Nau is a nicer seafood restaurant that also has several locations in Brazil. Many families come here to celebrate weddings or other moments. This restaurant is located in an area near the technology university, and it has a parking lot. We were able to walk in with a party of 4 without reservations easily around 7 PM local time. The moment you step in, the decor felt quite interesting.

We wanted to try some less authentic Brazilian food, and we received a recommendation from a friend to try out this place. They mentioned they were very impressed by the quality of the fish and felt it would meet our expectations, especially for sushi. This was one of the few Asian-centric restaurants in Natal. We were able to walk in around 7:00 PM here without any reservations. To our surprise, there were plenty of seats.

Dobradinha do Lucas literally translates to “Tripe of Lucas”. Yes, we’re coming here to eat tripe. My partner had been a frequent visitor to this restaurant during their university days, and they decided to bring me here to give this a shot. The area is a little sketchy, but we came here mid-day when there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic or people. We sat outside along in their half covered patio on plastic tables and seats.

Curio is a local bar restaurant around where we were staying. My partner wanted to meet their friends locally here since it was new to them, and in the evenings, it appeared to be a very happening place. We were able to walk in for 4 people at around 6 PM without any issues. We had the option of sitting right in the outdoor area in front of the restaurant with security guards around, but we opted to sit inside toward the back.

Zeh Cozinha is located in the Midway shopping mall in Natal. It’s regarded as a local restaurant with many options of steak or seafood. The price is not too expensive for locals, and this restaurant is competing for business against Camarões and Outback in the same level of the shopping mall. Along with the foods, it also has a decent selection of drinks. We were really excited to try this restaurant out to get a feel for what’s a popular local restaurant.

Camarões is a very popular seafood restaurant which got its start in Natal, Brazil. If you meet anyone from this northeast region, they will say they love this restaurant. My partner has been talking about this since day 1 that I met them. Now, I have the opportunity to try this out to see what the rave is all about. Camarões has since expanded to more locations in Natal, as well as a location in São Paulo city, which is a food mecca for Brazilians.

In our last night in São Paulo, we met up with my partner’s friend at Nakka in Jardim. This was a sushi restaurant close to our hotel that offers Japanese fusion type food. At first glance at the menu, the items look exactly similar to anything and everything in the US. My partner was adamant that Brazilian Japanese food was much different than what I had. The friend made a reservation for 7 PM, so we were able to walk in and get seated.

A Casa do Porco (translates to House of the Pig) is a homage to pork as a whole. If you love pork as much as we do, this is a restaurant that you need to check out in Brazil. One accolade recently was that Janaína Torres was rated as “World’s Best Female Chef 2024”. The restaurant also has a Michelin green star, which means they are sustainability conscious. They control the entire food chain from farm to consumer.

Mani is a Michelin star Brazilian restaurant headed by chef Helena Rizzo and Willem Vandeven. My partner was adamant at getting reservations for this. Since the restaurant’s reservation system was a little odd at the time, my partner was talking to them through WhatsApp. Since Chef Helena Rizzo wasn’t going to be there during our reservation, she sent a birthday congratulations message thru Whatsapp to me, which I thought was very humble and extremely awesome.

My partner made a reservation for D.O.M. months in advanced because of a Brazilian chef, Alex Atala, featured on Chef’s Table. What was very attractive to me was how he is known for using indigenous Brazilian ingredients in the dishes. My partner had also contemplated bringing me to a Japanese or Asian type restaurant, but that could not really showcase what Brazil is about. D.O.M. was rated at 53 on World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and 33 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022, and it has also received a Michelin 2 Star rating.