Sud, o pássaro verde — Restaurant in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

One of the most disappointing dining experiences we’ve had in the city. Our excitement was high due to the large number of good reviews elsewhere, including in the Michelin guide, but we should have read the other review here and realised that the restaurant does not live up to the expectations. It is a very expensive restaurant for what it offers: tiny, well-presented pseudo-creative dishes that lack taste.

Sud lacks atmosphere. It is divided between two rooms, the first one which is all white and serves more as a corridor to the second room at the back. Next to the wood oven and the kitchen, this second room is nicer, but it only has space for four 2-person tables. We were given a table at the first room, which was too close to the adjacent table and had a 10-people birthday celebration, all of which took the ambience away. The toilet is also an issue. Located in a third room next to the kitchen, it is small, poorly lit and does not have air conditioning. At 9:30pm it was inexplicably being cleaned and I had to wait until the cleaning was done to get in.

The service throughout the meal was also poor. Despite a long and varied wine list, the waiter had absolutely no knowledge of the wines offered. All he could tell us was that most diners order Brazilian or Portuguese wine and that we should choose one of those too. Throughout the meal, the waiter was inattentive. He sometimes did not refill our glasses as needed and other times served when the glass was already relatively full. Our plates were not changed following our appetizers, which left them dirty with the black, inedible charcoal of the mushrooms (more on this below). As if it was not enough, our entrées arrived at different times and the tiny portion of filet mignon was left in the middle of the small table with just one meat knife as if there was any possibility of sharing it.

These issues would not be a big concern if the restaurant did not pretend its food was great – it was not. We had the salami from Nova Friburgo which was nice and spicy, but the mushrooms, as other reviews attest, were very bad. Not only did the charcoal on top of them ruined the dish, but the stems were chewy and overall lacked balance with the top part of the mushroom, which was soft and tasty. For mains, we had the filet mignon and the shrimp risotto. The rice was nice and well portioned, but not exceptional and was served very simply. However, the filet must have been the smallest piece of mignon I have ever seen in a restaurant, and it was not even a great steak. The point was fine, but the tenderness was not. For desert we had the fig tart, which was just ok. The cream that comes with it was, again, minuscule, and was not enough to cover the slice of tart, which says a lot given the tart was not that big either.

We paid USD 100 each, which is a lot for international standards, let alone in Rio. We don’t...

Chef Roberta Sudbrack, a former Latin America's Best Female Chef award winner is always mentioned as one of the top chefs in Rio and her restaurant is considered among the best in the city. They don’t take reservations so I decided to try my luck by showing up at opening on a Wednesday.

The is no signage so I actually walked past it before realizing my error. Inside is a cozy little restaurant and the staff is very welcoming. There are menus in English which is useful for reading the descriptions of each dish. There was so much that piqued my interest and I wanted to try but alas I was dining alone this time and had no one to share with so I had to limit my choices.

I really wanted to try the homemade bread with the homemade butter but I thought it might be too much so I settled on the “Organic cauliflower cooked in a clay oven” with tahini hummus, a Sud's classic. 5/5 The cauliflower was perfectly charred and the hummus was good.

Another hard decision was trying to decide on what main course I wanted. There was the brisket, filet, pork tenderloin, Angus ribs, and slow roasted duck all seemed like good choices but I ended up going with the “Slowly roasted lamb in our clay oven” with roasted potatoes, carrots and organic leaves. 5/5 The first couple of bites it didn’t have a strong lamb taste to it, but then there it was very subtle along with all of the seasoning used. I’m not a fan of greens but they were OK along with the roasted potatoes and carrots which were so well done.

So finally the last difficult decision of the night was dessert. There were so many great sounding desserts that you knew dessert wasn’t some afterthought. But I am a chocoholic at heart so when a dish is named ad described like this on a menu I have no choice but to order it. “Wet chocolate cake, the legend! | Chef's Sudbrack signature | sour cream and hot chocolate sauce | This one doesn't even need to be explained, it's legend!”

I know why this is legendary I’m still thinking about it all this time later. It has to be one of the top 3 pieces of chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. The cake was great but then you have a hot chocolate sauce to add on top and it is life changing!?! I don’t want to sound hyperbolic but a 10/5.

This was an higher priced meal, but the food, quality, experience, and service make it worth it. Plus a meal as good as this would cost double back home.

I would love to come back sometime for another visit so I can try more. I would even come back just...

One of my FAVORITE meals in Rio and also in my entire visit to Brazil! This place is 100% worth your stop and your attention. While sitting at the table, I told my company, “My favorite places are ones like this, regardless of simplicity or luxury. You can feel the love and the passion that is put into the food you’re eating, the ambiance and service you’re receiving. And that is the most beautiful thing.”

All of our appetizers and meals tried were delicious. I think out of our meals, the chicken (pictured below) was my favorite. You have perfectly cooked chicken with a crispy, flavorful outside, accompanied by roasted vegetables and creamy burrata, that’s just barely melted into your food. My least favorite was the bolinho de chuva to be honest, but I think part of that is a preconceived notion on my part. I’ve had “mom’s” home cooked bolinho de chuva and that’s hard to beat. The difference of it being corn was not my favorite. It seemed to make it a bit too dry, even accompanied by the doce de leite. Regardless, food was spot on delicious and I would return again and again to try other dishes here.

Thank you for a beautiful meal and experience here. We appreciated every moment of it.

#sudopassaroverde #frango #burrata #bolinhodechuva #caipirinha...