Brazilian Café & Bistro — Restaurant in Upper Harbour

"Caramelo" is a Brazilian film tugging at the heartstrings. The story follows Caramelo, a caramel coloured stray dog, who shakes up the life of a young chef.

Part of the movie is about a young dynamic chef who works in a 5 Star Restaurant. He wants to put his mum's famous coxinha (ko-shee-nyuh) on the menu, but coxinha is a popular Brazilian street food and apparently has no place on this elite menu.

Throughout the movie they spoke of, prepared, ate, and sold coxinha. I was intrigued by it. It has a dough made from mashed potato, a little flour, a splash of the broth that will go inside, wrapped around various shredded meat, or vegetables. It reminded me so much of a samosa, that I absolutely had to try it.

There are several Brazilian restaurants and cafés in Auckland and with almost 8,000 expats, there is a sizeable Brazilian community. Every Brazilian restaurant sold coxinha, so I was spoiled for choice. I am so glad I found this Brazilian Café & Bistro because they have Award Winning coxinha. How lucky am I?

This pear shaped salgadinhos (salty snack) is just like a samosa, and nothing like a samosa. Because the dough is made from mashed potato and rolled in bread crumbs before frying, it has a hard and crispy outer shell, with a soft and fluffy inner layer. That initial crunch is so satisfying. At the heart is a flavourful and moist filling, accompanied by different sauces (one cream cheese based, one tomato based, and one "special" sauce). The soft dough pocket made with the same broth used to cook the filling, enhances the flavour and compliments the hearty filling.

Just like samosa is to India, coxinha forms the cultural heartbeat of Brazilian snacks and is feasted on during different festivals and celebrations. It can be made smaller as a snack, or bigger as a meal.

While at the café I decided to try their tri-coloured coffee. Brazil is known for the best coffee in the world, and this did not disappoint. At the bottom is condensed milk, then a layer of strong black coffee, then a layer of caramel, topped off with whipped cream. Despite the condensed milk, it makes for a strong, bitter, smooth blend. So good! I also tried some Brazilian truffle. At first I was disappointed by the size, but they are delicate and delicious flavour bombs.

The staff were just incredible. Patricia and the gent at the pay point were so patient in explaining how things are made and what to expect. They absolutely bent over backwards to make my first experience or exposure to Brazilian food a memorable one.

I am so glad I watched this beautiful emotional movie (highly recommend) and experienced this delicious coxinha (highly recommend) and other Brazilian treats (highly recommend) at Brazilian Café & Bistro...

Was really excited to come here and try Brazilian food given the good reviews but ended up really disappointed and feeling scammed. I ordered the feijoada and for $32, the portion size was tiny. There was one little piece of rib in the soup and a few pieces of sausage, other than that, three half slices of orange, a little bit of salad and some pork crackling that was too tough to eat.

I was looking forward to the award winning coxinha and ordered both types to try but both arrived cold and the filling was so dry that it needed to be slathered in sauce. My partner got a sandwich and said it was just ok, nothing special. The whole meal ended up costing $76, which was way too much given the size and quality of the food and after trying Brazilian food here, my partner thinks he doesn’t like it.

The service was also not the friendliest. We sat down and weren’t served so I thought we had to order at the counter but the owner(?) seemed annoyed and told me to sit back down and wait till we were served. It was also extremely busy with people at the tennis centre that day and it just wasn’t a relaxing or nice environment to be in. Definitely will not...

Had no idea this restraunt existed until Ila Brazilian colleague told me and suggested the Coxihna. I had no clue what he was talking about, so I had to go. Top rated in auckland, and I felt like I had to try a few things.

Fries 7.4/10 They weren't burnt. They looked like it, but they're weren't. Nice size fries, steak cut.

Coxinha de frango 9.7/10 1st time having this. The owner said it was shaped by hand, and it looked like an egg. Filling was chicken and cheese, I was suggested to have cream cheese on the side and turned out to be a really decent starter. Just wish it was a bit bigger.

Vatapa de norte 8.4/10 The salad was OK, and I had extra pepper. The yellow curry like dish was made from oil from a special palm tree and had a unique flavor. There was a decent amount of prawns in it, and it was very enjoyable.

Brazilian truffles 7.7/10 Nice little sweets. Preferred the chocolate over the white one, but they were both good.

Brazilian lady came out to me and explained how the business has been open for 11 years and is still going strong, even giving me extra rice for the dish. Very friendly service and overall love the place....