This Valentine’s weekend, my boyfriend and I did the traditional gifts, flowers, dinner scene – however, we don’t plan ahead a lot of the time when it comes to picking where to eat on date nights. Combine that with a last minute reservation scramble, on one of the busiest weekends of the year, I realized that while most of the classic “romantic” dinner spots were booked (Italian, French…), nobody seemed to be in a hurry to get to places serving more ethnic cuisines. Enter, Yemanja Brasil.
To start out, I apologize for the quality of these photos; taken with my phone!
We went on Saturday night right after Valentine’s Day, but they were still fairly busy. Oftentimes in the city it’s fun to see what the restaurant used to be before it got turned into a restaurant. Usually, the answer is that it used to be a tiny little house.
The set up is cozy and intimate, but brightly decorated and fun. If you’re looking for an intensely romantic/quiet setting it might not be the place to go, but we were in the mood to try something new and interesting so it was perfect for us!
We started with drinks and shrimp empanadas. SO. GOOD.
The drinks are on the higher end ($7-12) but man oh man do you get your money’s worth in terms of flavor and strength.
This was the beer N chose; very dark, but surprisingly smooth. We looked, but it doesn’t look like it’s available for purchase anywhere near us besides the restaurant. Guess we’ll have to go back!
That’s my passion fruit martini in the foreground. Refreshing and not sickly sweet.
We learned later that we could’ve gotten a mix of all the empanada flavors to try, if you go, definitely do this!
For the mains, my unattractively photographed but insanely well flavored…
Espetinhos Gaucho – described as “charbroiled, sirloin beef kabobs with onions, tomatoes, and poblano peppers topped with a white wine, mushroom, and onion sauce; served with rice”
SO GOOD. Beef tasted like it was marinated in a chimi churri sauce and I almost can’t believe I’m saying this, but the mushrooms, you guys. I could’ve just eaten a plate of those mushrooms.
My date’s meal, the traditional:
Feijoada de Ogum – “Brazil’s National Dish: black beans stewed with brazilian dried beef, smoked sausage and smoked pork ribs; served with rice, farofa, collard greens & orange slices”
Kind of like a black bean soup with a bunch of fall-apart meat slow cooked inside; the waitress told us to take a spoon of stew, mix with rice and greens, and squeeze the orange slices over it – amazing.
Go if you’re hungry; the portions are extremely generous and the drinks are incredible. Prices range from $7-12 for appetizers, $15-25 for mains. The menu is very gluten friendly, and there are also chicken and vegetarian options if you’re that way inclined. Check out their website for more information, and go! Definitely will be coming back with friends on a Friday night.
The Bohemian Louisan 