Cafe Brazil

Cafe Brazil
10831 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034

We've eaten at the Cafe Brazil many many times and have always enjoyed the food. Some object to ordering at the counter but I find it refreshing not to have to deal with a waiter every so often.

I decided to be adventurous (for me) and try something on the special menu. Feijoada (recipe) caught my eye mainly because it was described as pork stew. Who doesn't love a pork stew? Maybe people that don't like pork? Anyway, Feijoada is a traditional black bean stew and it seems that Cafe Brazil serves it quite authentically.

My pot of stew was served with white rice, collard greens and farofa (which is a seasoned manioc flour). I would later discover that feijoada is not just pork, there is smoked sausage and some recipes call for beef as well. I'm pretty sure this recipe also had beef in it.

Overall I was expecting the meat to be softer, tenderer and much less salty than it was. Quite a disappointment. The meat tasted as if it had been grilled for way too long and just thrown in with the beans with no stewing actually taking place. A very big disappointment since I've enjoyed every other meal I've ever had there.
Luckily everyone else enjoyed their meals and in the future I will probably stick with the more basic items on the menu. The grilled chicken, fish and steaks are always good and judging by how quickly everyone's plates were cleaned, I'm guessing they were as good on this night as on any other night.


grilled steak
Looks mighty delicious to me.


grilled chicken
Always a favorite, served with a flavorful rub and the omnipresent rice, black beans and plantains.


grilled fish
'Ubiquitous' seems so ubiquitous these days so I went with 'omnipresent'. But really, the rice, beans and plantains are an integral part of so many South American cuisines that the ubiquity is really unavoidable.