Cantina do Gaucho

This place is the bomb for good reasonably priced Rodizio.
Having tried one in Clapham Rodizio Brazil and absolutely hating it, even I didn’t really know why I was risking this again. But this place highlights why you could never tarnish every business with the same brush. It set a new standard.
We were the first here for dinner and whilst the son of the owner was a little quiet at first, he was perfectly polite and let us get seated. After taking our drinks order which was two soft drinks (they have the lovely Guarana) we set about eating some salads and other buffet starters. The rice was cooked perfectly, as were the pork/​beans and pinto beans. There was cassava pieces, and some yummy cheese puff things that were extremely addictive along with chickpeas, salads, salsa, fries and other things. It wasn’t a huge selection for a rodizio, but it was a concise and allowed us to try everything. It was all really good.
As we started eating, the meat started arriving. It isn’t the card up/​down thing here, and it isn’t staggered in evenly spaced 10 – 15 minute intervals. The staff here are very mindful of how far you’ll likely be through your food and when you’d probably like some more. You can also always ask for a particular meat you want more of, and they’ll helpfully bring more of it out. It was rare to find them return to the kitchen with any meat on their skewers. They would normally take just the right amount out depending on the number of people dining. And might I add, it was all very fresh. No tough chewy dried meats here. Speaking to the staff, it’s because they roast all the meat on a charcoal spit. Meaning it remains tender and succulent. The chicken was the most tender meat I’ve ever eaten. It was well charred on the outside, but it was almost like it was steamed from the inside. There was no pinkness near the bone that you would normally attribute to a piece of meat cooked this gently. Amazing.
The meat courses delivered to us were spicy sausage, chicken drumsticks, chicken heart, pork, pork ribs and maybe a few more chicken/​pork dishes I can’t remember. As non beef eaters, we missed out on quite a few courses that I kind of regret a little, but makes this place all the better for you beef eaters out there. These were beef short ribs, beef Picanha, and maybe one or two more beef dishes I can’t remember. The only thing really missing was Lamb. But the chicken was so good, I pretty much substituted that for the beef rounds, having 3 in total and they aren’t small! Dinner is coming to a close when they see you’re kind of stuffed and you’re served some grilled pineapple. This was good. If only they’d cut all the black bits out.
On a side note I noticed the groupon voucher mentioned banana fritters. I asked the staff, and I expected a little resistance, them saying perhaps, it wasn’t on the menu tonight or similar, but they immediately said they’d check with the kitchen in a few seconds later, confirmed it would be ready in 5 – 10 minutes. Lovely responsive service. I believe the mother was in the kitchen making this, and it was quite nice to be able to see from the doorway the actual fresh bananas being taken from atop the fridge, hearing the chopping and mixing of the batter… They were really good, with a breadcrumb type batter compared to the normal pancake type. The bananas were a bit firm, but to be honest I like them like this.
Dessert was a brazillian puddim. Which is a little like an egg custard tart and crème brûlée. It was a delicious rich end to a meal that left us stuffed and certainly a few kgs heavier.
In all, it was a lovely evening out with homely brazillian food. The place I’m told had only been open for a year and I was surprised it wasn’t busier to be honest. Food of this quality just deserves more attention. I’d certainly be back even at full price. One place they could start is with menus in English on their website. I was told that was being worked on too.
If you’re around Stamford Hill with an appetite. I now have a place I can wholeheartedly recommend.