Berimbau Do Brasil
Berimbau do Brasil is a fairly well known West Village Brazilian restaurant. According to my first and last notes, I had tried the feijoada and the picanha, and both were excellent. My partner was craving a lot of this food recently, so we decided to try the new Midtown location of this restaurant. The menu has changed decently, but we were interested to see if the flavors were still consistent to their West Village location.
Ambiance & Service
This location actually replaced the former Ipanema place, so much of the decor seems remnant of that restaurant. The interior decoration had a very tropical and resort type of feel.
The service was good, and the food came out pretty fast. They were good at recommending quantity for us.
Food
We started with Dadinho ($15) which was tapioca dice, coalho cheese, and sweet and sour pepper sauce. The coalho cheese had a nice bounce to it, similar to a mozzarella texture. The pepper sauce barely had heat, so it shouldn’t be too big of a problem for non-spicy eaters.
We ordered Passion Fruit Juice ($8 - left) and Caju Juice ($7 - right). Both juices were probably used in cocktail drinks, but we asked for the standalone. They both tasted pretty decent. The passion fruit juice was tart, and the caju reminded me a bit of the cartons of caju.
The Bife à Cavalo ($52) came with prime NY strip steak, herb sauce, egg, and fries. The steak was ordered medium rare, and it was very ender and tasty. I thought the overall seasoning was definitely on the bland side, but the quality of the ingredients were quite good. The herb sauce was not very prominent or potent. Overall, this is a hearty steak frites-like dish, but it could used some more sauce to really pull it together better.
The Barriga de Porco ($32) came with pork belly, acerola glaze, Brazilian style polenta, and collard greens. The pork belly was very tender and delicious. The collard greens were seasoned well. The polenta was a little watery for me. The farofa was quite flavorful. This dish was pretty good overall.
Final Verdict
With how few Brazilian restaurants there are in the city, this is still one of our favorite. We would love to come back to try other dishes, but it’s easy for us to say that this restaurant was still consistent in flavor more than 5 years later. If you’re around the Midtown area and yearning for Brazilian food, there is no question that this is probably the place to go for a sit down non-rodizio place.
Yelp Jabs
The food was all delicious but it felt overpriced and my group of 4 all agreed that we left feeling like we could go to Taco Bell down the street to get a taco.
The portion sizing definitely is not as generous if you’re looking for quantity. For my party of 2, we were definitely full, but not uncomfortably full. The price is definitely on the pricier side.
The only downside was the noise level; while the ambiance was vibrant, it was a bit loud inside, which made conversation challenging at times.
This restaurant’s atmosphere definitely reminded me of a fun, festive party atmosphere next to the beach. Berimbau is actually a musical bow that can be used to play multiple tones and rhythms. It’s popularized by capoeira, which is a Brazilian martial arts with some elements of dance, acrobatics, and music in it. I think the restaurant exhibits a lot of these qualities, so it’s definitely going to have a louder ambiance and not be the best place for a quiet outing.
Revisions
- Dec 14, 2024 - Second visit to Midtown location.
- Sep 29, 2018 - Initial revision.