If You Only Eat One Fine Dining Meal in Brazil, Mine Is Oro!🍴

If you had to pick just one fine dining experience in Brazil, my answer is definitely Oro! Run by the young couple—chef Felipe Bronze and sommelier Cecilia Aldaz—this restaurant already feels heartfelt just from the "couple team" setup. Officially, it's described as "Brazilian vanguard cuisine, cooked over fire"—after trying it, I can confirm that "fire-cooking" is truly its soul. The smoky aroma is perfectly balanced, and it cleverly blends Japanese and Korean elements while innovating traditional Brazilian flavors, making every bite feel fresh. Even more pleasantly, the service is top-notch—their English is the most fluent I've encountered in Brazil, and communicating was smooth the whole time. It's such a relief not to have to gesture wildly to guess the menu🤣! There are two tasting menus to choose from: "criatividade" (creative, R$690/around US$140) and "afetividade" (affective, R$590/around US$120). The main difference is the number of main courses—the latter has two fewer. For this price to get a Michelin two-star level experience, the value for money is unbeatable. Just go for the creative one without hesitation. ✨Snacks There are 11 snacks in total, each like a little surprise. Let me talk about a few that left an impression: 🦪 Oyster and “jaboticaba”: Plump oysters with the saltiness of the sea, paired with jaboticaba sorbet— the sorbet's sweet and tangy freshness instantly balances the oyster's richness. The contrast between the two ingredients is so magical that you'll remember it with one bite; 🍹 Scallops and “caju amigos”: "Caju amigos" is originally a cocktail made with cachaca and cashew juice, but here they "dismantle and recombine" the ingredients—the tenderness of scallops, the aroma of cashews, and the slight intoxication of the wine blend together, like sipping a concrete cocktail; 🦀️ Casquinha de siri: This is a classic Brazilian snack, originally made by frying or roasting crab meat mixed with coconut milk. Oro adds finger limes to it, which completely refreshes it—the tanginess of finger limes is like a breeze, blowing away the heaviness of coconut milk, so refreshing you'll want to lick the shell. ✨Main courses Every main course puts thought into "texture balance": 🦐 Shrimp, pistachio and leek: The shrimp is grilled to be firm yet bouncy, and you can feel the texture of the shrimp meat when you bite into it; the freshness of leeks acts as a buffer, followed by the slightly gritty, sandy texture of pistachio puree—three textures layer upon layer, creating a rich contrast in the mouth; 🐟 Fish and corn: The sea bass is cooked to perfection! The skin has a slight grilled crispness, while the inside is tender enough to bounce; the grilled corn next to it has a smoky aroma, and the mushroom and corn broth is sweet and delicate, balancing the smokiness and freshness perfectly; 🥘 Mini rice, heart of palm and kimchi: It's kimchi fried rice mixed with heart of palm, which is a clever "localized innovation", but unfortunately the kimchi is too salty, overshadowing the sweetness of the heart of palm—small regret; 🥩 Beef, nuts and bone marrow: The slow-cooked beef is so tender you can cut it with a fork, and the juice oozes when you bite into it; the cashew puree and bone marrow sauce are thick enough to coat the spoon, each bite full of rich fat aroma, and the diced celery is crisp and fresh, just right to cut the greasiness. 🥥Dessert The three desserts all play with "ingredient transformation", focusing on ice cream but with twists. I chose the Coconut one: coconut-flavored crisps and ice cream are laid on a chiffon cake—the crispness of the crisps, the creaminess of the ice cream, and the softness of the cake wrap together, then drizzled with coconut sugar and dotted with tangy coconut jelly—it's sweet yet restrained, making dopamine surge and happiness overflow! After the meal, they also gave a box of brigadeiros (traditional Brazilian chocolate truffles), made with chocolate, condensed milk, and butter. They're chewy, coated with cocoa powder, and each bite feels like wrapping Brazil's sweetness into a small cube. 📍Address: Av. Gen. San Martin, 889 - Leblon, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22441-015 #Brazil #RioFood #BrazilTravel #SouthAmericaTravel #DailyFood #FoodOnTheTrip #MyFoodDiary #MichelinRestaurantVisit