BoiBrazil Churrascaria

FOOD

Picanha gets house-special billing at BoiBrazil, as befits a churrascaria with Brazilian family roots. The rump-cap cut is also known as top sirloin cap, and traditionally carries a layer of fat along one side; that is different from the marbling running through a ribeye. Here it comes through the skewer service, carved at the table. Garlic beef joins those rounds, giving seasoning its own billing beside the cuts named for the butcher.

Ribeye and flank widen the beef selection, with the marbled rib cut and the leaner flank offering different kinds of steak. Sirloin and beef ribs also feature in the rotation, along with tri-tip, the triangular bottom-sirloin cut. The meat variety differs between lunch and dinner, and the rotation changes, so the broader selection belongs to the churrascaria’s repertoire rather than a fixed procession of every cut at every meal.

Boneless leg of lamb, chicken drumsticks and bacon-wrapped chicken join the skewer selection, while Parmesan pork gives the cheese lovers a claim on the carving. Brazilian cheese bread is included with the meal, too. Cheese with pork, cheese in bread… BoiBrazil has a certain consistency of thought. The bread belongs comfortably in a dinner with Brazilian family-recipe roots, even when the skewers are receiving most of the attention.

The cold bar has its own steakhouse generosity. Homemade creamy salads share the selection with greens and vegetables, while charcuterie and cheeses give it substance beyond the leafy side of dinner. Cured meats at the buffet, grilled meats at the table: BoiBrazil is quite thorough about the subject. The selection varies, with the prepared salads forming part of this substantial cold spread.

White rice, black beans and farofa bring the hot spread back to Brazilian staples. Farofa supplies the cassava-flour element of a classic churrasco plate, a preparation with a place of its own beside the beans and carved beef. Then come the caramelized bananas, quite content among the savory dishes. The hot station gives sweetness a seat at dinner; it needn’t wait politely for the dessert menu to arrive.

Beef risotto keeps the kitchen’s interest in beef going beyond the skewers, alongside pasta and mashed potatoes. BoiBrazil calls the potatoes a family recipe, a telling detail in a restaurant founded around bringing those recipes to America. The hot bar puts that homestyle cooking beside farofa and caramelized bananas, letting familiar comfort dishes share the meal with Brazilian churrasco staples. For all the steakhouse carving, there is a family-table side to this dinner.

Dessert is ordered separately with the regular meal. Brigadeiro, the Brazilian chocolate sweet, and pudim, caramel custard, keep that part of the menu rooted in Brazil, joined by passion-fruit mousse and papaya cream. Cheesecake, petit gâteau and tiramisu broaden the closing choices. A pudim after picanha makes a pleasingly Brazilian bookend; cheesecake has its own entirely reasonable argument. The caramelized bananas, meanwhile, have already enjoyed their place in dinner.