Assador — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

With my GF have just been there. Because of Someone feed Phill or sth like that on Netflix. I thought it had to be good. That was the first impression for me when watching Netflix material. Ok, so we are in Assador for the first time. We are asked where we want to sit. Outside. OK. Look at the weather, what about possible rain? It won't rain. 2 minutes later we're moved because it's raining. Good feeling about service. We're moved under the roof, cool. Close to service point, lets call it. And now 'fun' starts;] we did not get any menu from the restaurant, just explanation that we eat what we want and drinks are excluded from the price. Ok. Cool, but what's the price in first place? We did not get any menu for food;) We only got menu for wine and drinks. Nice. Let's tell the story about wine selection. We selected some buttle of wine. When server approached us.. he offered wine two times more expensive;)

But when we were committed to choice he admitted - this one is OK as well. Nice guy, no words about it. ;)

Ok, lets get back to main story - food and service.

So now, after moving first time. We sit under the roof. Next to big table of 10/12 people..its getting only worse. People from service are running around us and ignoring us becase of big table next to us. Ok. Lets ask them to move us somewhere quiet.. in between i got my first piece of meat.. i cut it with some effort. I put it into mouth.. and confused what to do with it.. i could not eat it, i tried to chew it.. I gave up. I value my teeth more than this piece of.. meat lets assume. Normal thing is in such places that if you pay some money for person you can eat all you can etc, exclusive drinks, right?

So, the buffet for vegetables was both, limited and somehow felt as rationed by some rather not very vital ladies who were everywhere but not close to us so we could get some vegetables. And when they were.. well I felt like the food is rationed to us.. not nice feeling at all.

I wont be fair if I would say bad word about guys with meat, cutting and serving to your plate. They were really ok and doing their job. But that would be all about good things there.

Meat, ok, there was some different types/parts of meat. First I received was.. chicken.. I was a bit shocked but I tried it. And.. funny story... it was best piece of meat for some time. All the next coming parts of meat were dry, with no taste, I had to be committed to chew it carefully and cut in small pieces. The best taste of all was only with a piece of fat, the rest just dry.

Service in general - was not there. Even when paying for the food it took them quite long to get to us. Go to Churrascaria Palace in Copacabana. I really...

Assador is in the location of the old Porcão Rio, a real enchanted spot along Guanabara Bay with a priceless view of Pão De Açúcar and the sailboats.

Unlike its predecessor, the restaurant does not have a buffet, which is typical for high-end churrascarias. The buffet is where you usually find beautifully presented salads, vegetables, fruits, cheeses, breads, etc., to enjoy along with the meat served at the table. The buffets are usually beautiful and full of extravagant delicacies to savor. It's also essential to offer balance to all the meat.

At Assador, they bring 'salad dishes' to the table as part of the rodizio. This sounded fine when explained by the waiter. However, in execution, it was a real disappointment. An unattractive cart with unappealing bowls of 'salads' arrived twice. Nothing offered was appealing. That is subjective, but no one at our table wanted anything from these carts except the heart of palm, which was good.

The serving cart for the non-meats offered was molded plastic, intended to be used in a kitchen, something other than what you would typically see taken into a dining room to serve. No worries if those carts served beautiful, appealing foods, but they didn't. The menu mentioned many vegetable items (e.g., grilled asparagus). We asked about them, and the waiter told us they would appear and be served, but they never did.

Overall, the service was just OK. Many typical meat cuts never made it to our table, and several we enjoyed never would have arrived if we hadn't requested them. I left having eaten 90% meat, and my stomach felt quite heavy.

My meat was delicious, and the orange juice was fresh and excellent. The non-meat portion of the meal was a great disappointment compared to the beautiful buffets provided elsewhere. I'm sure it makes sense economically for the owners, but unfortunately, I won't be back due to not having a buffet.

The price was about the same as other churrascarias nearby (Fogo de Chão, Churrascaria Palace, Marius, etc.), but the others have the same quality meat AND a beautiful buffet. Fogo de Chão has a comparable view. I'm happy I gave the restaurant a test run today before bringing some expected guests visiting Rio. I'll take...

Dined at this beautifully situated Brazilian steakhouse overlooking the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain and Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. We arrived around 6:30pm, so we didn't get prime waterfront seating—we were seated behind a landscaped garden section on the patio that partially obstructed our view. Even so, the backdrop of Sugarloaf Mountain was still visible and made for a spectacular setting as evening fell.

The service at Assador Rio follows the traditional Brazilian steakhouse style where servers bring large skewers of meat to your table and slice it directly onto your plate. However, there's no green/red card system like you might find at American Brazilian steakhouses. The picanha was excellent, and my 10-year-old boys surprisingly loved the bottom sirloin the most.

The traditional Brazilian cheese bread (pão de queijo) was so delicious we kept requesting more. They also serve an excellent chimichurri sauce that pairs wonderfully with the various cuts of meat.

One challenge was navigating the language barrier. My Portuguese is non-existent, which made the wine menu difficult to decipher, so I ended up sticking with water. This same barrier created a bit of a scare with dessert—we ordered a chocolate dessert that unexpectedly contained cashews, and one of my sons has a nut allergy. Thankfully his brother tasted it first and warned him, but communicating our concerns to the staff proved challenging.

Despite these small hurdles, the quality of the meat, the stunning Sugarloaf Mountain view, and the overall atmosphere made for a memorable dining experience in Rio. Just remember to brush up on some basic Portuguese food terms before...