Rio Restaurant Recommendations
When people come to visit me here in Rio, one of the first things they ask is “What are the best things to do in Rio?”. Once they’ve seen a few sights they come back with more questions (they’re very demanding) – “Can you recommend a good restaurant?”.
As discussed before, I try not to be a bore about food, but that doesn’t stop me being a little food-obsessed and keeping an eye out for the best places to eat. Recently it occurred to me that there may be other people coming to Rio who’d like a few recommendations. I don’t pretend I’m a food expert (well, maybe deep-down I do think that a little bit), but perhaps some honest recommendations could be helpful.
Hmmm, Restaurants in Rio!
I decided not to bother with negative reviews – what’s the point in me telling people “Hey, you know that place in Ipanema? You know, the one next to Praça General Osorio? Well don’t go there, it sucks”.
Instead I’ve put together a list of my favourite places in Rio. It’s not a complete list by any means. There are places like Oro that I’m still saving up to visit (I’m not made of money you know!) and I expect that there are still places I need to discover (in case you haven’t guessed, this is my disclaimer in the hopes of avoiding angry messages telling me I missed the “best place in town!”).
Bar do David, Chapéu Mangueira.
The only other thing I wanted to say was that I wanted these to be honest recommendations. I hate those reviews which only tell you the good stuff. If some place makes perfect bolinhos bacalhau but is a bit shabby, I want to know that. So I think every place on the list is worth visiting, but hopefully you can read the reviews and decide for yourselves based on the pros and cons.
According to Mrs Eat Rio, this is the best chicken in town (Lorenzo Bistrô, Jardim Botanico – now sadly no longer with us).
OK, so why don’t you take a look? I’ve put the recommendations on a new page which you can find on the top menu (Restaurant Guide). Hope you like them and maybe even find them useful. If you think there’s a great place that I’m missing then why not drop me a line? I’ll credit you if your recommendation makes the list (exciting right?).
Everyone should try this. Chocolate with olive oil and sea salt. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. Venga, Ipanema/Leblon.
I loved the idea of putting the reviews in a single page. And I loved that you also recommend a hot dog stand ! Hey, I have been recommending your blog a lot to colleagues at my work who are already planning a trip to Rio. I told them it is a MUST read !
Ahhh, thanks Ana – that’s really sweet of you! The hotdog guy (Oliveira) is a really nice bloke and we ended up chatting for ages.
I’ve got plans to add loads more content because I keep discovering awesome new bars and restaurants – it’s just a matter of finding the time (who needs sleep anyway?!). Anyway, glad you liked it – it’s really nice to get positive feedback :D
Many obrigados for this: very useful info.
How did you come across the Britan Bar? Just passing by or was it recommended?
I was meeting someone for the first time and they suggested we meet there. I didn’t know Catete at all at the time, so I struggled to find it at first, but when I saw the bar, the person who had suggested it instantly went up in my estimations. It’s the place I posted about a little while back:
https://eatrio.net/2012/01/the-yakuza-drinks-white-horse.html
Tom, Someday you should come visit Rocinha. We have a great place here “Trapia” a por kilo with so much variety and if you want food off the menu, you can get this too. The food is excellent and half or one quarter the price of what you would pay outside of Rocinha.
Hey Zezinho! I remember you from Rachel’s blog post! :)
I should definitely come and have a proper look at Rocinha sometime soon – I visited briefly once (before the pacification), but now that you’ve given me a restaurant recommendation, I think it’s time I returned! Thanks for the tip and I’ll drop you a line when I visit.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Zezinho is kind of famous for his tours of Rocinha (and his love of cats!). I haven’t been myself (yet!), but I have heard many, many positive reviews. Anyone who is interested can find out more here: http://favelatour.org/favela-tours/.