Brazil's about to play Mexico in the World Cup, and all the bars on the street have a long wait…read more Any available tables at the bars are ones placed so you cannot watch a tv. In a frantic search about 45 minutes prior to kickoff, I find this bar, which seems to be in a small niche off of the street. There's only a few tables taken, but it's starting to fill up. It's almost like we're in an entrance to a mall, but there isn't a lot of foot traffic, maybe because the game's about to start.
We sit down, and I ask, "Visa?" The waiter nods. He doesn't speak any English, but that's okay. During the ENTIRE time we were there (for the whole match), we relied solely on hand gestures and waving. He was brilliant. Despite the lack of a common language, everything we ordered was perfect, and there were no mistakes. My orders tend to get screwed up when I'm in the USA, but at this place, there were no mistakes! The waiter even connected my phone to the restaurant's WiFi perfectly with no problems!
We each ordered the world cup special, which consisted of stewed beef (with some veggies), cabbage, a fried egg, rice, and best of all, a banana empanada. The cabbage was interesting. It was thick, almost like seaweed, and we would later find out this is typical of Brazilian cabbage. We would also learn later that the addition of a vegetable (cabbage) is uncommon in Brazilian entrees. The meat was tender, and later we would find out this is atypical of Brazilian meat. The banana empanada was delicious. The sugared bananas melted in your mouth and was so sweet!
Since arriving in Brazil only three days prior, we had been constantly on the go, and this was truly our first sit-down, real meal in Brazil. For two people (add a very large beer and an amazing caiprivodka), we paid about US$45. It was worth every penny!
