Not Halal-certified nor Muslim owned.
(As previously mentioned, there are no Halal eateries in Rio and so we tackled local delicacies that concerns fish and seafood)
A friend brought me here to taste the bolinhos de bacalhau..
This cosy restaurant is one of the famous ones shown in the best food of Rio- magazine.The sign..hehehe..
Mate …slightly sweeter than Argentina Mate (very bitter)
This has got to be the best fried cod fish croquettes (bolinhos de bacalhau),I’ve ever tasted!! Filled with loads of fish meat..the bestest ever.So crispy and light but the filling is so YUMMY and generous! It’s like I can taste the ocean… Eaten with olive oil.I prefer it to be eaten on its own.
I chose wrongly…I should have chosen the fish instead of the calamari. I was trying to be polite when my friend asked how the Calamari was. But he knew from the look of it, that it was not good.
This chili oil is an amusing story. I put a spoonful and eat with the chillies. One of them stuck in my throat and cause me to cough. My Carioca friend was horrified that I ate the chillies. He said, just take a spoonful of the oil onto your dishes. I felt so amused that I became a total stranger to food all of a sudden, I was a total beginner, learning how to eat like the locals. Luckily he was not embarassed by my “silly” behaviour. (The place was so small and cramped, it felt like we can hear anyone’s conversation without even trying) But I like the chirpy environment, everyone was so happy , digging into the yummy food, enchanted by the oldiness of the whole place and its historical lines in its interior designs. The staff were very nice and friendly, communicate well in English.
I watched as my friend mixed the beans and the “crumbly” thingy all over his rice. I smelled his grilled beef steak and salivate invisibly (cos I’ve not been eating meat for so long!!!).
At the end of our late lunch, a family from nowhere came to us and spoke to my friend in Portuguese.They wanted permission to have a photo with me. Woohoo!I’m a “Celebrity”!! cos they are curious about me and my whole being(culture,religion,dressing etc) We exchange questions and answers with my friend as a translator. The place was fully packed and all eyes were on us. And we part as friends…hugging one another…