About once every six months, we get an overwhelming craving to eat red meat. Heartfelt but half-hearted vegetarianism gets slung out the window, the steak knives are sharpened and we head to the jewel in the crown of Tokyo's churrasco eateries-Barbacoa in Omotesando.
Once inside, we found we weren't alone in our carnivorous desires. The newly redecorated dining area was jam-packed, and judging by the number of Brazilians, Barbacoa was on to a good thing. The stylish dark-wood interior was filled with families, work outings, and love-love couples-everyone from scantily clad clubbers to polo neck, double-knit characters.
The menu arrived and the choice we faced was a simple one. The churrasco set (¥3,300) included 18 cuts of beef plus roasted herb chicken, chicken hearts, pao de queijo (cheese bread), and unlimited access to the formidable salad bar. The free drink set (¥5,200) included all the above and all-you-can-drink house wines, beers and the Brazil specialty, caipirinha, as well as desert and coffee. Even vegetarians are tolerated at Barbacoa with a salad bar-only option (¥2,700).
No need to hold back, we thought, so went for the free drink set, spotting prices on the wine list that were pretty criminal for Californian fare (anywhere from ¥2,800 for standard cabernet sauvignon to ¥43,000 for an Opus One Napa Valley '97). With things set up to get pretty drastic, we plunged into the salad bar. Optimistically, we piled our plates with artichokes, banana fritters, feijoada bean and pork stew, roasted peppers, Japanese dishes of shiitake mushrooms and grilled fish, and every vegetable known to man plus a couple we weren't too sure about.
Back at the table, the waiters, known as passador, darted around the restaurant, slicing grilled meats off skewers tableside. The house specialties are the tender Picanha rump roast, peppered sirloin, and the Cupim shoulder cut, which is imported direct from Brazil and tastes perfect with lime. There's even a succulent grilled pineapple. The passador brought us anything we wanted and kept an amused eye on whether our glasses were filled.