A Taste of Brazil in Mexico City

If you are a vegetarian, I suggest you quit reading this now. Go watch TV, or read a book or something.

If, however, you are a proud carnivore like me, then I've got a place for you.

It's called Brasileiríssimo.

Brasileiríssimo's Condesa location.

This Brazilian churrasqueira (churrasquería) has four locations in Mexico City. And I've concluded that no human being could leave this place and still be hungry.

Their specialty is the “rodizio” service, which for $185 pesos, gets you all the cuts of grilled beef, pork, chicken, turkey and sausages you could want. And then some.

We began our Brazilian dining experience with caipirinhas, the national alcoholic drink of Brazil. As far as I'm concerned, it's basically a really tasty version of lemonade – but mixed with “cachaça”, which is sugar cane rum. All I know is that adding cachaça to lemon, water, and sugar makes for one heck of a beverage. I could drink these things all day.

The famous caipirinha.

Soon after getting our caipirinhas, it was time for the food.

The service begins with an empanada, accompanied by some sort of soup thing in a cup that you have to drink, not eat with a spoon. The soup didn't do much for me, but the empanada, and the accompanying salsa and chimichurri, was excellent.

Before we could finish the empanada, our server brought us some fried bananas (platanos) and a plate of french fries. I can get fries anywhere, so I only had three or four, then I moved on.

Once the platanos and empanada were out of the way, it was time to hit the salad bar. Yes, they do have some non-meat food. At Brasileiríssimo, they have a nice selection of fresh fruit (mango, strawberries, watermelon, cantalope) as well as your typical salad-like vegetables.

To be perfectly honest, vegetables are the most uninteresting food I could think of eating. But the fresh fruit definitely looked good, so that was what filled my plate.

Some of the many meat selections at Brasileiríssimo.

Next, it was time for the main course. Our server brought us fresh toasted garlic bread to begin this next round, and then the meat began – and never stopped.

They do 15 types of grilled meat at Brasileiríssimo. And as long as you can keep eating it, they'll keep serving you more.

One by one, our server came out with a skewer, each time with a different grilled meat.

The tastiest, in our opinion, was the turkey wrapped in bacon. After trying this, I decided I'm spending next Christmas on the beach in Brazil so I can have my traditional turkey dinner Brazilian-style.

Next up was a chorizo sausage. It was certainly edible, though it didn't stand out too much as far as we were concerned.

Around this time, we were brought another side item – mashed potatoes and gravy. Perfect.

I liked the place so much, I bought the company.

Then, the meat service continued. We got chicken wings, roasted pork with a pineapple sauce, beef, more beef, and yet more beef.

At some point, I lost track of everything I was being served. But I do know we had cuts of sirloin, arrachera, rib tips, and … well I forget the rest.

The important thing is that it was good. Really good. And filling.

About the only thing I had room for at the end was another caipirinha.

All in all, it was a great dining experience.  It has made me even more eager to head to Latin America's largest country, to partake in the culture, to make new friends, to find long-lost family, and of course to try more of the food -- along with an old friend.