Aprazível — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

TL;DR—views: almost all are largely obstructed, food: below average, service: openly hostile.

From the reviews we had read we were hoping for great views, good food (but not necessarily spectacular), and at least tolerable service. We came up short on all three. I’ve never felt compelled to leave a review before, but I had such an awful experience that I couldn’t avoid it.

The Views: The main draw for us to Aprazivel was the views. However, this was one of the biggest letdowns. We made a reservation for early (by Brazil standards) evening. I think there were two other couples in the entire restaurant while we were there. Despite being completely empty we were given excuses as to why we could only sit at a table with a mostly obstructed view. We were told that the area my wife liked the view from the most was “not available” for seating for another hour. As a consolation prize they said we could take a photo from the area, but then would have to sit somewhere else. When we asked about the next best seating area, we were told that only larger groups than ours could use those tables (despite the restaurant being completely empty). The view from the table we were seated at was almost completely blocked by a roof, and was crawling with ants and spiders.

The Food: The food was ok, but not great. There are so many excellent dining choices in Rio, including Michelin reviewed restaurants, that are the same price point or cheaper. Not the worst food I’d have, but mostly a waste of time/money.

The Service: I tend to roll my eyes that complain about service. I generally have a pretty low bar of what I consider acceptable service, which I lower even further in a country like Brazil. However, the service we received was bordering on openly hostile. My wife and I placed our order with the waiter (who did not repeat back our order to confirm). When he brought our food out one of the dishes was not what we had ordered. I politely brought this up to which he responded “Well, that’s not what I heard”. He then said “I can take it back if you want, but it’s going to take a really long time”. I said if it wasn’t too much trouble we really would like to have the food that we ordered. For the rest of the night we got the complete silent treatment. After nearly an hour, other waiters noticed that he was intentionally ignoring us and stepped in to fill drinks, take our dessert orders, etc. Later, I told one of these waiters I was ready to pay. He relayed the message to the original waiter who looked over at us, and then proceeded to look at his phone for 15-20 minutes. Eventually, he brought the card reader to our table, swiped our card, and then left without saying a word. We had just spent R$400 and didn’t even get a half-hearted “goodnight” or “thanks”. As we walked towards the exit, he very obviously pointed towards us while audibly complaining about us to the other waiters. My recommendation: take in the breathtaking views from Santa Teresa (the view from the street in front of the restaurant is even better than the best tables in the restaurant!) and then go eat literally anywhere else...

After so many people recommended Aprazivel, we were really looking forward to it. However, the restaurant failed to live up to expectations on every front:

Service was painfully slow and very unfriendly. It took over 10 minutes for anyone to even acknowledge us after we sat down and another 20 minutes for drinks to arrive. The starters arrived about 40 minutes after we first sat down, and it took 20 minutes for the mains to arrive after the starters were cleared. Dessert was equally slow. At no point did anyone offer for us to see the wine list or ask if we needed anything. If we wanted more water, we had to flag someone down and ask for it.

We had to ask for the bill three times. When I caught the manager’s attention to see if he would do something, he looked in our direction and acknowledged me but then took another five minutes to come over. When he asked if everything was ok, I told him I had asked for the bill three times and was still waiting. He didn’t apologise or offer to do anything about it. He simply turned and walked away.

The waiter couldn’t answer even the most basic questions about what was in the dishes, so we were left guessing as to what to order. It wasn’t simply a matter of an English language barrier. He didn’t know when I asked him in my basic Portuguese either.

The portions were small, and the food was nothing special. We had much better food in four other restaurants for dinner in Rio, and value for money was much better everywhere else that we ate.

The views were good but only available from a few tables! The odds are definitely against anyone getting one of those. Definitely shouldn't be the reason for going there.

Getting a taxi to leave was a nightmare. The restaurant is in Santa Teresa, which is not a safe area in Rio. Our guides and our hotel concierge all told us that we should only use local taxis (not Uber) to go to and from the restaurant because there is only one safe route in and out at night. Uber drivers follow GPS rather than the safe route, and we were told in no uncertain terms that we shouldn’t use Uber for the trip. Our concierge said the restaurant would be able to arrange a taxi for our departure. However, when we asked the restaurant to call a taxi, they said they couldn’t get through to anyone and that we should just order an Uber. When we told them we were not comfortable taking Uber, they said it wasn’t their problem, they weren’t a taxi company and that we needed to figure things out for ourselves. Whilst I completely understand that they are not a taxi company, if you are going to operate a restaurant in a dangerous part of town then you cannot simply wash your hands of your guests when they’ve paid the bill and are ready to go. And you certainly shouldn’t be rude and dismissive to them.

So, all in all it was a very disappointing and unpleasant experience. I wouldn’t go back for the food, and I certainly wouldn’t go back for the service. Terrible in all respects.

SHAME ON THEM FOR SERIOUSLY ENDANGERING THE LIVES OF...

When reading reviews on Tereze and Aprqzivel, I prioritised booking Tereze. Both restaurants are situated in the Santa Teresa area of rio de janeiro.

I will review Tereze separately although having visited that restaurant first.

Today, we were being a tourist in the Centro area and decided to go visit Parque Ruines. We were getting hungry and decided to go to Aprazivel and see if they had any availability. We were lucky and they managed to give us a table.

So the service was fine nothing exceptional. The restuarant was busy. The vibe is completely different from Tereze.

We ordered the bread basket which was good and came with a shellfish dip which went well with the pizza bread.

We then ordered as a starter the Aprazivel salad which was described as mix leaf salad, charred aubergine and zucchini together with parmesean cheese and tomatoes.

The salad was a huge disappointment with 2 slices of charred aubergine, one slice of zucchini and 3 tomatoes and 3 thin slices of parmesan cheese. The salad was tasteless with no dressing. Avoid this dish. Certainly, the dish shown on the website is completely different when served. The website shows the dish served on a plate and looks appetising. The salad they gave us was in a bowl and the leaves were wilted.

For mains we ordered the tropical fish coconut and cashew nut rice, roasted plantain and orange sauce. The orange sauce was there, I think but there was not enough. This dish was ok.

We ordered the carioca rice which was tasted ok and was a generous portion. However, both dishes I felt were plated in a rush and maybe because the restaurant was busy. Both our main dishes could have had a little more effort put in with the presentation.

Finally, we ordered the Aprazivel chocolate cake which was nice but my husband thought it was a bit too sweet.

Our bill came to £100.00 same as Tereze. However, if you have a choice choose Tereze.

I am surprised that so many people recomme d Aprazivel. It was ok nothing special, the view is nice and I am sure at night time, the view can be lovely.

My husband a few hours after coming back from Aprazivel, threw up and I am not sure whether it was anything to do with the shrimp rice he had...