Fazenda Rodizio Bar & Grill Edinburgh — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

We were recommended Fazenda a while ago by a Brazilian guy. We just never got around to doing it which we now regret greatly.

We ordered the full Churrasco experience in the evening which also included unlimited sides and access to the market table.

The Market table has a variety of salads, sides and dips including a fascinating spiced cauliflower, a very smooth guacamole and hummus. They also do some cured meats such as serrano ham and tiny salamis. One side of the table also holds an impressive cheese collection that we would have loved to try but our stomachs were too full in the end - and cheese is something you should only eat at the end of a meal.

For the unlimited sides we got the Boniato (sweet potato and feta cheese) and the Batata Frita (truffle and parmesan fries). The fries were lovely but since you can get them at multiple locations nowadays we would not get them again. The Boniato was heavenly smooth and creamy with a slight crispyness on top. It was like a little flavour explosion in the mouth and we will definitely have it again, potentially even two portions.

The full Churrasco experience comes with a round sign on the table that you can flip between red and green. If it is green the gentlemen in the red shirts will come and offer you the meat they carry. They always let you know what it is and you can say no if you want. When we had it on red and the fillet was brought out they came over anyway to ask if we wanted some and of course we did. One of our signs went missing halfway through but one sign was enough either way.

Our somewhat surprising favourite was the rump steak. But we tried everything they gave us, including the chicken hearts. We did however miss out on the chicken thighs. Since you can ask for specific cuts we could have requested it but in the end decided against doing so. Whilst we enjoyed everything, the lamb and the pork collar with honey were our least favourite option. Originally we wanted to decline the pigs and blankets as we thought they were too simple but they were incredibly juicy and flavourful and the best pigs and blankets we ever had.

As a dessert cut they brought out roasted pineapple with cinnamon and it was so delicious we got seconds (and thirds) even though our stomachs were on the verge of exploding. It is safe to say that we did not require breakfast the next morning.

We also tried one of their cocktails, a spin on a Piña Colada. Whilst it was nice, the portion was tiny and overpriced so we will not go for cocktails again in the future.

Since it is overall rather expensive we will keep it as a rare treat. But we can’t wait to return and munch for an entire...

Check the pictures at the end! Useful information below! This has to be said despite being at odds with most people's reviews of five stars and praise. I'll explain the deducted two stars after mentioning the good points. A well presented and laid out restaurant in a very good location. Meat selection for lunch was excellent and based on a menu. This menu included an option (chicken hearts) that in reality wasn't served at all. So although it was explained to us that these options were all available at the start (the tall waiter "maybe spanish guy" probably didn't know), they weren't. Meat servers were absolutely amazing especially the very attentive, nice, caring and knowledgeable Ghaianese Spanish guy and the always smiley bigger guy serving meat.

The two stars missing are due to: The buffet food options, they included rice stuffed vine leaves which tasted acidic and preservatives and had mashed solid rice inside. These are 2 clear signs of being from long life preserved cans, why bother opening a kitchen and a restaurant when your dish is from a can! Did anyone actually taste this before serving it?

And then there was the Tabbouleh salad. If you look anywhere, ask anyone from its country of origin or even do a simple google search or image search, you'll find it is always mainly green in colour and defined as: "Tabbouleh is a Levantine vegetarian salad made mostly of finely chopped parsley". The one served under tabbouleh in Fazenda was a chickpea and bulgar wheat. Bulgar wheat might be the only thing in common. On asking 2 separate waiters about the vine leaves and tabbouleh, 2 of them didn't know at all what stuffed vine leaves are and 2 didn't know what I meant when I asked about the tabbouleh salad they serve. When I pointed at the salad bar, the tall Spanish guy said he's only been working here 2 months and promised to go and check what the "vine leaves stuffed with rice" are before coming back to tell me where they came from (he never did). How could you not know what you're selling!!? AND what kind of management is this where their staff don't know what they're serving? It only takes 10 minutes to explain all these dishes. Check the images below of the presumably tabbouleh and what an actual...

Firstly, when you walk into the restaurant you are welcomed by a spacious, perfectly designed interior. I don’t think it’s that huge of a place but the design and layout makes it seem very large. I arrived earlier than my reservation by 20 minutes but was still seated immediately which was great. To start, I visited the cold plates which is a self serve counter. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it all, it honestly would be worth just going for that and some sides! But no, we are here for the meat. Before the meat began pouring in, I got some sides. I had the sweet potato and feta side, the empanadas, and the cheese bites. Definitely had no complaints about any of them, but I have to say the sweet potato dish was the best side dish I have ever tried. PERIOD. As I said, I’m here for the meat, so had to save some space, if you know what I mean. The meat started coming and they kept serving until I couldn’t take another bite. I would have loved to take pictures of the meat, but it was just too good to even think about that. The best meats overall were the picanha and the top/bottom sirloin (can’t remember which one). They were all definitely still 5/5, but if you are in a Brazilian restaurant, you already know they will make the best picanha. The waiters were very nice and kept asking if we’d like anything more. These are the two most important things for a good experience at a restaurant, excellent service, and more importantly, excellent food, where both were delivered. After the final bite, the dessert stomach had to be activated because a meal like this just isn’t complete without dessert. Fortunately, at this point I had the patients to take photos of the dessert. I went with the waiters recommendations which were great. The Brazilian mixed sweets were not out of this world, but I have to say the churros were unlike anything I have ever tried before. Filled with a very unique filling and paired with an excellent sauce which matches it like a jigsaw. I would definitely recommend to go here even just to try the churros! If this review isn’t clear enough, I will...