio-style meat restaurant located in the City Center mall (Merida not Vegas) , just off the periferico and at the entrance to Walmart. UPDATE: Thanks to the Critics good friend, the intrepid Juanita, the name of this restaurant is ASADO BRASIL.

In any case, he accompanied the always better-looking and better-humored Better Half and another couple there for lunch. As usual, the restaurant was packed with hungry and motivated Yucatecan meat lovers, out to get their money’s worth of the all you can eat menu.

The overall impression is that the place is decent enough, although it is extremely noisy due to an excess of hard surfaces and two televisions (one with sappy telenovelas, the other with a raucous futbol game) and is somewhat charm-challenged. This doesn’t seem to be deterring anyone from having a grand old time however.

The salad bar, a term optimistic at best in this case, is a sparse arrangement of very basic items like lettuce, tomatoes and peppers arranged along one wall with a minimum of grace and fanfare. Just a 12 inch protruding shelf with the smallest of home-made glass acting – not very successfully – as a sneeze guard. The Critic stood in front of this rather sad display for some time before deciding that nothing appealed to him at all, except maybe for a few slices of tomato to offset the meat to come.

The meat, brought out on skewers and carved with a sharp knife in front of your face, is excellent. Everything from chicken and arrachera to pork to sirloin to a truly succulent slice of picaña; and you can eat and repeat as much and as many times as you want. Apparently, the price hovers in the $180 per person range, which is not unreasonable given the amount and quality of meat.

The service was a little lackadaisical at first, but the meat carving specialist, from Argentina apparently, was a joker as was his assistant and made the meal quite entertaining.

For desserts, there is ice cream and some bananas on the salad bar display thing with thick, sweetened Nestle milk to pour over them if you need a real sugar fix after your protein overload.

Would the Critic go back? Sure. Just don’t expect fine dining.