Boteco comes to Bengaluru with its Brazilian churrasqueira, bar snacks and cocktails

Experience the cuisine of Brazil at this new spot
Boteco comes to Bengaluru with its Brazilian churrasqueira, bar snacks and cocktails

Any guide to São Paulo will tell you that botecos or informal bars are an important part of the Brazilian experience. Found on practically every street in Brazil, these bars can range from no-frills spots with cheap alcohol to chic establishments with live music, depending on the area where they’re located. Brazilian origin Chef Guto Souza now brings the concept to Bengaluru after successfully launching an outlet each in Pune and Mumbai in 2016 and 2017. Located on Magrath Road, the restaurant, which is also named Boteco, is hard to miss thanks to its colourful facade, which captures the vibrancy that is associated with the South American country. 

The exterior wall has a large glass mosaic mural depicting elements synonymous with Brazil, such as a bossa nova player, a toucan and the Brazilian flag. On the inside, in addition to more snippets from the culture of the country, there are arches inspired by the Arcos da Lapa and mosaic floors that take cues from the sidewalks of Copacabana. 

It was a bright sunny day when we dropped by for a visit and we couldn’t help but start with the Caipirinha, the quintessential Brazilian drink made with cachaça (sugarcane liquor), sugar, and lime. It was well balanced and proved to be a balm for our overheated systems. Chef Guto then brought out a selection of Tira Gosto or bar snacks. Cassava is integral to the cuisine and we were eager to sample the Pão de Oueito (Brazilian cheese bread), which is made with cassava flour and cheese. Crisp and golden on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside, this was delicious and the perfect accompaniment to the cocktail. Camarão Copacabana is an ode to Chef Guto’s first few days in India. “I saw someone making puris and it reminded me of one of my favourite Brazilian dishes. I was excited to see that there was something similar here and I ended up eating so many puris. This is a tribute to that memory,” he  explained. The dish was essentially fluffed up mini puris with a filling of prawns tossed in butter garlic and wine, roasted tomatoes, pineapple chutney, aioli and dill — a burst of contrasting flavours.

The churrasqueira (traditional charcoal grill) is one of the mainstays of Brazilian cuisine so we couldn’t leave without sampling some grilled meat. The Mix Grill Meat comes with an extensive assortment of sides, such as chimichurri, pineapple salsa, mashed sweet potato, cassava chips, farofa (toasted cassava flour) and green chilli sauce. The platter comprises pork sausages made in-house, bacon wrapped pork, beef tenderloin and chicken. The meat was all perfectly cooked, especially the tenderloin, which was melt-in-the-mouth decadent. The mix grill was followed with desserts or Sombremesas. We were presented with Doce De Leite Com Churros (Brazilian version of the Mexican churros) and Quindim, a baked custard with fresh coconut. While the churros were perfect, the latter won us over for its novelty and combination of panna cotta-like custard and freshly grated coconut. 

In addition to the colours and spirit of celebration aside, Boteco offers a well-rounded culinary picture of Brazil by highlighting its lesser known dishes and also celebrating the classics.

Rs.1,800++ for two. At Magrath Road

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