After a week and a half on the ground in Brazil, my time in my 81st country was coming to an end. But I still had one more adventure left in me: an all-out Brazilian food tour of Rio de Janeiro! Come with me as I eat my way through Rio one last time!
My afternoon in Rio began with Guilherme and Rafa from Rio4Fun and Rio4Food at Academia da Cachaça. There, I’d kick off my tour with the national dish, feijoada! It’s a mix of black beans, pork, kale, and cassava flour. The restaurant opened in 1985 and sells a couple of hundred different types of cachaça!
They give you a shot of cachaça with lime with the feijoada. You can see all the different types they have on their menu.
The feijoada also came with sausage, orange, and rice. The sausage was served in the black beans. It was a little spicy and really fresh and tasty! There were so many flavors and textures, and the oranges gave it a citrusy, tropical burst.
Feijoada is usually served only on Fridays and Saturdays in Rio. It had some Portuguese, French, and African influences. The portions were huge! I also loved the pork ribs and pork cracklings! It was easily one of my favorite dishes of the trip!
It only cost us about $30 USD for a portion for four. Next, we hopped in the car to get some açai at Guilherme and Rafa’s favorite place in Rio, ASV Açai. I had bought some pure açai from a young vendor on the side of the road in Suriname back in 2019 and loved it!
This spot was like a juice bar. There, we met João, who pureed some pure acai and some mixed with honey. You can top it with granola mixed with nuts and tapioca flakes. It looked very thick and rich!
The plain was really really nice, but the one with honey was up my alley. I loved how good it was! Adding the granola gave it a really nice crunch. This was pure, unpasteurized açai because it’s local. The açai that leaves Brazil is pasteurized. It was like a thick, purple cross between yogurt and ice cream!
It was really filling and felt really healthy. The best açai I’ve ever had! It’s such a tasty and healthy superfood, but it stains your entire mouth purple! Afterward, I tried come cacao almonds and a type of cachaça with a sweet and sour fruit juice from the Amazon! It was like a fruit smoothie!
From there, we headed to Tacacá do Norte, a diner that sells Brazilian pho, which contains manioc flour, shrimp, tapioca gum, greens, and more. It was a little spicy and made my lips tingle! The broth was very Vietnamese in flavor. It made my tongue tingle like a Szechwan pepper! Adding chilies made it hotter but good!
Then I tried the Cerba export, which was a crafty and refreshing lager. They also sell açai bowls!
Finally, we drove to a street food vendor selling acaraje, which is a croqueta stuffed with shrimp, okra paste, pico de gallo, onion, coconut milk, cilantro, and more. It was so tasty and a little spicy, with a crispy exterior and soft on the inside. I’d never had anything like it! It was my favorite snack of the day and was super filling! This dish has both African and Indian influences. It’s unreal! It only cost about $2 USD. What a way to cap off my Brazilian food tour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!
And just like that, my epic road trip through Brazil had come to an end! My next stop was the airport. This Brazilian food tour of Rio de Janeiro was the perfect way to end my time in this amazing country! Huge thanks to Guilherme and Rafa for making it the trip of a lifetime, and to my friends at Yoo2 Rio de Janeiro by Intercity for hosting us!
I hope you liked coming with me on my diverse Brazilian food tour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! If you did, please give this video a thumbs up and leave a comment below. Also, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and click the notification bell so you don’t miss any of my travel/food adventures around the world!
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