brunch, brunch, bruuuunch, oh how i love the brunch. especially when the event of brunch involves some of my bestest babes and a suburb near and dear to me, well - who's going to say no to that! so when the opportunity to check out carioca in brixton last weekend arose, i quite literally jumped (out my seat) at the opportunity.
brasilian food is a new one for me, but one i have been dabbling with for a couple of months now; i've always loved a good mexican fiesta, so exploring some of the other south american countries' cuisine seemed like something of a natural progression, really. plus, i'm australian. i've never met a barbecue i didn't like.
brasilian food is a new one for me, but one i have been dabbling with for a couple of months now; i've always loved a good mexican fiesta, so exploring some of the other south american countries' cuisine seemed like something of a natural progression, really. plus, i'm australian. i've never met a barbecue i didn't like.
image credit : katy
claire, katy and i were booked in for a 10:30 slot, which - in hindsight, might have been a little early for a barbecue (is that blasphemy?), but hey ho. we bimbled in while one other couple were taking their seats, and were shown to a back table with impressively bright, tropical fruit print table cloth,. once sat, we ordered all of the coffee. and once that came, we ordered more. #early
we perused the menu as best we could while the coffee was brewing with our blood, but with too many delicious options to choose from, we did what we thought would be best: start at the top, and order one of each. with that in mind, katy chose the copacaban, i went for the ipanema, and claire opted for the carnaval - one of the gluten free and vegetarian option, for laughs (and actually, by accident. she actually meant to order the carioca breakfast, but something was lost in translation) - each £7.50... a literal bargain.
now, i cannot comment on the other girls' (you can simply read their reviews though) dishes, but my ipanema? utterly delicious. the smokey chorizo was all kinds of tasty, not dry, and full of flavour - especially when piled onto a fork with some grilled avocado and runny poached egg, and that wonderful brasilian invention (i can only assume - i don't really research these things): the maize muffin. totally gluten free, fluffy inside and perfectly crunchy outside. the salsa verde and caper dressing added a little something special to the plate, and i absolutely could not finish what was in front of me.
that didn't stop me ordering and drinking one of the cafe's highly promoted passion fruit mojitos of course. slurping through the brain freeze, i couldn't stop complaining about my full belly while simultaneously praising the brasilian gods for their barbecutionary skills, when the wonderful wait staff plopped a freshly-baked raspberry cheesecake down in front of us. ohhhh, go on then. fun fact about carioca: no dessert menu, just a half dozen or so fresh-baked cakes sitting out where everyone can see and be tempted by them. we never stood a chance.
so, a huge thank you to carioca for having us over for brunch last weekend! i can honestly say i went in there with little to no expectations of what a brisilian brunch would entail (can you really have steak for breakfast, yes you can!), and have come out with a new south-of-the-river recommendation for all visitors to our sleepy city.
*carioca invited us down for brunch, but if i didn't like it, i wouldn't be writing it!*
