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I think this picture captures the essence of Porcao Rios. Porcao means “Big Pig” and they seriously are all about the animal there, as long as it has 4 legs, they will cook it and serve it. After a long week working, this was the perfect little end of the week here… tons of fresh salads, fresh sashimi (the sashimi was really, really good) and of course, the meat!
I had been to Porcao in Miami years ago and it wasn’t that expensive, I think it was about 40$ or so for the service and the food. I had read online about Porcao Rios and most of the reviews had all been highly positive, unfortunately we didn’t get a view of Sugarloaf as it was dark and overcast last night. Porcao is on the water with direct sightlines of Pao de Azucar. The buffet alone knocked our socks off as a fabulous meal unto itself. It included 5″ long prawns and sushi as well as a hundred-fold other great items.
We were given the red/green coasters to signal the waiters, but really it was pointless. My little coaster sat at Red, yet the meat kept coming and coming .
The Rodizio service was awesome and and sat back to watch the best prime meats, poultry, lamb, and chicken come our way in small or very large portions. Tender, tasty, terrific. There were small little tongs at the table, where you could ask for the tiniest slices of well done meat and pull it directly from the skewers.
The only little downgrade for me was the non rodizio service, trying to get side orders of anything else but meat was much slower, but to be fair, the place was packed and there are multiple dining rooms, so one can’t really annoyed with that … it was really busy on a Friday night. I tried to keep the eating to something respectable and I think my strategy of eating salad and sashimi in the beginning was a good thing. Like all Brazilian places I’ve been at here, the meat does tend to be on the salty side.
Overall, definitely a must do while you’re in Rio. As for the price, well that wasn’t any surprise, this is an expensive place. The buffet service starts at 81 Reais (50$ CDN) but with service and drinks, the final price went up to around 127 Reais (80$ CDN). That aside, if you want to go crazy with meat and seafood and you have the space to do this place justice, then it is well worth it.
