Boteco Brasil

With time ticking on my Groupon to Boteco Brasil, Viv and I made it out there with only days to spare.  Yes, I realize that the amount I paid never expires, but I just couldn't stomach the loss of a deal...  There have been too many times I've lost out since we kept delaying and delaying.  The pain of losing out on a deal is akin to being forced to pay for parking in Downtown after barely missing a free spot.  Or worse, eat at a Restaurant where there was a coupon available and find out afterwards!  The pain!

As part of the deal, we were given a choice of appie where we mixed and match 2 different ones in the Coxinhas and Pastel Carne.  With shredded chicken and spices (lotsa parsley) stuffed within a potato dough pocket, the Coxinhas were rather mild with only the pungency of parsley present.  However, the house-made hot sauce made a huge difference with a tart and slightly spicy kick.  I found the chicken a touch dry though.  As for the Pastel Carne, these ground beef stuffed pastries were enjoyable to eat.  Flaky and light on the outside, the ground beef and onion filling was also mild, but moist.  It was served with a vinaigrette salsa.  I also added the Polenta Frita with garlic aioli and these were fantastic.  Lightly crisp with a soft almost creamy centre, these were flavourful on their own possibly due to a combination of ample seasoning and cheese.  The accompanying aioli was definitely garlicky.

Onto our mains, we had the Picanha with rice, beans, fried banana, toasted cassava flour and fried cassava root.  This was prepared beautifully medium rare (but on the more rare side, which was perfect IMO).  Lightly salted, the meat was able to shine on its own with a buttery meatiness.  There was a proper sear on the outside and the side of cassava flour added a nutty saltiness (there was bacon in it too).  Loved the cassava root as it was super crunchy while still soft on the inside.  Our second dish was the Feijoada (black bean pork stew) was served with rice, sauteed kale, toasted cassava flour and salsa.  I found the flavours to be subtle with some smokiness and muted saltiness.  The beans were soft without being mushy while the pork was tender.  I liked the one slice of smoked sausage as it was meaty and succulent.

For dessert, we had the Bolo Prestigio or chocolate and coconut cake with beijinho filling and topped with brigadeiro.  We enjoyed the fluffiness of the cake, yet at the same time the chocolatey richness as well.  The cake itself wasn't very sweet, but the beijinho filling was super sugary.  Our second dessert consisted of Mario's Gelato accompanied by Doce de Leite.  Again, the creamy and light gelato wasn't overly sweet, but the caramel was sweet with depth.  It was smoky and silky. Overall, we had a pleasant meal at Boteco Brasil and seeing how there aren't many Brazilian restaurants in town, it was also interesting.

The Good:
- Something different (not many Brazilian restos in town)
- Nice people
- Decent

The Bad:
- Nice staff, but over-extended
- Place is rather warm, best to sit outside 
- Somewhat under-seasoned