Brazilian

Again, I'm breaking my brief overview of places I've had into types.

Ipanema Grill - Pretty good both times. Nice decor, nice atmosphere. Good food and not too pricey ($15-$25 range). Adams Morgan.

Update 9/22/09 - I visited here again with several friends/coworkers. I ordered the Picanha Grelhada, which is basically a slice of grilled beef accompanied by a powdery dip and a vinaigrette sauce dipping sauce (adhesive?). The powder was "grounded yuca roasted with garlic and butter". I ordered the meat medium rare. I received the meat in a far more raw state. I was hungry so I just ate it that way. It wasn't a bad slice of meat, but I don't enjoy meat this undercooked. The only other person to order beef also found theirs to be undercooked: they had ordered medium and gotten at most medium rare. Anyway, the dipping sauce & powder were okay, but nothing worth having again. The vinaigrette portion of the dip was better as the powder was rather bland. The black beans accompanying the dish were ordinary, which is actually kind of poor considering how fond I am of black beans. Small and watery. Astoundingly, the collard greens accompanying my dish were relatively good. Usually I do not find collard greens palatable, but these were fresh, mild, and not at all overcooked. I had a Xingu dark beer with my dinner (bottle) and it was a rather good dark beer with a deep roasty flavor.

The other guy in my party me ordered the Medalhao de File, which is a medallion of beef tenderloin rolled in bacon with a wine mushroom sauce. He said it was quite good, which matches my memory of the dish. Three of the women in our party had salads. One chicken and one two shrimp I believe. The salads were quite large and they said that they were quite good, although one openly stated that she wished the components were much more chopped up and mixed. For instance, the avocado was just a chunk hidden at the bottom. One of the women had a chicken dish that involved garlic. I believe it was the Frango a Copacabana because I don't recall her having any collard greens. She said the chicken was quite good.

I was disappointed, but if you consider everyone's experience, the food was still good. The restaurant was quite empty for a Saturday evening, even at 8pm.

Update July 2010 - I went back here again and as my text message update below indicates, I tasted another good dish. I actually ordered the Medalhao de File for myself, which is a medallion of beef tenderloin rolled in bacon with a wine mushroom sauce. The Medalho de File was absolutely devine and better than I remembered. It is one of my favorite D.C. dishes. My date's Bobo de Camaro, which I ate a good amount of, was good as well. It is hard to compare to the Medalho de File, but the Bobo id a solid option if you're feeling like a seafood soup-like curry dish. Again, the drinks were good, but nothing to come back for on their own.

Update via text message: Bobo de camaro @ Ipanea Grill, good, like yellow curry, shrimp, quite large, drink batida de coco - solid, not spectular

Fogo de Chao - Pretty good churrascaria steakhouse with a good salad bar. Pricey, but all you can eat. Not as good as the Chicago location in terms of the salad bar, but it is pretty hard to knock a festival of fire roasted meats brought tableside until you're ready to burst. Oh, if only they had beautiful female Brazilian servers instead of all men. I guess supermodeling pays better. Pretty impressive decor and atmosphere. Downtown. (11th & Pennsylvania NW)