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I love meat. I mean, I really love meat. BBQ meat, braised meat, meat on a stick, meat not on a stick … “shrimp gumbo, jumbo shrimp, shrimp stew …”. Given the choice of being a vegetarian for life or being stranded on a desert island, I’ll take the island. At least there are probably things on it with legs and parents.
It’s a little tough to judge what constitutes authentic Brazilian food since I’ve never been to Brazil or South America. But from what I’ve read, they love their beef. And any way that it can be cooked, it will be cooked down there. That’s pretty much the driving force behind Casa Brazil in East Providence – a buffet-style, Brazilian restaurant and our destination for last evening’s “Date Night”.
K and I were seated by a very nice (and presumably Brazilian) woman who asked if it was our first time visiting? This usually signals good things to come. It means, “This isn’t your average T.G.I. McFunster’s. We do things differently here. Let me explain …” The bilingual menu presented us with a list of sizable offerings from which to choose, all divvied up by day. Closer inspection revealed that little decision on our part was required because we would in fact be served D: All of the above. Like when Joe Pesci is given the option of deciding either “Breakfast” or “Dinner” in My Cousin Vinny, Casa Brazil has two options: the big buffet and the bigger buffet. Pick one.
K opted for the big buffet which offers up “white rice, codfish risotto, tutu beans, roasted chicken w/sauce, Brazilian feijoada, house-style shrimp w/pasta, pork ribs, house-style beef stew, yucca flour w/bacon, sauteed kale, okra, and fried banana.” And that’s just Friday’s menu. But I came for the BBQ and you only get that with the bigger buffet – what Casa Brazil calls rodizio.
We both bypassed the entire salad portion of the buffet, which I’m guessing is rather neglected in this house of all things meat anyway. After heaping our plates full of meat entrees, sides of more meat, and meat garnish, we sat down to dig in.
Thirty seconds hence, a kind young man in a chef’s apron brings a Louisville Slugger-sized skewer over to our table, packed stem to stern with delicious kielbasa. This is where the big buffet and it’s bigger brethren part company. And this is why I came. He asks how many? I try to refrain from saying “Yes – all of it.”
“Two, please.”
He quietly obliges by pushing two healthy links onto the dedicated rodizio dish with which they’ve supplied me. He disappears into the kitchen and we dig in.
Twenty seconds later, the man returns with another massive skewer full of bacon-wrapped chicken. “I’ll try …” [thunk thunk] Two tender poultry pieces are dropped to my plate. The process is repeated until he’s returned to our table five times in all to shower me with bacon-wrapped steak, steak tenderloin, steak-wrapped steak with steak stuffing … and on and on and on.
Casa Brazil even provides ingenious little wooden blocks painted half-red and half-green which allow customers to signal that they wish the meat parade to descend upon their table once again. So you’re never more than a quick hand-turn away from another round of meat.
I’m not a big buffet eater and neither is K. But it’s times like last night that I wish I were so I could’ve really tried everything they had to offer. Whether you’re keen on engorging yourself at a buffet-style restaurant or not, if you like meat, Casa Brazil has you covered. It’s a quick drive over the bridge from downtown Providence – less than ten minutes and you’re there.
Oh and if you’re not cool with stuffing moist, hot meat into your pockets on your way out the door (what? I paid for it!), they offer a legitimate means of per-pound purchase of the same buffet foods to-go. Sweet!
Check out the Casa Brazil BBQ website for more info.