How much meat can a culinarian eat? (Review)

With a new Churrasco open in Wollongong, and my almost constant hankering for a meat feast, Samba Brazil Bar was the perfect destination for Friday night dinner.

Looking around on arrival, there wasn't much of a 'theme' to the restaurant, and it would have been nice to see some Brazilian inspired decorations to really get us in the mood. After we were seated, we waited for service but the drinks waiters (only two of them for about 60 people) seemed overworked and took a long time to get to our table.

Food began about 15 minutes after the advertised time of 7.30pm and was very slow and disorganised in its distribution. Although it is advertised as a 'Brazilian BBQ', the meat dishes did not begin until close to 8pm and rather, they attempted to fill us up with the selection of sides - rice, black beans, tomato salsa, bread, and the oh-so-brazilian greek salad and potato fries. No way were we being fooled - I was there for the meat feast!

Sides

By the time meats were served, our table was ready for anything but unfortunately due to their being no particular system for where the meats were delivered first, our table missed out on the first round of chicken wings. (Note: At this point I was nearly ready to eat my partner's forearm as a substitute!)

Thankfully, the fact that we had missed out in the first round was quickly recognised and we were soon served, first, with beef sausage (very tasty, but very small) and the meats started flowing from there on.

A fork-full of beef sausage

One of the servers made the observation that we would say yes to any meats on selection and we were subsequently served straight from the kitchen all night.

Stand outs of the selection included the lamb which had, what tasted like, an orange and rosemary rub on the outside; the super tender garlic beef, although this wasn't as good the second time around; the pork neck; and the pork sausage. Unfortunately there must have been a shortage of Babe's brothers and sisters this week, as the two pork dishes only came around once!

The 'carve it yourself' orange and rosemary lamb - tender, juicy and well seasoned!

Arguably the best of the night - a second serving was definitely needed to confirm this.

As much as these meats were super tasty, there were, unfortunately, a few not so great ones amongst them. The chicken sausages were bland and tasted over processed. The rump steak had a 3 centimeter ring of fat on its outer surface which, if rendered properly, would have provided the most amazing flavour, but instead left me feeling like I had just had a swig of straight lard. The chicken hearts, something we've had cooked to perfection before and were really looking forward to, were over-cooked making them rubbery and flavourless.

Rump Steak

Chicken heart

Dessert was served soon after the kitchen had decided there had been enough meat served. I have to say, our table was probably prepared for a little more than we got, and definitely as an advertised "all you can eat" restaurant, we were a bit disappointed the meal ended so soon. As is 'tradition', I suppose you would call it, with Churassco in Australia, cinnamon pineapple was served. Now, the way I have had this in the past has been finger-licking delicious - sticky, sweet, caramelised pineapple with a light dusting of cinnamon to give a subtle but pleasant flavour. This pineapple was a little different... There was way too much cinnamon powder covering the pineapple which wasn't very nice.

So, the food and service left a bit to be desired. However if you just look at it as a different way of eating dinner out, it is pretty fun. The entertainment involved two g-string-clad brazilian dancers and 3 male capoeira dancers doing a routine both outside and inside the restaurant. The overall experience? An interesting one, to say the least. And the main question, how much meat can a culinarian eat? Definitely more than I was served... At least I left room for something sweet later on.

Enjoy!

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