Carne & Caipirinha - Brazilian Grilled Meats Buffet in the Heartlands [Media Tasting]

Post Comment

Carne & Caipirinha is a welcome change from the 'same' CBD and dining options in town. It is located in the heartlands of the west, under a HDB block nonetheless, but offers the serenity and ambience with its largely alfresco setting. 
This is different from other buffets. Here, what is really unique is that the waiters will bring the charcoal-grilled skewers of meat piping hot from the kitchen right to your seat, and carve it onto your plate. It is pretty fun and definitely ups the visual appeal to your meal experience. Apparently, this serving style is known as rodizio and popular in Brazil. Churrascaria refers to a restaurant serving free-flow grilled meats. That makes two interesting facts, especially for meat-lovers.

 You also get to control your meal pace with a two-sided red-green round disc. It is simple: flip it to red if you don't want more meat, and green to signal that you welcome more.
Red = Stop
Green = MORE PLEASE.
To start off the meal, we were served these warm cheese bread (Pao de Queijo). These were little round pieces with a slightly crisp crusty outside, but chewy-like-mochi cheese inside. Very very addictive. Don't stop yourself from having more than one. We couldn't.
Pao de Queijo
As for drinks, they offer a range from sangria to their signature Caipirinha cocktail. Depending on your choice, the drink may come at an additional cost to the buffet.
Caipirinha
The buffet includes a free-flow salad bar that has a good variety of salads, rice, and some cooked dishes like the Brazilian Feijoada (black bean stew with pork trimmings). I tried the black bean stew, and took a piece of the pork trimming. A bite of it and...I think it's better if you take the meat in the stew, if you really want to try the stew, instead.
Brazilian Feijoada, Chicken Salpicao.
Finally onto the grilled items. 
Meat List: They have (get ready) pork sausage, pork belly, pork rib, pork ham, lamb leg, chicken thigh, chicken fillet, chicken heart, beef rump, beef hump, beef rib, fish (escolar) and grilled pineapple.
The Passador (Chef-cum-meat server) in action.
Pork Sausage, Chicken Fillet Wrapped in Bacon.
Our first items of pork sausage and chicken fillet wrapped in bacon were pretty good, just a little bit salty. It did have that smoky flavour from the grill.
Chicken Thigh
The Chicken Thigh was one of my favourite meats. It was tender and not dry with enough flavour.
Pork Belly
The Pork Belly is similar to our chinese roasted meat. A pity the skin was not crispy. Perhaps it's meant to be this way, but I would prefer a crispy skin like our Chinese roast pork. The meat itself was good. 
Beef Rump
Between the beef rump, and the beef hump which is apparently a rare cut to eat, a good majority preferred the juicier beef hump. For me, both cuts were dry, so I guess you must get the beef hump part with fats so that it isn't as dry. The lamb cut was decent.  
Fish (Escolar)
The grilled fish, would have been among my preferred items, if not for the fact that it was slightly too salty and had this sour-ish aftertaste that I didn't quite appreciate. I liked the firm texture of the fish. However, we were told we shouldn't have more than 4 or 5 pieces of the fish because its fats cannot be digested. In other words, if we did, we would spend our next day in the toilet.
Chicken Heart
It might sound exotic and off-putting. This was ironically, my favourite for the night, though I only had one piece because the idea of it just stopped me from having another one. The chicken heart, was well-seasoned, grilled and had this supple, bouncy texture to it. If you didn't tell me, I would not be so chicken and would have more.

Pork Ribs - a good-to-have too!
They also served a juicy grilled pineapple, which is a must.

As it is a buffet, you can simply just have as much of what you like. The must-haves are in bold above in the 'meat list'.    

The "FireBomb"
This dish has been making waves on Instagram, and really, who won't be fascinated by carbonara pasta cooked in a live fire in a Parmesan-Reggiano cheese wheel? 


We had both versions, one with the alcohol tinge(cooked with the fire showcase), and one without. We preferred the one without. Do not expect the carbonara to be very italian-style though. This comes at an additional $10, but since it's a buffet, just get one serving to share and for the experience of seeing the 'firebomb'.

It may get a little bit warm for those who can't take SG's heat that well, so make sure to pick the spot with a fan. Overall, the food is acceptable, my main pick being the beef being too dry. However, the other meats are alright, if not above average and the dining experience is different. Carne is a good option to consider for a change in cuisine. 

 For the best value, you should catch the Happy Hour, from 5.30-7pm Mondays to Saturdays ($39,90 for adults, $18 for children and free for children < 5 years). As long as you are seated before 7pm, you get to enjoy the price, which is $10 lesser per pax, (yes you don't have to leave by 7pm) and stay as long as you desire.   

 Last fun fact: The chef is a true-blue Brazilian cowboy with 37 years of churrascaria experience. 

Carne & Caipirinha
106 Sunset Way
Clementi St 12 
#01-50
S120106
Open Mon-Sat 5.30pm-11pm; Sun & PH 5-11pm
No last order timing (but you may risk lesser variety if you come too late)
Website: www.carne-caipirinha.sg

 Many thanks to Openrice for the media invite!
 A copy of the review is also published here. http://herpenandfork.blogspot.sg/2016/03/carne-caipirinha-brazilian-grilled.html 

Tags:

Share:

0 comments