Tropeiro

The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2013) edition.

A vegetarian’s nightmare, churrasco hails from southern Brazil but is part of the national cuisine, and their version of a family Sunday roast. Set your dining card to green and grilled meat circulates the room via waiters that carve at the table. This is balanced, mercifully, by an extensive salad bar in the centre from which diners delve in. Chunky sausages start a ten-course voyage through the wonderful world of meat taking in tender rosemary lamb, glazed gammon and crunchy pork ribs. Pace yourself: start slow and leave space for the better cuts to come. Picanha is adored in Brazil and rightly so – a rump cut packed with flavour and well-suited to the grill. Don’t skip the buffet as the varied salads like grated beetroot add much-needed levity to the proceedings. Brazil’s other national specialities are here too with farofa (ground, roasted cassava) and feijoada (black bean stew), while a caipirinha makes an ideal tropical digestif. You may need that extra belt notch but you can always samba home. Another wafer-thin cut of rump sir?

• High point: Good for special occasions and groups after something truly different
• Low point: Décor won’t make you dream of Ipanema