With my trip through southern Brazil slowly winding to a close, I knew I needed to have one last Brazilian barbecue experience before I left. Come with me as I go on an epic, all you can eat Brazilian steakhouse experience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!
My day began at Assador Flamengo, an amazing local steakhouse near Flamengo Beach. It faces Sugarloaf Mountain, one of the city’s major landmarks and top attractions!
Like all Brazilian steakhouses, you take your seats and the waiters bring the meat to you. It’s a huge restaurant with a large, beautiful dining hall. The architecture inside is stunning, and it’s open-air, which adds to the unique ambiance. I couldn’t wait to eat!
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last 12 years, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,200 destinations in 81 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
Burger down, burger down, burger down.
What's up everyone, this is David Hoffman
from David's Bin here with my boy, Keeley.
We're here for fun, we're here for food.
We are in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, super hot.
Oh, amazing weather right now.
This is December, this is summer.
We are gonna eat some delicious Brazilian steaks.
What are we doing here?
Yeah man, it's like all we can eat,
churrascaria, right, which is a Brazilian steakhouse.
Man, this is one of my favorite ones, a lot of good meat.
And I'm excited, man, to show you this experience.
So it's called Asador, and we're in the Bota...
We're actually in Flamengo.
Oh, we're in Flamengo?
Yeah, it's called Atejo do Flamengo.
So it's a different area of the city, Flamengo Beach.
Facing the Sugarloaf.
Sugarloaf right there, our hotel is right there.
Exactly.
Over here's the beach.
Great location.
And so, same thing, you sit down,
and they bring you the meats, right?
Exactly, on the skewer.
Amazing.
Let's do it.
I'm hungry.
I can't wait, dude.
I can't wait, too.
I love it.
Let's go.
I'm in Brazil, I'm eating steaks.
Woo!
Carne all day.
Bom dia.
Tudo bem?
Tudo bem.
Whoa, this is a big restaurant.
Wow, huge dining hall.
We got some champagne right here.
We have some meat right there.
This is epic.
Oh, I can't wait.
Wow, what are we doing here, man?
We're going to eat a little bit.
A little bit?
Just a little bit, right?
I love this restaurant.
Look at this.
What a beautiful architecture.
The top, it's like wood, open, lots of light.
On the outside, we have Sugarloaf Mountain.
Over there, we have the beach.
More beautiful bay, sailboats,
and everybody's enjoying lots of meat.
Just keep coming, keep coming.
They have a, you know, obviously a buffet style.
Yeah, the first time.
Buffet style.
Yeah, like ham, cheese, salad.
You can also like, it's a strategy.
You can ask for like a house salad.
If you don't want to make your own salad,
they make it in the kitchen.
Usually, right?
And they keep walking around
with different cuts of meat, right?
And what's cool is that right on your table,
you know, your place map,
it tells you what they recommend.
So they recommend these red areas, right?
You like coupine.
Now I know you like coupine, the hump.
You like hump, hump, hump.
It's not Wednesday, dude.
Before we go in the kitchen, I want to show you this.
They brought us a cheese and cold cut platter.
Blue cheese is the best.
Swiss cheese.
Then over there, we have brie.
Swiss brie, bruschetta, parmesan, ham.
Yeah, like a part of my ham.
Delicious.
With the jelly.
And now we're going to the back.
The best part of going to a Brazilian steakhouse
is going to the back and see how they do this
nonstop rodicio.
Whoa, look at this.
Woo!
Bom tarde.
Bom.
Wow.
We're here in the back.
We're seeing how they make all the meats.
Woo!
It's tomahawk.
You have lamb chop, chicken heart,
so many good pieces of meat.
It's nonstop.
Jackson, we're tomahawking.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Bring her down, bring her down, bring her down.
Carne rau.
This guy's too funny.
Yes.
Thank you.
Oh.
He's going to bring to us the tomahawk on the table.
Oh yeah?
Yeah.
So what do we have here?
What type of cuts do we have?
Oh man, we have ancho.
We do have chicken hearts, lamb, french rack,
tomahawk, parmesan steak, skirt, flank,
all types, all types of premium cuts.
Ribs, prime ribs, we have it all.
What is this?
Charcoal.
Charcoal, charcoal.
The charcoal goes in here,
and then it gets spread throughout the whole thing.
So many different cuts, so much flavors.
Yes.
It smells amazing.
Are you ready to eat?
Let's go right now.
Let's go.
Hey.
Obrigado.
It's a no one.
Everybody left.
Obrigado.
Hasta luego.
Salud.
All right guys, it's time to eat.
This is some steaks, some meats, all day.
Wow, amazing.
Amazing.
Man, can't wait.
Let's dig in.
We are ready to go.
What is this one?
Flank.
Let's see.
One inch of steak.
Bring it, my man.
Yes.
Lamb chops?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Oh my gosh.
Mm.
Oh, this is so good.
What?
Take a try.
We call fraldinha, fraldinha que deliciosa.
Mm-hmm.
Maravilhosa, suculenta.
So juicy.
Mm-hmm.
Suculenta, fraldinha.
Mm.
You know, last night we had a lot of meat.
Mm-hmm.
But I'm ready for more.
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
I thought you would say we had a lot of meat
for the past 12 days.
Or at least seven days.
We just took a meat break in Florianópolis.
Exactly.
Where we had seafood.
Sim, sim.
Porcelain steak.
Mm-hmm.
Remember, clean up.
Let's go.
Primeiro, primeiro.
Mm-hmm.
Let's cut this thing.
Picanha?
Mm-hmm.
The best.
Oh, I love this.
Man, the meat's so juicy.
Oh, look at that.
He cut it so thin.
Oh, wow.
Mm-hmm.
And he just keeps cutting.
Obrigado.
For me.
Mm.
It's freaking crazy good.
You have no idea.
So good, huh?
Oh, man.
Mm-hmm.
This, the view.
I think the best time to,
of course, if you don't have to work,
after lunch, it's kind of like during lunch.
So you can have the entire day to digest
all the food you ate.
Mm-hmm.
And night is hard.
Salty.
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Oh, my God.
And this.
Same chops.
Delicious.
Mm-hmm.
Every bite, you just gotta enjoy it.
Mm-hmm.
One thing I always recommend,
when you bite, you close your eyes,
and you thank God.
Thank whoever you, you know.
Yes.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
So freaking good.
You got potatoes, huh?
Yeah.
Potato salad.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, it's a little late.
It's like 2.30 in the afternoon.
Yeah.
Usually people come here around noon.
Mm-hmm.
Now it's dying down.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Mm.
Look at this.
Wow, so juicy, huh?
Delicious.
So juicy.
Mm.
Delicious.
Yeah, I love this one.
The flank.
Yes.
The flank and the hump, and the...
No, the hump is the best.
Yeah, and the ancho.
They're like the most tasteful ones.
Mm-hmm.
I believe.
Personal choice.
It's crazy, because it's the same animal.
Yeah.
But just different parts of the meat, right?
Yes.
Asador.
Keep green up.
Asador.
Green up.
Yes.
It's not because it's a steakhouse
that only people that eat meat.
People come here to eat fish, chicken, salad, sushi, right?
So it's not only a place to eat meat.
There are a lot of people that don't eat meat.
Yeah.
Right?
So if you don't wanna eat meat,
but you still wanna have this experience, come here.
I think it's cool.
It's fun.
It's worth it.
Now, ancho.
Ancho.
Look at this, man.
I love this.
It's like tuna sashimi.
Exactly.
Tuna sashimi.
So soft.
To me, one of the best.
Oh, me too, man.
Nice and like roasted on the outside.
In the center, juicy.
Little bit of fat.
And middle rare.
Rare.
Almost rare.
Rock salt.
Oh, delicious.
Tuna sashimi.
Right?
They have the best meat, the best view.
They have non-stop wine, if you want.
They have a huge setter right there.
We're good, though.
Yes.
We're just eating and drinking water.
Yes, and I love this knife.
Yeah, the knife's the best.
This knife is so cool.
Souvenir?
Maybe.
You can deal.
You can ask.
Like I told you guys, they don't stop.
Fraudinha.
This is a flank.
Do you want a flank or?
Try it.
Fraudinha, how beautiful.
Have I tried this one?
You did already.
Already?
Well, I'll get a piece.
Yeah.
A nice piece on the side.
You can't get enough of it.
I'll stay here for lunch.
Oh, that's good.
That's good for me.
Thank you.
Wow.
Beautiful flank.
Oh, it's delicious.
It's a little juicy and oily.
Same thing.
Fatty.
Yes.
And crispy.
Yes.
Oh my God.
So good.
It's crazy.
I know I told you last night I hit a wall with meat,
but I ain't keep going.
In Brazil.
Not my head.
We eat a lot of meat.
The best is to eat it right when he cuts it.
Just eat it straight.
This is incredible.
And we have pão de queijo.
We have some palm heart, heart palms.
Yeah, if you wanna like more side orders,
you just ask, you know.
Like I said, here, you have to focus on like eating meat.
And if you wanna know what each cut is,
right here on the place map,
you have every cut.
Exactly.
And their favorites.
That's to make people's life easier, right?
They don't know like what they're eating, right?
They don't know the meat, especially foreigners.
So it's cool.
They did the work for us.
Wow.
I just worked on that meat.
Yes.
And this is cassava flour.
So good with chicken heart.
Delicious combination.
Wow.
Juicy, thick, and crumbly.
Another piece of meat.
Bife de chorizo.
Argentine steak.
Tasty, huh?
Super tasty.
This is like very similar like before,
like almost like 200 yards.
They don't stop bringing the meat.
Look at this.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's picanha again.
More picanha.
Picanha of meat.
Go sleep.
I told you that sometimes they don't leave.
It's just, it's heavy.
Just like yesterday.
The only difference is that right now,
we're experiencing the sun, the heat.
It's just like, you're ready after this,
straight to the bed, you know?
Yeah.
There's garlic.
Lechon.
Lechon right here.
Yeah.
In Portuguese, we call leitão.
Leitão.
Which is basically pork.
Yeah.
So soft.
Yes.
That one's been crazy.
It's like a crispy, pork rinds, fat.
And I don't know if you notice in this side,
which is the top, it's chicharron.
We call leitão, upurucado, or torresmo.
Torresmo.
But torresmo usually is the belly, right?
This is our last piece of meat, the tomahawk.
I love this.
Me too.
It's half fatty, medium rare meat.
It's crazy, man.
It's so delicious, but once you start hitting a wall,
like usually you're supposed to have like 12 ounces,
we're having like 36 ounces.
Of meat, huh?
Oh man.
It's so good though.
Well, what's your favorite cut?
Ancho.
I mean, today.
Yeah, ancho, French rack.
I don't know, this is the best for me right now.
Yeah.
I always like ancho and French rack,
like favorite, favorite.
You can bring like the best meat in the world,
like always gonna be with ancho and French rack.
For sure.
I mean, lamb all day.
No doubt.
Every piece is different.
Some are just salty.
Some are juicier.
Some are crunchier.
I love this, Asador with butcher.
They give you this option,
so you just put stop or keep going.
Green all day or red all day.
I go green until you really can't
because it's tough.
And right now it's 3 p.m., 3.30 in the afternoon.
As you can see, it's becoming emptier, less people.
It'll pick up again at 6.30.
Yeah, I highly recommend, man,
when people have a lunch here or dinner,
go outside.
There are like a bunch of couch,
kind of like a lounge, you know,
so you can smoke your cigarette, cigar,
or have a wine, have a beer, have a water,
or maybe just walk along the boardwalk.
You know, there's like a boardwalk
facing the Guanabara Bay.
You can see the Sugarloaf,
and it's beautiful, you know?
Yeah, I mean, the flowers, the view.
Yeah, it became kind of like an attraction.
Yeah, I mean, this place is great.
Makes an experience, you know, like food experience.
As a restaurant, I compare this to like,
in terms of look, like the Hillstone to Miami.
Yes.
It's an American steakhouse restaurant.
Very similar.
Love it.
With the wood, all open.
So cool.
You know, glass outdoor, right?
Beautiful.
I'm gonna have some.
The furniture is all made by wood.
Some banana.
Yes, and now, after we finish this meat,
time for dessert.
Dessert.
Yeah, they have some really nice crème brûlée.
Mm.
Crème brûlée.
No, crème catalana.
Yeah, but how do you call it in English?
Crème brûlée.
Yeah, but that's the French version.
Yes.
And more Spanish.
Yeah, but today, you're going to have the Brazilian version.
Okay.
Okay?
All right, so we have crème brûlée.
The guy just came over here.
He like nuked it with the flame.
And this is it.
This one is different from this one.
Yeah, dulce de leche, caramel.
What?
Yes.
Vanilla and raffa god lime.
Awesome, so how do we start?
You start digging in with the spoon.
Oh.
Mm-hmm.
Dulce de leche.
Mm-hmm.
Straight up sugar.
Mm-hmm.
Wow.
Argentine dulce de leche.
It's crazy good.
I love it.
The top is crunchy.
The sugar, it's sweet.
Look, just straight sugar.
Yes.
Salvé.
Mm-hmm.
Amazing.
Next one?
Let's dive in.
Oh, wow.
Mm.
Dulce de leche the best.
Yeah, this is the classic.
Dulce de leche is better.
I'll mix them both.
Oh.
Mm.
This is like a fluffy cream.
Mm-hmm.
And that one's a thick, super.
It's kind of flambé, right?
Yeah, and this one is almost like a super dense,
condensed milk in a way, right?
Yeah, condensed milk.
That's basically what it is, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So this one is lime.
A little different.
Let's go.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
No, but this is key lime pie.
This is key lime pie.
It's a Sicilian?
Sicilian lime.
No, man.
Sicilian lime.
This is Florida, man.
This is the keys.
I think my favorite for sure is dulce de leche.
This one is just too good.
Look at this dulce de leche.
Just so sweet.
You know, I'm not a huge Swiss guy,
but after having so much meat,
I'm feeling that saltiness.
Mm, you still have it in your mouth, you know?
I think they offer this type of dessert in a purpose.
You know, they know you need some nice sweets, right?
And always water.
I mean, to be honest.
Always water.
During these steakhouses, I won't drink alcohol.
I don't touch bread.
You can't.
I mean, it's just not good.
You're not gonna feel good.
Carbohydrate.
Carbohydrates, but also like having the wine,
you're just not gonna feel good.
I almost feel like meat drunk.
Yeah.
It's a weird feeling.
Yes.
To eat so much meat.
You just feel like,
de hinchas, no?
Como, te sientes mas?
Hinchado.
Yeah, like it just like expands your body.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It expands your body.
I mean, it's amazing.
It's an experience.
Always with all you can eat.
Limit yourself.
You know, go slowly.
Yeah.
Take time.
You can stay here forever.
You can stay here for three straight hours if you want.
No problem.
Yeah.
So, your favorite was the ancho?
Ancho, for sure.
Ancho and French rag.
Yeah, so French rag and tamaha for me were like,
today is my best.
My favorites.
And the dulce de leche.
Dulce de leche, for sure.
Oh my God.
So guys, when you come to Rio de Janeiro,
come to this restaurant,
it's called Asador.
It is in which neighborhood?
Flamengo.
Okay, so Flamengo.
Next one is Botafogo.
Botafogo.
Copacabana behind the Urca Hill.
So from here,
you get views of this beautiful mountain.
Yes.
So.
The Guanabara Bay, the ocean,
the Atlantic Ocean.
No, for me, I mean,
the best is just watching Sugarloaf.
Sugarloaf.
Seeing everybody going up, going down.
We were there this morning.
Exactly.
Beautiful experience.
And yeah guys, if you love this video,
thumbs up, comment below.
Subscribe to my channel for more awesome travel content.
And now you know where to eat delicious,
nonstop, all you can eat steak in Rio de Janeiro.
Okay, I'm gonna take a nap now, okay?
I'm going straight to the hotel.
Okay, thank you, bye bye.
I'll see you in the morning.