How to order food in Brazil

The first time some friends from back home came out to visit me here in Rio, I was more than a little excited. It had been 18 months since I’d seen them and after such a long time, where better to have a reunion than Rio de Janeiro? On their first night in town, we had a few drinks in Copacabana and then went for a meal at La Fiorentina in Leme (sadly no longer with us).

La Fiorentina – legendary seafood and pasta restaurant on the seafront in Leme.

Back in London we would often meet up at a favourite restaurant (or try a new one), so it was like old times, chatting over a glass of wine as we perused the menu. However, when the food arrived, they realised that they weren’t in Kansas London anymore.

Like me, most of my friends are pretty greedy, so they had each insisted on ordering a starter (entrée/appetizer) and a main course. Two selections each.

When the huge starters arrived, they realised their mistake – just one of these dishes could have been shared between two or three of them. And then, as they were struggling with their first dishes, the enormous pratos principais (main courses) arrived. As a look of fear settled on my friends’ faces, I started thinking up jokes about biting off more than you can chew…

If you do happen to visit La Fiorentina, I recommend you share a starter and then try the Espaguete com Frutos do Mar (seafood spaghetti). This place is rightly famous for it.

Help from the menu

Portion size varies from place to place, but in general an entrada is a starter for 1 (but can often be shared between two). A petisco is a starter for the table (such as a basket of bolinhos or a plate of fries) – if you order one of these to yourself then you probably won’t need anything else.

There are no hard and fast rules, but sometimes you can get help from the menu. Some petiscos will come in single units (like a slightly larger bolinho, suitable for one person) – these items are usually marked unidade on the menu. Some places also have other helpful menu pointers, such as para 2 pessoas. Perfect! So that should be good for 2 people right?

Wrong! In most cases you should assume that the pessoas (people) that they are talking about are 6’6″ (2 metre) powerlifters in training for a competition. Again, this does vary from place to place, but you can usually add at least one extra person to the guide number.

The first item on the list is marked 1 Unid, indicating that it is a single item. Lower down the list you can see para 2 Pessoas, but don’t be fooled!

If you are eating on your own, ask if they can give you a half portion (meia porção) – they will usually be happy to do this and unless you happen to be a powerlifter in training, it will be plenty.

Help from the waiter

“Why not just ask the waiter?” I hear you saying. Well, that’s not a bad idea, but remember to take their advice with a generous pinch of salt. On several occasions I’ve asked waiters if a dish is for one or two people and they’ve assured me it’s just for one. A few minutes later they deliver a mountain of food (perhaps they think I’m a powerlifter in training?).

This particular dish was labelled “for 2 people”. I would like to see the 2 people who could finish this food mountain!

Usually the best method is to look around you – not just at your fellow diners’ dishes, but also at the place you happen to be eating. A general rule is that the more down to earth places will have bigger portions. Fancier, top-end places tend to deliver portions that Europeans would expect.

This makes it even easier. Many of the restaurants at Feira de São Cristóvão have these example platters outside the entrance so you can see how much you’ll be getting.

Saco vazio não para em pé

So why are the portions so big? Brazilians like to eat, but more importantly, they like to give!

Saco vazio não para em pé, is a phrase that Brazilian mothers use to get their kids to eat their food – it means ‘an empty sack doesn’t stand up’. But this attitude doesn’t only apply to family situations. The biggest disaster at a dinner party is that all the food is eaten – oh the shame! The same applies to restaurants (or certainly the traditional restaurants) – you should have plenty of food. You should have more than enough. I suspect that many Brazilians would really look down on a place that only offered ‘just enough’ food. And to be fair, who can say what ‘just enough’ food is? Some people eat a lot!

A nice aspect to all this excess is that there is no shame in asking the waiter to pack your leftovers to take home (pode empacotar?). Very often you go home not only with a tasty snack for tomorrow, but also a useful container!

A downside (for me at least) is that this means everyone has agree on what to eat. If you quite fancy the shrimps, but one of your fellow diners really likes the sound of the bolinhos de bacalhau, I’m afraid you’ll be eating cod balls my friend. I suppose parents would tell their kids that this is good because it teaches us about sharing and compromise – well that’s fine, but I wanted the shrimps!