Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Churrascaria: A Brazillian Steakhouse Experience
Sunday night, The Wife and I went to dinner after seeing X-Men III. We decided to try out one of those new-fangled Brazilian steakhouses. I'd never been to one, but I'd heard good things. The basic idea is that servers walk around with big hunks of meat. When you want a piece, you signal him and he'll slice you off a bit. And you keep going until you just can't take anymore. So basically, it's a meat buffet where you don't even have to stand in line. How exactly is this Brazillian? Isn't this the ideal American meal? That might explain the popularity of these places.
I ended up eating WAY too much food at the churrascaria. It was inevitable though. For one thing, the food is just delicious. I can't even explain how great it is. It's quite spicy too, which is a positive for me. Not hot-spicy like Mexican or Indian food either. Just spicy, almost like it's too salty even. Of course, the spiciness depends on what particular slice of meat you get.
Another factor that made me eat way too much was that they give you tiny servings, only a couple of ounces. I'm guessing that I had anywhere from 10 to 20 pieces of meat. They should really keep a scorecard there so you can keep track. I think that I might have stopped myself at 10 had I known I ate that many. Instead, I just kept shoveling it in.
And it didn't help that they had all these different varieties of meat. I had filet wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in back, pork loin, top sirloan, flank steak, parmesan chicken, brazillian sausage, garlic filet, and lamb. And I'm probably forgetting some stuff. But every time something new came out, I thought, "That looks yummy. Gimme!"
The biggest problem though was the price of the meal itself. Dinner was $43 a person. I guess that's not completely outrageous given the food they're serving you. But if I'm going to pay that much money for dinner, damn it, I'm going to get my money's worth. (It shocked me to see how many families came in to eat. I can't imagine dropping that much money on my worthless family. Not until my kids are teenagers anyway. That way, I'll be SURE they'll eat their fill. Of course, my kids will probably be vegetarians. But that's an issue for another day.)
Anyway, I as I said, I ate WAY too much. I was actually at the point where I felt like if I saw another gaucho come around with meat, I was going to punch him in the face and scream at the top of my lungs, "Go away, meat pusher!" I've never been so sicked by the thought of meat before. This must be how Lisa Simpson always feels. What a bitch.
It took me awhile to recover from the meat orgy. It wasn't until Monday afternoon, a full 24 hours later, that I was starting to feel better. So when I went home, I found (and this is no joke) that The Wife had cooked meatballs for dinner. Nothing else. Just meatballs. So I punched her in the face and told her, "Go away, meat pusher."
I ended up eating WAY too much food at the churrascaria. It was inevitable though. For one thing, the food is just delicious. I can't even explain how great it is. It's quite spicy too, which is a positive for me. Not hot-spicy like Mexican or Indian food either. Just spicy, almost like it's too salty even. Of course, the spiciness depends on what particular slice of meat you get.
Another factor that made me eat way too much was that they give you tiny servings, only a couple of ounces. I'm guessing that I had anywhere from 10 to 20 pieces of meat. They should really keep a scorecard there so you can keep track. I think that I might have stopped myself at 10 had I known I ate that many. Instead, I just kept shoveling it in.
And it didn't help that they had all these different varieties of meat. I had filet wrapped in bacon, chicken wrapped in back, pork loin, top sirloan, flank steak, parmesan chicken, brazillian sausage, garlic filet, and lamb. And I'm probably forgetting some stuff. But every time something new came out, I thought, "That looks yummy. Gimme!"
The biggest problem though was the price of the meal itself. Dinner was $43 a person. I guess that's not completely outrageous given the food they're serving you. But if I'm going to pay that much money for dinner, damn it, I'm going to get my money's worth. (It shocked me to see how many families came in to eat. I can't imagine dropping that much money on my worthless family. Not until my kids are teenagers anyway. That way, I'll be SURE they'll eat their fill. Of course, my kids will probably be vegetarians. But that's an issue for another day.)
Anyway, I as I said, I ate WAY too much. I was actually at the point where I felt like if I saw another gaucho come around with meat, I was going to punch him in the face and scream at the top of my lungs, "Go away, meat pusher!" I've never been so sicked by the thought of meat before. This must be how Lisa Simpson always feels. What a bitch.
It took me awhile to recover from the meat orgy. It wasn't until Monday afternoon, a full 24 hours later, that I was starting to feel better. So when I went home, I found (and this is no joke) that The Wife had cooked meatballs for dinner. Nothing else. Just meatballs. So I punched her in the face and told her, "Go away, meat pusher."
