Chef Roberta Sudbrack, a former Latin America's Best Female Chef award winner is always mentioned…read moreas one of the top chefs in Rio and her restaurant is considered among the best in the city. They don't take reservations so I decided to try my luck by showing up at opening on a Wednesday.
The is no signage so I actually walked past it before realizing my error. Inside is a cozy little restaurant and the staff is very welcoming. There are menus in English which is useful for reading the descriptions of each dish. There was so much that piqued my interest and I wanted to try but alas I was dining alone this time and had no one to share with so I had to limit my choices.
I really wanted to try the homemade bread with the homemade butter but I thought it might be too much so I settled on the "Organic cauliflower cooked in a clay oven" with tahini hummus, a Sud's classic. 5/5
The cauliflower was perfectly charred and the hummus was good.
Another hard decision was trying to decide on what main course I wanted. There was the brisket, filet, pork tenderloin, Angus ribs, and slow roasted duck all seemed like good choices but I ended up going with the "Slowly roasted lamb in our clay oven" with roasted potatoes, carrots and organic leaves. 5/5
The first couple of bites it didn't have a strong lamb taste to it, but then there it was very subtle along with all of the seasoning used. I'm not a fan of greens but they were OK along with the roasted potatoes and carrots which were so well done.
So finally the last difficult decision of the night was dessert. There were so many great sounding desserts that you knew dessert wasn't some afterthought. But I am a chocoholic at heart so when a dish is named ad described like this on a menu I have no choice but to order it. "Wet chocolate cake, the legend! | Chef's Sudbrack signature | sour cream and hot chocolate sauce | This one doesn't even need to be explained, it's legend!"
I know why this is legendary I'm still thinking about it all this time later. It has to be one of the top 3 pieces of chocolate cake I've ever eaten. The cake was great but then you have a hot chocolate sauce to add on top and it is life changing!?! I don't want to sound hyperbolic but a 10/5.
This was an higher priced meal, but the food, quality, experience, and service make it worth it. Plus a meal as good as this would cost double back home.
I would love to come back sometime for another visit so I can try more. I would even come back just for the cake.