Rio2014: Buteco Bars of Rio

bu·tec-o 

[boo-tek-oh]

noun

Brazilian watering hole where you can find tasty salgadinhos, then wash them down with a mean caipirinha or ice cold choppe. 

Some of the best and cheapest eats in Brazil are the butecos or botequim, restaurants and bars serving traditional Brazilian fare with a side of live samba if you're lucky. They do big dishes to share like picanha steak or moqueca fish stew, but I love sharing a bunch of different appetizers or salgados. Butecos are very Carioca and a must pretty much anywhere in the country. And you can hope from one to the next so here's my ideal buteco crawl in Rio de Janeiro. 

*Note: Throw your healthy lifestyle out the window when your'e in a buteco. Just enjoy it.

Bar do David - Morro do Chapéu Mangueira (near Leme)

Everyone raves about the feijoada de frutos do mar, but I thought the croquete de frutos do mar were delicious.

Pavao Azul - Copacabana

This is a real locals spot. Go for the pastéis and the atmosphere.

Bar do Bahiano - Morro dos Cabritos (near Copacabana)

I never heard of this favela near my house and it was the first time I ever visited a comunidade without being invited by a local. Pretty real and pretty awesome bolinhos de bacalhau.

Oke Ka Baiana - Lagoa

This was one of the first places Hub and I checked out and I wrote about here. Love the views, love the pastéis and love the moqueca.

Severyna de Laranjeiras - Laranjeiras

This neighborhood is beautiful...they've preserved a lot of the old colonial architecture and it's peppered with cute boutiques, open markets and restaurants. One starving afternoon my friends and I came here and shared the escondido de camarão. So creamy, so delicious.

Venga Bar de Tapas - Leblon

For my friend Annie's leaving do, we decided to do a buteco crawl in Leblon and we hit up this Spanish tapas bar. The patatas pravas and pulpo were damn good.

sorry for the blur

PIPO - Leblon

This place is a little $$$ but it was so so so good. They do fancy Brazilian food and the caldinho de feijao com espuma de couve (black bean soup with cabbage foam) and ostrix sliders were amazing. We also ordered this bomb ass wine.

There are so many noteworthy butecos in Rio that I'm dying to check out, but haven't. I'd love to hit up Adego Perola, Bar do Mineiro, Brasiero do Gavea, and Bar Urca to name a few. Also I'm only familiar with those in Zona Sul but I'd love to explore the Zona Norte. Just check out the spots included in the Comida de Buteco competition. 

Rio2014: Restaurants of Rio

The FIFA World Cup starts next week and my mom and step-dad are coming! I'm super excited. Despite all the negativity clouding the games, I think it's going to be amazing and the energy electric. I've been making little lists of things to do, sites to see and of course places to eat. Eight months in and I finally feel I got a handle on where to eat in Brazil, which is not always easy for a health nut like me. So here's a list of our go-to spots in Rio.

Nothing beats the views from Forte Copacabana and it really kicks off the "I'm in Rio!" excitement. There are two cafes and both are great, but I love the cafe de amanha breakfast at Colombo. The breadbasket and cinnamon sweet cappuccino are heaven.

the in-laws

My favorite restaurant in Rio is El Chalaco, a Peruvian launchonete in Leblon. Hub and I discovered it during Carnaval and the ceviche brought me back to my holiday in Lima. Their pisco sours are insane and I dream about the quinoa burger, octopus sliders and their homemade smoked eggplant mayonnaise.

quinoa burger

octopus sliders

Dining out in Rio can be expensive, but there are few places really worth splurging. I loved restaurante Aprazível in Santa Teresa; eating creative Brazilian food in grand Amazonian huts overlooking the city was priceless.

grilled octopus

tapioca ice cream with acai sauce

Another great Brazilian spot is Bangalô in Barra da Tijuca; I was so inspired by their arroz com castanha de caju. And you can't come to Brazil without hitting up a churrascaria and I love going to the Carretão in General Osorio. Now I know you're wondering what I'm doing at an all-you-can-eat meat fest, but they give a 50% discount for vegetarians and the meat-free buffet is awesome.

Eating clean while dining out is a challenge in any city, but it's particularly difficult in Rio. You'll be surprised to learn that it's hard to find a decent salad in Rio, which is just bananas. So an awesome spot for hearty salads is French bakery La Bicyclette in Jardim Botanico. It's quaint and they make beautiful artesian breads and the pastries look divine. Drool.

Another great way to go is East like My Thai in Botafogo. It's not exactly authentic, but the food is fresh, yummy and they cater to vegans. It's chill, brightly painted and I really like the Thai curry puffs and shitake mushroom curries. Rua Dias Ferreira in Leblon is like the restaurant row of international cuisine and the food is fantastic. I'm a sucker for pan-Asian restaurant Mekong and their salmon in sweet tamarind sauce and pakora. And across Zona Sul in Leme is Arab. We met the owner randomly while renting one of her flats on Airbnb and she invited us for a free meal. Great hummus, fresh pão árabe and homemade labneh...happy girl.

My Thai

marinated espetinho de bife

curry puffs

And there you have it, my restaurant hit list. I imagine your wondering where the Brazilian food is and that's coming up next. Stay tuned for my ideal buteco crawl.

Ta!