After a chilly day in Hyde Park, my friends and I walked over to Victoria to grab a drink. The pubs were all jam packed and we didn't stand a chance. We were also getting hungry by this point so jumped on the Orpington train to Brixton to try our luck there instead.
Brixton Village Market was quite busy and we couldn't quite agree on what to go for. We waked past Carioca which was almost dead and my friends liked the look of their menu. I'm the first to admit to a habit of assuming a deserted restaurant is lacking in customers for a reason so was slightly reticent, despite eating at Brixton Village on many occasions and never having a disappointing experience.
We were seated quickly and a waiter was straight over to pour us some water, take a drinks order and provide menus. He was friendly and fun and we were already starting to warm up from the bitter chill outside. The menu itself isn't exactly extensive but there's a reasonable choice of food and I don't remember seeing anything for over £11.50 in price. One of our party is gluten intolerant and there was an abundance of GF choices on the menu which was a nice surprise.
After bringing two carafes of red wine over, the waiter took our food order. I wasn't sure what to go for as I'm pretty notorious for thinking 'that sounds familiar, I better have that'. Instead, I went for Feijoada, the national dish of Brazil. It's a stew of beef, pork and chorizo in refried black bean and served with sautéed spinach.
When my meal came, the waiter - this was a second friendly chap - asked me if I had eaten feijoada before. I hadn't - so he explained to me what the funny little pot of 'stuff' was that came with it. Unfortunately (maybe because of the wine...) I can't remember, but you sprinkle it over the stew! He also explained that I had to eat the wedge of orange after I had finished stew and rice. Which I absolutely did because the stew was delicious and hearty - just what I wanted on a wintery evening. No chance of anything being left on that plate.
Later on, the restaurant got busier but unusually, the staff were not in a rush to get rid of us and let us happily sit there throwing back red wine.
Carioca doesn't have any customer toilets - instead you are directed outside and over the way to the public toilets. You have to pay 20p to get in but such is the hospitality at Carioca, they actually gave us the money to go!
When we eventually decided to move on (because my friend wanted froyo...) we were told the card machine wasn't working and we'd need to get cash. We didn't actually have any on us and they were quite happy for us - in our coats and taking our bags with us - to go to the cashpoint and return with the money.
Never again will I judge a quiet restaurant. read more