Boteco DOC and a pão de queijo burger?

Last weekend Mrs Eat Rio and I were feeling a little too lazy to make lunch, so we decided to seek out somewhere new for sustenance. After some internet research and short bus ride, we found ourselves in a modest little bar called Boteco DOC which just opened in the neighbourhood of Cosme Velho.

The first signs were good – rather than the usual fridges full of BBB (Bad Brazilian Beer, i.e. Skol, Brahma, Antarctica), the walls were stacked with Cidade Imperial, a beer from Petropolis that actually has some flavour. My tentative hopes were further bolstered when I saw the menu: interesting sounding food, prices not too insane and not too much to choose from (unless it’s somewhere seriously good, I find menus with 200 options usually spell trouble).

By the time we left an hour and a half later we were satisfied and chattering madly about one item on the menu in particular. But before I get to that, let me quickly tell you about some of the other nice surprises. First of all, the drinks were good!

This my friends, is a Lychee Caipirinha.

In my opinion, when it comes to caipirinhas, no fruit will ever beat the lime – it has just the right intensity of acidity to offset the sugar and the alcohol. Lychees don’t quite have that ‘zing’, but as lychee caipirinhas go, this was very good. And things got better – the beer you see in the background was new to me – a chopp (draught beer) called Noi (it’s from Niteroi). Noi is so much better than the chopp that most bars sell (Brahma) that we are now considering a trip to their brewery for a proper tasting session.

On to the food options. Almost every bar in town sells pastel – a crispy, deep-fried pastry parcel with a tasty filling. There are some places that get inventive with the fillings, but 99% of places offer just cheese, meat or shrimp – very tasty, but not so exciting after a while. Well at Boteco DOC I had a Pastel de Bourguignon! Yes, you heard me, a pastel filled with beef that has been slowly braised with red wine, mushrooms and bouquet garni. It was fantastic.

Next we had this Caldinho de Cassoulet. At R$9 I thought this tiny cup was a little overpriced, but it was tasty and to be honest, it’s just great to see the word “cassoulet” on the menu of a restaurant in Rio that I can actually afford!

Caldinho de Cassoulet. Don’t expect a real cassoulet – this is a white bean version of caldinho de feijão.

OK, so what was it that had Mrs Eat Rio and I chattering and reminiscing all the way home? It was a trio of mini hamburgers with onion compote and melted cheddar cheese:

The pastel and beer in the background are great, but those little burgers were good enough that I would travel across town to have them again.

I know, I know – burgers aren’t generally thought of haute cuisine, but these were something else! The little burger patties were tender and cooked to a perfect rare/medium rare. The onion compote and cheese were as delicious and indulgent as they look, but the real surprise was the bread.

When I constructed one of these burgers (by placing the ‘lid’ on top of the burger) I realised that the bread was a bit unusual. It seemed to have the texture of the lightest and most fluffy pão de queijo!

The lighting was a bit dim, so it’s not a great picture, but take a look at the bread!

Well, was it pão de queijo? We decided it probably wasn’t as it certainly didn’t have a strong cheese flavour, but what it did have was an incredibly light, fluffy texture that made every bite a melt in the mouth sensation. The fact that there were 3 burgers between the 2 of us was a test that our marriage survived (just!).

If this is coming across a bit like an advert for the place then I should say that DOC isn’t perfect. They forgot one of our orders (the burgers!) and certainly Rio has more glamorous settings, but honestly, I don’t care about that stuff. The food and drinks were tasty and interesting and nothing like as extortionate as many places in Rio. They even have a section of the menu headed Pra Ressaca (For Hangovers) with all kinds of sweet goodies for those feeling worse for wear – my kind of place!