Pau Brazil

Ah, Brazil. Home of samba, caipirinha, carnivals and… steak. Big, fat, juicy steaks. Steaks that gleam with juices, that cut open to reveal soft pink inside, that melt in the mouth. Steaks that have been rubbed with garlic, rubbed with chilli, rubbed with salt. Steaks that have been flame-grilled, barbequed, flash-fried. Steaks that make you wonder how anybody could be vegetarian.

If meat is your thing, Pau Brasil will be your new favourite restaurant. Just two minutes out past the Northern Quarter’s main hub, this gem of a restaurant is a temple dedicated to the carnivore in you. Beautifully designed with touches of deep red and wood, the restaurant is founded on a simple premise – all-you-can-eat-meat for £22.50. You take a plate to the central buffet, gather a sprinkling of salad and new potatoes, sit down at your table and turn your placemat to display the green side. A crew of waiters wander through the restaurant carrying rump steak, beef ribs, beef skirt, chicken breasts with pancetta, chicken wings, sausages or pork tenderloin, all still sizzling from the grill. When they see your mat has been turned to green, they come over and carve you out a piece of whatever they’re carrying. When you’ve got enough meat, you turn your mat to red. When you’ve eaten through your portion, you turn your mat back to green. They top you back up and you turn your mat to red. You eat through your next portion and turn your mat back to green…

In the wrong hands, this idea could be a nightmare, with waiters trying to offload wizened chunks of tepid meat onto unsuspecting customers. But Pau Brasil knows exactly what it is doing. The meat arrives at your table still sizzling from the grill, bursting with flavour and almost fresh enough to hop onto your plate itself. The salad bar shows equal care, with a mixture of greens and side dishes that provide plenty of opportunities to refresh your palate, and the bar does a fine line in cocktails alongside the more usual wine and beers on offer. There is even a live music night once a month where you can down caipirinhas to the sounds of Bossa Nova and Forro.

All in all, we love Pau Brasil. We love the food, we love the service, we love the prices. We heartily recommend that you give it a go – though you might want to leave your vegetarian friends at home.