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Friday, August 05, 2011

Casa Brasil, Petersham



Churrasco is a carnivore's dream come true. In Brazil, churrasco means barbecue, a meat-fest of assorted cuts and proteins cooked on skewers over charcoal or a grill. The common way of enjoying churrasco in Brazil is rodizio-style, where waiters carry skewers of meat around the restaurant and carve slices for diners on demand. It's always all-you-can-eat.


Palma Louca Brazilian pilsener and a caipirinha (cachaça sugar cane rum, sugar and lime)

It's the allure of meat-alicious gluttony that brings us to Casa Brasil in Petersham, recently relocated from Crystal Street to the much busier junction at the corner of New Canterbury and Livingstone Roads.

The restaurant offers an a la carte menu, but the most popular option here is the all-you-can-eat churrasco.

ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT churrasco served rodizio-style as continuous tableside service
$39 Tuesday to Saturday dinner
$30 Sunday lunch
Half price for children 5-11 years

* Special offer $31 Tuesday to Thursday dinner until end of August 2011

Churrasco includes:
Picanha (rump cap)
Picanha com alho (garlic rump)
Fraldinha (skirt steak)
Carneiro (lamb)
Paleta de porco (pork neck)
Linguiça de porco (pork sausage)
Linguiça de frango (chicken sausage)
Coxinha de frango (chicken drumettes)
Sobre-coxa de frango (chicken thigh fillet)
Coração de frango (chicken hearts)
Peixe (fish)
Camarão (prawns)
Queijo (cheese)
Pão de alho (garlic bread)
Abacaxi com canela (pineapple with cinnamon)
* Selections may vary due to availability on the day

Served with side dishes:
Salada (mixed salad)
Arroz (rice)
Feijão (black beans)
Mandioca frita (fried cassava)
Polenta frita (fried polenta)
Vinagrete (tomato vinaigrette)
Farofa (seasoned flour of cassava)
Tasty sauces


Feijão black beans with rice

We're immediately issued with a platter of side dishes that includes feijão, polenta chips and fried cassava. Feijão means beans in Portuguese, and this thick stew of slow-cooked black beans is commonly recognised as the national dish of Brazil. Feijão is best enjoyed with white rice, and sprinkled generously with farofa, coarse crumbs of cassava flour that is seasoned and then roasted until golden and crunchy.


Polenta frita (fried polenta) and mandioca frita (fried cassava)
with farofa (seasoned cassava flour)

Planks of fried polenta are a comforting contrast of crisp shell and fluffy interior. We don't take long to clear out the fried cassava too, starchy and muted in flavour, as we nurse our drinks. The cairpirinha has a pleasant alcoholic kick from the cachaça, a spirit made from fermented sugar cane. I settle on the Palma Louca beer, a Brazilian pilsener that is smooth and mild and easy-drinking.


Mixed salad

The restaurant is reasonably quiet on a weeknight, and almost all tables have opted for the churrasco. It's a relief to be able to hold a pleasant conversation in a sedate dining room, however minimal diners mean that the parade of skewers is slower and less frequent.


Linguiça de porco (pork sausage) and linguiça de frango (chicken sausage)

There is no doubt you will easily eat your fill though. We steadily make our way through the entire suite of dishes, eating up chicken sausage, thighs and drumettes and feasting on slices of fatty lamb, skirt steak and the always amazing pincanha rump camp.


Coxinha de frango (chicken drumettes)

It's not all meat. We get into camarão garlic prawns, squares of grilled queijo cheese that remind me a little of haloumi, roasted zucchini slices and fillets of fish - perhaps the only disappointment of the night with the basa fish yielding soggy blandness.


Picanha rump cap


Slicing the picanha rump cap



Coração de frango (chicken hearts)

My heart beats fast for coração de frango, chicken hearts that are slightly smoky from the grill. These are brilliant the first time around but we when ask for seconds later that evening, it seems like the same skewer returns as the hearts are dry and bouncy.


Abacaxi com canela (pineapple with cinnamon)

We manage to score three servings of the abacaxi com canela, fresh pineapple dusted generously with cinnamon and roasted until caramelised. It's a refreshing way to finish the evening - the pineapple is sweet, and the acidity is just what our palates need. 


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Casa Brasil on Urbanspoon

77 New Canterbury Road, Petersham, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9560 9595

Opening hours:
Lunch Friday to Sunday 12noon - 3.30pm
Dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm

All-you-can eat churrasco available
Tuesday to Saturday dinner $39
Sunday lunch $30
Half price for children 5-11 years

* Special offer $31 Tuesday to Thursday dinner until end of August 2011

Fully licensed (no BYO)

Related Grab Your Fork posts
Brazilian - Boteco, Surry Hills
Brazilian - Cafecito, Sydney
Brazilian - Churrasco, Coogee
19 comments - Add some comment love

posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 8/05/2011 03:15:00 am


19 Comments:

  • At 8/05/2011 6:51 am, Blogger joey@forkingaroundsydney said…

    Another churrasco, but this one closer to home! Yum and thanks!

     
  • At 8/05/2011 8:08 am, Blogger Shanks said…

    The rump cap and sausage queue are making me hungry :P

     
  • At 8/05/2011 8:50 am, Blogger Ramen Raff said…

    This is a lot of awesomeness Helen!

    Love Churrasco! I also love the the combo of black beans with rice & Paleta de porco. Oh,I agree ending the evening with a Abacaxi com canela is the best.

     
  • At 8/05/2011 9:49 am, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Have you tried the other Brazilian restaurants in Sydney? If so, which one did you like the most?

     
  • At 8/05/2011 10:08 am, Anonymous Nic@diningwithastud said…

    Its like the motherload of meat :) a vegetarian would burst in to tears walking in there lol. Actually, what do Brazilian veggies eat???? they must be pushed to find somethign haha

     
  • At 8/05/2011 10:23 am, Anonymous shaun@everybodylovesramen said…

    Nice!! Looks good Helen!

    How would you rate it against Churrascos in Coogee??

     
  • At 8/05/2011 10:31 am, Anonymous Hannah said…

    I recognise those chicken hearts! I had those at my Brazilian neighbours' party a few years back, though I must admit no one told me what they were before I ate them :P

    I really want to try farofa!

     
  • At 8/05/2011 10:44 am, Blogger Phuoc'n Delicious said…

    Mmmmmm... meat! Love the pineapple at the end of the meal

     
  • At 8/05/2011 10:45 am, Anonymous chocolatesuze said…

    every time i see or hear the word cachaça my liver cries.

     
  • At 8/05/2011 11:44 am, Blogger sugarpuffi said…

    loveeee meat on sticks lol!! its been a while since ive been to a Brazilian bbq :(

     
  • At 8/05/2011 12:20 pm, Anonymous Vivian - vxdollface said…

    lol even if it is all you can eat, I think I could only demolish two skewers! soooooo much meat :O the cinnamon pineapples sound good though :)

     
  • At 8/05/2011 4:25 pm, Blogger Michelle Chin said…

    sheesh. beans with rice? fried polenta?!!!!

    *drools*

     
  • At 8/05/2011 4:28 pm, Anonymous James said…

    Have you tried Indonesia BBQ dish? you shoul try the Sate Ayam (chicken satay) with grilled peanut sauce served with rice cake.. It's the best satay in South East Asia!! :)

     
  • At 8/06/2011 2:23 pm, Anonymous tania@mykitchenstories.com.au said…

    Sounds good. Maybe a Friday or Saturday would be the way to go. Any way looks good will give it a try

     
  • At 8/06/2011 2:26 pm, Anonymous sara (Belly Rumbles) said…

    Who can go past an endless parade of meet on a a skewer! Maybe their mid-week special will get a few more punters in there during the week, otherwise looks like the weekend is when to go.

     
  • At 8/06/2011 11:41 pm, Anonymous JasmyneTea said…

    Love that fried polenta, and the pineapple is always my favourite way to end a Brazilian meal :)

     
  • At 8/07/2011 7:39 am, Anonymous Danielle said…

    Went there last night. Yum. The food and service were amazing. Very kid friendly as well. Children under 5 eat for free ... Mine loved the beef rump, pork neck and chorizo!

     
  • At 8/07/2011 12:06 pm, Blogger Helen (Grab Your Fork) said…

    Hi lateraleating - I've tried the Brazilian restaurants I've linked to above. We found more variety (and quantity) at Churrasco but we also dined there on a Friday night. Cafecito is great for its daily specials and the cassava chips at Boteco are amazing!

    Hi Shaun - Churrasco had more things to eat (including cheese bread! yum!) but we went there on a Friday night so there were a lot more people (and it was much noisier too). As a local, it's a pretty good option.

     
  • At 8/10/2011 3:32 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I went last Saturday and it was great! They bought out zucchini in between all the meat but it was slathered in butter so I guess that rules out it being healthy lol. It was delicious though.

    Really enjoyed the desserts too... yes we made room :-)

     

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