Shadow M.
Yelp
The warm atmosphere and the immediate greeting upon entering make you feel immediately welcomed. Once seated, our waiter shared that everyone works as a team, so do not hesitate to ask anyone for anything. You can readily see their teamwork in action: fast and efficient. Collecting plates, serving drinks, and a great deal of moving about. No one was standing around waiting for something to do. If I could just rate the team, I would give them 5 stars.
However, once the food entered, our experience was different. While the front-of-house team was busy and on point, the back of the house/kitchen was not.
We started with the Bolinhos; they were served cold and tasted bland. No real flavor, with the exception of the grease that they fried them in.
Afterwards, we were served the Black Bean Soup which comes with your entree. It was light and thin, and scallions were added for texture. I was hard-pressed to find a Black Bean, but the liquid was flavorful. I would describe this as more of a broth than a soup.
Our entrées were the Frango Com Coco, with chicken and vegetables in a "hot" curry coconut milk sauce. And the Seafood Copacabana with Scallops, Shrimp, and vegetables.
The presentations of the dishes were nicely done (see pictures). However, the dishes themselves were just okay. Nothing that would cause me to come running back.
The "hot" curry was not hot or spicy but mild and flavorful. The Seafood Copacabana lacked any kind of flavor. Imagine plain steamed vegetables, dry Scallops and the shrimp was shrimp.
Including the above-mentioned and the addition of two cocktails, our bill was $128.90 before the tip. While costs have increased all over, this was not a surprise, but I will try another restaurant before visiting Cafe Brazil again.
The service was terrific, but the food for me was underwhelming. In my experience, everything was just okay, nothing special, and for the price, try another place to dine.