Let me recap yesterday… we made it to the BBQ joint and it was actually more of a buffet where you fill your plate and then a cashier weighs it and you pay by how many pounds or ounces or kilos or whatever they use here. I spent 75 Real which is two plates full. The food was really good, 75 Real is not cheap, probably about 40 US dollars and the quality was worth it. The best part was the meat. For my first plate I got some good beef that was on the buffet line but then I noticed that there was a chef cutting various cuts of meat behind a counter roasting on a spit. I knew however that the language barrier would be an issue and I was not looking forward to trying to point to a grill ten feet away and trying to explain what I like and how I like it cooked, etc. I’ve been in this situation before and had to back down from trying to get food out of a glass case that was right in front of me… “Uh, forget it... Coca-Cola?” I was scared about how it would go. So, when my first plate was done and I saw a customer at the counter getting paper thin slices of a nicely browned round little piece of rare beef I jumped up and stood behind the guy and then pointed to his plate and then to my plate and smiled. I don’t know what cut of meat I got but it was some of the best beef I have ever eaten. Very tender, tasted like butter, no kidding, delicious. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. All the beef is grass fed here and it tastes pretty good.
After our meal we got comatose and had to nap so we headed back to the hostel and crashed out. A couple hours later we woke and started the night off with Caipirinha Americanos, a drink invented by two Americans traveling in Rio named Kevin and Matt in 2009. Caipirinha Americanos, or CA’s, consist of ice, fresh squeezed lime, a shot of 7UP and a lot of cachaca. Not very good and I think this is the running theme with cachaca but I felt good after several. What we have come to learn from experience in Brazil is that if you are trying to catch a buzz here beer is not going to do it. You need to go with something stronger. May I suggest a Caipirinha Americano.
After a few CA’s we set out to accomplish one of our main goals since we have been in Rio which was to find the elusive Mud Bug. We caught a cab, the driver knew where it was, and the night gets hazy from there on out. I do know that we met some Americans from San Jose, drank some Jamison shots, saw the bartenders shooting fire out of their mouths and in general had a good time.
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