BEST BURGER IN TOWN...

Yesterday I had an epiphany: I ate the best burger in town! At the T.T. BURGER  Av. Ataulfo de Paiva, 1240 - Leblon, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22440-035. They serve only burgers , fries and shakes. You come, you chose, you pay, you eat. No Bull... The only sad part is the price: R$ 28,00 a T.T. Burger...

According to Rio Show from O Globo, the place is "a creation of chef Thomas Troisgros (son of Claude Troisgros, a great French chef that lives in Brazil) in partnership with Ron Meisler. They open this new point in Leblon, in July of 2014. T.T. Burger offers a burger that was approved by the public -- sweet potato bread with a 180 grams hamburger, tomatoes, lettuce, crunchy pickles, cheese and special sauce. You can have extra bacon and double the meat. Still on the menu, potato chips and fresh milkshakes, guava and Nutella flavor, and a choice of a new kind of  ketchup: a barbecue sauce guava".

I recomend the place. If you are in Rio feeling homesick for a real meat burger, go to T.T. BURGER.

It had to be a Frenchman to produce a decent burger in Rio. In Paris even McDonald's taste good. And they have the McRoyal, as Travolta says in PULP FICTION (in T.T.Burger there is no McRoyal, only the real McCoy).

MISS SOME OF YOUR YIDDISH MAME COOKING?

The best place to eat Jewish cousine in Rio is GUTESSEN a small restaurant in Rua Visconde de Caravelas, 148, at Humaitá neighborhood (Tels: 21 2294-2053 / 21 3549-2053 - gutessen@gutessen.com.br) . The price is right, the food is good and elegant. There you will find Varenikes, Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls, Klop, Farfale, Kneidalech, Guefilte Fish, etc, etc... I highly recomend.

DINNING WITH JOBIM, VINICIUS AND THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA...

If you are in Ipanema and want to eat in the place were Vinicius de Morais and Antonio Carlos Jobim  composed the famous song THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA you will not be too disappointed. The place is OK. The prices could be less expensive, but the serving is quite generous. If you and your company do not eat too much, can easely share a dish and will not go hungry home. Yesterday I shared a beef stroganoff with my good old friend comedy actor/writer Marco Palito and it was very decent and plenty of food. I recomend it. In the bathroom they posted the entire lyrics of THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA up on the wall. You can hum the tune while you pee... The address is Rua Vinicius de Moraes, 49 Ipanema, tel: (21) 2522-0340.

LATE AT NIGHT IN COPACABANA

If you are in Copacabana, is late at night and you are hungry for a quick bite, you should know that there is a place that stays open till late and serves the best sandwiches in town. Its name is "Cervantes Bar and Restaurant", at Avenue Prado do Júnior, nº335 B - Tel:2275-6147 & 2542-9287.  Cervantes was created in 1955 and since then all it does is to offer great sandwiches and well-drawn draft beer. A safe haven for those who wish to satisfy hunger at dawn. Its menu includes the following sandwiches: Filet Mignon with Pineapple, Roast beef with Pineapple, Filet of Chicken with Pineapple, Tender with Pineapple, Turkey ham with  pineapple, Ham with Pineapple, Canadian tenderloin with  Pineapple, Salami with Pineapple, Roast beef with  Pineapple, Tenderloin  with  Pineapple, Italian sausage  with  Pineapple,  Liver  Pate  with  Pineapple  and  Sausage with Pineapple. All sandwiches have Pineapple in it, but they all taste great. Cervantes also serves a variety of other dishes, but the sandwiches are a must. 

GOOD JAPANESE FOOD & REASONABLE PRICES

If you are in Rio south zone with an urge to eat Japanese food but traveling with a budget, I recomend the RIO SUSHI restaurant at RIO SUL shopping mall (Shopping RioSul - Rua Lauro Müller, 116 - Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22290-160 - tel: (21) 2542-7590). The food is good and the prices do not sting like too much wasaby in your mouth. Their stuffed calamari is great, the Lemon Salmon Sushi too. 

In the other hand I do not recomend MANEKINEKO restaurant at Cobal. The place is expensive, pretentious and the food not very good. And they charge 15% service fee when you are no obliged to pay even 10% in Rio's restaurants.

But if you are in Leblon and have some extra cash go to SUSHI NORI at the Leblon Shopping Mall (Avenida Afrânio de Melo Franco, 290 - Leblon - 4th Floor - tel: (021) 2540-5082) the fish taste wonderful and the place is great.

ARAB FAST FOOD IN RIO

To eat good and reasonably priced Arab fast food you have to go to Balbek an Arab small store in Copacabana's Gallery Menescal, at Ave. Nossa Senhora de Copacabana between streets Santa Clara and Figueiredo de Magalhães. They have the best Kibbeh and the best Sfiha in Rio de Janeiro, and for just R$ 5,00 (Five Reais). They only accept money and there are not many places to sit, it is allways crowded, but the food is fresh an it taste great. Don't miss it.

Address: Av. N. S. de Copacabana, 664 (Galeria Menescal) - tel: 2255-4574

DON´T GO WALTZING MATILDA OVER THERE…

If you are an Aussie in Rio de Janeiro feeling homesick don’t make the mistake of going to the OUTBACK restaurants to eat. You will hate the experience. The food is lousy and the prices outrageous. They promise you real Australian food, but it seems the cook came from Bahia or Thailand, because de quantity of pepper they put in the food is unbelievable.  I went to the RIO SUL OUTBACK with my wife and son. We had to wait for one hour just to sit and we end up spending almost R$ 200 (two hundred reais) to eat bad spicy food. I do not recommend at all! Please make a note of it. I would rather eat a Vegemite sandwich at home...

The onions were oily and not tasty, they would crumble in our hands

 A weird spicy pasta with burned bread