Week 13 - "eat at an African or Middle Eastern restaurant" (or Brazilian)



Copacabana Brazilian restaurant

      Right across the street from our hotel in Niagara Falls was a great Brazilian restaurant with seating inside or on the porch.  There was a large grill along one side of the porch and a platform for the nightly bands on the other side of the porch.  We could hear the music well into the night from our hotel across the street and up on the 30th floor.  The music competed with the sounds of the Falls to help us drift off to sleep each night.
     We remembered that one of our adventures was to try a different ethnic restaurant, so we decided to try Copacabana one night.  It was rather expensive, but the food was so wonderful that we would do this again.


22 items on the salad bar (mostly cold, but all delicious)


     The place had a large salad bar with lots of dishes that we didn't recognize.  We did, however
recognize feijoada and had to add that to our plate.  There was a lot of bean and vegetable dishes, mostly cold.  We tried a lot of them and all were delicious.  After the meal, we practically had to waddle back across the street to the hotel.




     

Cheryl using tongs to remove a piece of roasted pineapple

  

     In addition to the salad bar, the restaurant served 17 different meats.  These were grilled on a metal post and a waiter would bring them around to the tables one at a time.  We used little tongs to remove a slice of meat.  We tried most of them:  leg of lamb, prime rib, filet mignon, skirt steak, chicken breast, picana brazil, parmeson filet, salmon, chimichurri steak, port ribs, flank steak and, my favorite, roasted pineapple.  As long as we wanted the waiter to keep bringing meats, we had a card on the table that stated, "Fire it up!"  When we wanted to take a little break, we turned the card over to read "Cool it down", and the waiter would pass us by.    



Bill with Brazil's wonderful caipirinha drink.

        
     We also had to order a caipirinha, a typical Brazilian cocktail made with a sweet Brazilian rum, sugar and lime.  We have tried to make these at home, but why is it they taste so much better in a Brazilian restaurant?  All the waitresses were Brazilian and really beautiful and friendly, just like our Brazilian daughter, Camila.  It made us homesick for her.
     Thanks to this Excellent Adventure, we can now add Brazilian food to American, Italian, Chinese and Thai food that we eat in Charleston!!