Regular guest quester Gary had been on at me to pay Tropeiro a visit, since his recent trip there. Today proved to be the perfect opportunity to satisfy this request, as I had a little time in between meetings in the west.
Interior
For those uninitiated in the ways of churrascaria (which included me within that number, until now), this is the popular Brazilian delicacy of skewer-cooked meats served straight from the grill. Tropeiro accompanies this with a range of “salad bar” selections. I suppose you could call it a sort of all-you-can-eat barbecue. I was in the mood for a meat feast, today, so it served my purposes nicely.
At lunchtime, you pay £9.95 and are rewarded with unfettered access to the “salad bar” and unlimited meaty offerings across a range of five different meats. Evening service costs a little more, but broadens the meat selection to ten different cuts.
Sausages, vegetable stew etc. etc.
There are few concepts that generally sadden me more than the “salad bar”. I associate it with chain pizzas restaurants, sad offerings made to appease criticism of not offering a “healthy option” and featuring a lot of items of questionable nutritional content. Tropeiro’s range was a considerable upgrade on that. Aside from fresh, crisp salad items, there was an excellent range of veg, a quite spectacular vegetable stew, and nice rice and potato accompaniments.
The star of the show was the meat, though. Today’s selections were pork rib, herby sausages, gammon, beef, and chicken thighs. The beef was overdone to my tastes, so a little tough and dry, but the others were succulent, tasty slabs of goodness.
Skewered ribs
The approach is “small and often” as the chef tours round the restaurant cutting slices for you from the skewer. It’s simple, cheaper cuts of flavour-packed meat, well-cooked and freshly served. You have a little “green – for keep it coming”, red for “we’re on a break” sign system, to guide the chef as he makes his stately progress. It’s an idea that works quite nicely.
I could easily have gone mad and eaten my own body weight in meat, but I focused on sampling a small amount from a broad range, both from the meat selections and the salad bar. I was full by the end, by I didn’t feel that I’d been horrendously gluttonous (although the list of what I ate, below, would perhaps suggest otherwise!)
Beef, potatoes, veg
Overall, I was well impressed with Tropeiro. This was a new dining experience for me, and one I’ll happily repeat in the future. Indeed, a restaurant has just opened on Morrison Street in Edinburgh, which is very much in this style, so I look forward to visiting there, soon. If you find yourself in need of substantial sustenance in the Glasgow city centre, I’d happily recommend that you pay Tropeiro a visit.
Scores
Blythe scores Tropeiro
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 14/20
Today’s quester was: Blythe
I ate: Brazilian fried rice, vegetable stew, spicy roast potato, cous cous salad, green beans, chick pea salad, marinated potato, red cabbage and beetroot salad, broccoli, pork rib, chicken thigh, roast gammon, herb sausages, roast beef.
I drank: sparkly water, espresso
I wore: blue, black and grey www.tieclub.co.uk tie
Total bill: £14.50
