I went to Viva Brazil Liverpool and we're missing out in Lancashire!
I went to Viva Brazil, a meat lovers heaven - with a vegetarian - and this is our honest view:
I have never eaten in an all you can eat BBQ meat restaurant before, despite living a stone's throw from Liverpool which is home to three well known chains offering just that.
This was partly by chance, partly because I was put off by the assumption it would be full of large groups of burly, flashy men and partly because I’ve been dating a vegetarian for the past few years.
So when Viva Brazil Liverpool invited me down to try out their food following a refurbishment, I jumped at the chance, eager to cast off my preconceptions and see if I’d find my new favourite thing.
There also isn’t a Viva Brazil, or a similar chain restaurant, in the whole of Lancashire so I arrived ready to judge if it would be worth our readers travelling to.
I also still brought my vegetarian boyfriend with me so we were both intrigued as to how well they would cater to him.
On arrival, you can’t not be impressed by the Grade II listed building that houses Viva Brazil and inside is equally impressive, bright, modern and luxurious.
First off I was straight away struck by the difference in the clientele and atmosphere compared to what I had envisioned- the restaurant was filled with families and couples, and everyone was relaxed - it wasn’t the stuffy masculine arena I had imagined.
The staff were all super friendly, they explained the concept to us well and then took our drinks and my boyfriend’s a la carte vegetarian meal order quickly.
Whether you’re enjoying a full rodizio like myself (unlimited slices of meat off the waiters walking around) or an a la carte meal (vegetarian, vegan and fish dishes), you all got access to the unlimited salad bar and my gosh what a salad bar it was.
The right half of the station was more like your typical salad bar with a variety of vegetable dishes including my highlight, the caesar salad. But there were also fun snacks amongst the midst, namely a selection of cold meats, crisps and pork scratchings.
The left half of the station was then all hot food, mainly consisting of carby sides such as rice, garlic mash or roast potatoes, but there was also a chicken stew which I found to be a wholesome addition and nachos which was a fun addition.
I therefore treated the right half of the station as a ‘starter’ plate and then saved the left for when I wanted to add meat to the plate for my ‘main course’.
Howeve.r as the restaurant does not offer a starter menu, they do not take away your first plate and replace it with a clean one so if, like me, you wish to stick to the formal starter and main set-up, you just have to ask for a fresh plate if you want one.
The waiters then walk around holding different barbecued skewers of meat and the customers on the rodizio menu, who are given a placard with one green side and one red side, face the relevant side up to show whether they want the waiter to come over and offer them food or leave them alone.
During dinner time, up to 14 types of meat could be offered to you on the full rodizio but I ended up only trying half of these: the lamb, a lemon flavoured chicken wing, rump steak, the tri trip with cheese, garlic steak, a brazilian sausage and the smoked pork loin glazed in honey which was my favourite.
Overall I was impressed with the range of meat on offer, the quality and the fact some of the flavours were slightly unusual - for example I’d never had a cheesy steak before.
However I would note that the restaurant is not well suited to fussy eaters as the steaks were all cooked either medium rare or rare and we overheard a family’s disappointment that their child couldn’t have a well done slice.
Vegetarians on the other hand are well catered for, my boyfriend had three a la carte mains to choose from and he says his chosen dish, piri-piri fried halloumi steaks with sauteed new potatoes and green beans, was the best halloumi dish he had ever had.
The vast majority of the unlimited salad bar is vegetarian - my boyfriend had two plates full! - and he could take advantage of the cinnamon pineapple and garlic bread which the waiters also walked around with in between meat offerings.
We were both surprised by how much we liked the pineapple but we unfortunately didn’t get offered any garlic bread.
If you know there is something from the barbeque that you are yet to try, you can ask the waiter and they will try and get it to you - we were just too full to to ask about the garlic bread, although we regretted not doing so when we saw it coming out whilst scoffing our desert.
Because yes, although we were stuffed full, the desert menu proved irresistible and we went with one portion of the churros to share.
We didn’t regret this final splurge as they were lovely homemade churros, thicker and fluffier than those you get at christmas markets with a caramel sauce that was to die for.
When it comes to our drinks, we thought the wine menu was extensive and priced as you would expect - our bottle of Tempranillo was £23.
We also couldn’t resist the caipirinhas which were on offer for the reasonable price of two for £14: we tried all four flavours (watermelon, kiwi, guava and açai) and they were honestly all really delicious.
Ultimately we were impressed by every part of our meal at Viva Brazil, the unlimited salad bar stood out as a surprising highlight as did the halloumi steak according to my boyfriend’s ravings.
However the main star of the show - the unlimited meat - was definitely worth ordering: I wasn’t disappointed by any of the offerings, the speed of service was good and the price of £38.95 is reasonable considering the variety of food you get and the fact you could literally clean them out!
I would consider how much appetite you have though, next time I would pay for the ‘Rodizio Especial’ (only available midweek) as this limits you to one slice of seven meats instead of the unlimited ‘Full Rodizio’.
Being able to take more than one slice of the initial offerings meant I filled up too quickly to try half of the meats and to fully appriecate the salad bar - but this just means I will have to go back to remedy that!