Gaucho Brazilian BBQ

How does one write a review on Brazilian BBQ? The experience can be overwhelming, between runs to the salad bar and the never ending supply of meat that is continuously brought over to your table. Things get sloppy. People get carried away. Stomachs get full. It is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening.

So let's start by explaining what exactly a Brazilian BBQ is, for those not in the know. "Rodizio" dining is a type of dining service where you pay a fixed price and waiters bring all-you-can-eat food over to your table. A "churrascaria" is a type of restaurant that serves grilled meats, often in rodizio dining fashion, in which case the waiters come to your table with skewers of meats and slice off portions for you. This type of dining is popular in southern Brazil, and hence we have what is called Brazilian BBQ! Carnivores rejoice! I have heard that in most of South America, vegetarianism does not exist. If you insist that you are a vegetarian, people will think you mean that you consume only chicken and fish. So you can see how Brazilian BBQ might do quite well in a place like Calgary.

There are two Brazilian BBQ joints in Calgary, and both reside on MacLeod Trail. I had heard that Gaucho was more authentic, but that Bolero was maybe a little bit better. Being a sucker for authenticity, I decided to drag my friend Jordon to Gaucho. Yes... it required a lot of kicking and screaming ; )

Actually, it was his idea. 

The interior was pleasant, but quite busy. Jordon informed me that the service was better at Bolero, but every time we started to complain about something taking a lot time, it came immediately.

The restaurant was busy due to a Telus promotion that took place during the month of May at several locations in the city. Basically, we got a free appy and dessert with our meal, and this was the last night of the promotion. Good timing! ... and the slow-ish service was forgivable. As soon as my beer arrived at the table, things seemed to move more quickly. Our waiter brought us an appetizer sampler basket, which was just ok. I liked the polenta sticks the best, but they are not in the picture. The salad bar was interesting, and I probably put too much on my plate to begin with. Beets, sweet potatoes, cheese and olives, tomatoes and hearts of palm were some of the things I grabbed. There were also a few hot items, like rice, Brazilian beef stroganoff, coconut curried basa, and black bean stew. I especially enjoyed the black bean stew as the backdrop to my meat.

The meat patrol is fast and furious! We had a little flip card of a cow on our table that signified whether we wanted visitations from the bearers of succulent meat. Once flipped, we were constantly asked, "Would you like garlic steak?.... lamb?... chicken wings? ... pork rib? .... beef rib? ... chicken hearts?" ..... we tried the chicken hearts, and we both decided that we didn't hate them, but we didn't particularly like them either. The waiter actually seemed surprized when we consented to having them plop down on our plates.  The garlic steak was a little tough, but the pork was sumptuous! There was only one  cut of meat that would qualify as a bleeder, but all the meat was flavoured nicely and definitely kept us occupied. We also really enjoyed the sausages. When the waiters brought the ribs around, they brought them out on big tables, and sliced off a portion. Both the beef and pork ribs were excellent. Probably my favorites of the night.

Beef Ribs.

Pork Ribs.

The waiters were more than happy to slow down for photos, and even let us pose with the carving knives. Jordon made a little presentation plate for me so that I could show a nice photo of what we were eating on my blog. The lighting was dim, and our plates resembled natural disasters, so this was challenging.

Attempt # 1 shows some nice rare meat.

Attempt # 2 showcases some garlic steak and black bean stew.

Towards the end of our meal, we had to flip our cow card downwards so we could take a breath and contemplate how we were going to digest everything we had just consumed. 

It is a miracle that we still had room in our stomachs after this enormous meal. Let's just say, when I got home I was entirely useless. Normally I don't order dessert when I go out. So many extra calories and dollars, though sometimes I'll treat myself to some cheeses or port. But when your dessert is on Telus, you gotta go for it!

 This is flan. I had heard of flan. Never had flan. It is a sweet custard dessert, like creme caramel and has Spanish origins. None of this matters. This dessert was so good it made me want to start ordering desserts again.

 

This is Jordon's grilled pineapple and coconut icecream. I love coconut so this is a winner for me. Although Jordon looked at me a little funny when I exclaimed, "Mmmm it tastes like sunscreen!"

This was a fun experience, though a little expensive at $35 a pop, and usually it would be extra for the desserts and appys. Still, the amount of meat and salad you can eat is astronomical. I need to take a break from this kind of eating for a while, but in the future I would like to try Bolero, which is known for its skewers of grilled pineapple. In the meantime, I'm on a diet until swim suit season!

Gaucho Brazilian BBQ
5920 MacLeod Trail SW
403-454-9119
http://www.brazilianbbq.ca/