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

EATING PETRÓPOLIS

Petrópolis is a wonderful town located just 80 KM from Rio de Janeiro and 840 M above sea level.  It is known as “the Imperial” city because Brazilian Emperor Don Pedro I bought the land in 1830 and his son Don Pedro II developed the area. Petrópolis was founded on March 16, 1843  and looks like a little piece of Europe implanted in tropical Brazil. If you have the time, you must visit. It is a lovely and very enjoyable trip. There you can see the Imperial Palace, the "Crystal Palace”, the Bohemia Beer Factory (with an amazing and quite inebriating tour), the "Quitandinha Palace", which once housed the biggest and most luxurious casino in South America and Santos Dumont’s house. Brazilians consider Dumont as the "father of aviation” (they don’t even know who the Wright brothers were…).

The only down side of Petropolis is the food. There is only one good restaurant in town - The Empress Leopoldina restaurant, located at the Solar do Império Hotel, at Avenida Koeller, 376 - tel: (24) 2103-3000. The place offers great food and ambiance. You will feel as if you are a guest of the Emperor himself. Although not cheap, the prices are affordable and you pay for what you eat.

Solar do Império

If you want to make a light meal, you can try “Casa do Alemão” (Estrada Ayrton Senna, 927 – Quitandinha, Petrópolis (24) 2233-0200 & Rua Dezesseis de Março, 138 – Centro, Petrópolis (24) 2242-4533), typical German fast food cuisine:  bratwurst sandwiches, croquets, apfelstrudel, etc.

Casa do Alemão

Unfortunately there is nowhere else in town which would survive a more critical judgment with regard to food. This is really a pity, because Petropolis is the perfect tourism location. And its cool and breezy climate invites to good food and drinking.

@@@@@@@ - adding info - @@@@@@@@

On my article about EATING PETROPOLIS I was not totaly fair. There are two other good places I should recomend too:

1. The restaurant at Bragança Palace Hotel at Rua Raul de Leoni, 109, close to the Cathedral. The place serves great Portuguese food, mainly cod fish dishes. It is not cheap, but two or more people can share a plate, because it is plenty.

2. Willemsen cake store at Rua 16 de Março, 134 in Valparaiso neighborhood. Great cakes, pies, sweets and snacks. 

EATING OLD RIO (in her birthday)!

Today I will recommend not one but several restaurants, all of them in the region between 1º de Março Avenue (which was once the busiest and most important street of Rio de Janeiro) and the ferry pier at Praça 15, in downtown.

In this area there are many bars and restaurants with pleasant and picturesque setting, mixing relaxation and culture. Included in this gastronomic corridor are the Rua do Ouvidor, Rua do Rosario and the Arc of Teles. It is a maze of old streets, where you see many people sitting and talking, drinking and eating. The place is really interesting and worth a visit. Carmen Miranda use to be a resident in the area.

Among these places I would like to highlight the CAIS DO ORIENTE, the most elegant restaurant of the spot. A charming 1878 farmhouse, built of stone, bricks and whale oil. In the past it was a warehouse for spices and products imported from the Orient. The top side: the seafood. The low side: the prices. It is very expensive. But on a trip to this wonderful corner of Rio, it is worth to be a little crazy and spend more to eat great shrimp, prawns and cod. 

And if you go there, do not miss visiting the former headquarters of the Bank of Brazil, that became CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil), an amazing cultural center; or the Imperial Palace, Paço Imperial, the official residence of the emperors of Brazil Pedro I and Pedro II. 

The girls must stop at  the original headquarters of Pharmacy Granado, the most traditional bath and beauty company in Brazil. They will be delight.

Paço Imperial                        Granado Pharmacy

 Rua do Ouvidor                       Cais do Oriente

WHERE TO GO - CANTINHO DO LEBLON

If you want to eat good Brazilian food made the traditional way, you have to go to Cantinho do Leblon. The place is not elegant but the food is good and the price is right. During the week at lunch time you can ask for the “executive menu” which serves dishes for less than R$25,00 (twenty five reais) and enough to feed 2 people per serving. The favorites are Cosido (Thursdays), Rabada (Fridays) and Feijoadas (don’t  remember the day). Filet a Parmigiana is pretty good too.

Location: Rua Dias Ferreira, 482 - Leblon Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22431-050, Brasil‎ - Tel: (21) 2540-7563

A Happy Place Called COBAL DO HUMAITÁ

Cobal de Humaitá is a market by day and collection of eateries and drinkeries by night. With several restaurants available in the place I only recomend PIZZA PARK (that serves good pizzas and pastas for reasonable prices), JOAQUINA (typical Brazilian cuisine, its best is the finger food "pastéis" and "bolinhos"), ANTIGA (also great finger food and small breweries beer) and TORTA & CIA (sweets). The rest of the restaurants are so, so. MANEKINEKO Japanese food restaurant is no good and is too expensive.

Location: Voluntaŕios da Pátria 446 - Humaitá (there is also an entrace by Humaitá Street, close to "Largo dos Leões")

Why Eating Rio

Eating Rio was created to help people eat well in the city of Rio de Janeiro. A city with many enchanting places for foreigners to eat, but also full of traps. I will try to guide you to the right places were the food is good and the prices honest. Eat well and be merry!

Vlad, the foodmeister