Lost in Rio Restaurant & Cocktail Bar — Restaurant in Plymouth

One of our favourite restaurants but feel the move to the new premises was a mistake! We were a group of 9 with x3 teens. The new premises is split over 2 floors. We arrived early and asked if there was somewhere to wait and the staff member went away and never returned. So we waited in the doorway for 15 mins- the previous place had a seating area or we could have been told no and we would have moved onto somewhere else. Eventually seated upstairs and it was so packed and hot! There was no Brazilian vibe as before just a flowery hot crammed chaotic room. Servers couldn’t fit pass the tables. Chairs slide across the floor so as soon as you sit down you have to keep yourself steady! It took 25 mins for someone to take our drink order another 20 for those drinks to arrive and 3 of them didnt. We were never offered any more drinks but kept having to call a frazzled server over. We all went for the rodigizo and at £40 per person our expectations were high. Unlike before where you could help yourself to buffet salad and sides with plenty of sauce selection you order sides from the menu. We received eventually some sides but none of the sides we ordered only what the chef had and that was 3 dishes of mushrooms some stew a bowl of rice (for 9 people) and 2 portions of chips. We kept asking for the sides we asked for and kept watching those sides be delivered past us to others. My friend and I desperately wanted a green salad to balance the protein and we asked 3 servers and finally told there was no salad left. We then watched plates of food go past us with salad on them! Eventually the chef sent out a bowl of salad and everyone dove in and it was full of chilli flakes as our kids hates it. We did get some chips but an hour after we had started. We were never offered any sauces. The meat was delicious but they wanted to clear before we were offered the final meat and when we asked for it it did come but that was after half the plates had been cleared. Empty cans and glasses were never removed, water never refilled. The bill was over £450 but it should have been half of that considering we had half of what we ordered! Some servers were friendly others were clearly getting annoyed that we kept asking to be served! The womens toilets are tiny and felt dirty and smelled. If you are drying your hands you are blocking the whole entrance and the toilet roll was on the floor! There was a DJ playing but it was so loud that im thankful we were upstairs! Nerve wracking that those carving the meats have to navigate steep stairs with a 12ish inch knife. Lost in Rio your previous premises was perfectly fine - large, spacious and unique. Was always exciting being in your own partially enclosed area. Also my daughter is allergic to pineapple and asked for banana fritter instead at the end. She was told ok by 2 servers and again it never came! 3 hours we were there and she waited until everyone was pretty much done and gone to be told they had none! Really disappointing and for our family of 4 we spent £250 which is more than we have ever spent in Plymouth especially as I had one fizzy orange juice (i was given the can and had to ask for a glass). My daughters both drank one glass of orange juice. My husband had 3 beers. None of us got the sides we wanted apart from chips and one never got the final course! Shambles. Awarded 2 stars because the meats were absolutely delicious and one server made us laugh. But in all honesty we...

What has happened? When this place first opened I was amazed. It was my favourite restaurant the service was amazing the food was amazing. I have been around 8 or 9 times. Each time I have been since the 4th time, it has gradually gotten worse. Kept hoping it was a one off and went back to give it another chance. Unfortunately it never went back to how good it was when it first opened. Things have been removed one by one from the buffet menu and the meat quality has declined. My last time visiting was last Thursday evening (10th) and I will never return. The dishes on the buffet weren’t refilled we had to keep mentioning the empty bowls. No staff members were ever visible at the bar so kept waiting ages to mention this. Took Over 30 mins for the first meat to come out (only got 1hr 45 mins before you’re kicked out so of course wasn’t happy about this) First meat was hard dry rubbery chicken (usually the chicken is my favourite and it’s tender). The buffet had no cous cous, no pasta, no bread at all and instead of the balsamic chopped salad dish, which is usually amazing, it was a bowl of red salsa type sauce instead? Why have the nice dishes been removed from the buffet? The pasta salad was only ever there the first 3 times I visited and then never came back again. It was so nice. The flavours were amazing. Gutted it didn’t come back. The whole time we were there on Thursday we didn’t get offered a drinks refill. When a staff member periodically appeared at the bar we had to quickly go over and ask for drinks ourselves. The meat took so long to come out each time that we didn’t get to try all of it like we usually do. The meat that did come out was either way over done or under done. The first couple times I visited, the meat was the best I have ever tasted. It wasn’t even busy on Thursday there were 3 occupied tables including ours!!! No excuse for the waitress woman to never be seen and no excuse for such slow service. I have been on very busy nights before and never had this issue before. It’s like the waitress could not be bothered being there and kept going out back! What has happened to the cap of rump by the way? The first few times visiting this was the most recommended meat by the servers and the thick fat was cooked to perfection. Ever since then, it has been thin and chewy. Has the quality of meat declined, or are the new staff not able to cook it properly?! To top it all off on Thursday night, we requested the roasted pineapple before the meats had finished because we just wanted to leave by that point and felt sick from the awful meat. We were given 1 little slice each, it was cold and had no cinnamon on it!! Why?? What has happened to this place?! No idea where the waitress woman kept going we couldn’t see her to complain. She Reappeared as we were leaving so she could take payment. Didn’t bother complain to her because I don’t think she would have cared, she didn’t look like she wanted the job there, and we were just so disappointed. I loved this place. Never going back. I suppose the people who have only visited recently have nothing to compare it to if they didn’t visit when it was first opened. that’s a huge shame. Bring back the amazing servers from...

TL;DR: -Fast and Excellent Service -Flavorful and Delicious Food (Even the buffet bar) -Reasonable Price (~£30 with drinks).

I first noticed this place by driving past in my car. As I have never experienced an Brazilian steak house before, I decided to go and have lunch there on the 5th of March.

The lunch hours were rather quiet, however someone greeted me as I walked through the glass doors and I was shown to a table, where he explained how the process works. You flip a card to indicate that you're ready for the meats and there is a buffet like table where your can have your selection of cold meats, stews, snacks and side dishes. The service was excellent and fast, and the managers are quick to pick up on when people needed service and sent wait staff to serve tables.

The food was incredible, even the ones at the buffet table. Every dish was packed full of flavour, spices and herbs, one favourite of mine was the garlic mushrooms. I was genuinely surprised at the quality and flavour of the food that was at the buffet bar, which I initially considered to a side-show. When the waiter finally arrived at the table with the main event: large, dripping cuts of meat, I gave every meat dish on the lunch menu a try. The highlight for me is the gammon/pork, which tasted of honey, and roasted to perfection, closely followed by the chicken thighs, Brazilian sausages, lamb and the rump steak selections. Although most of the meat was delicious, the beef dishes does fall behind the others, and can be slightly tough and not as tender as the other meats. I ended my meal with slices of roasted pineapple, slightly seared at where it's natural sugars caramelised into what would be a healthy alternative to conventional desserts.

It was an all round great experience, and I would highly recommend this establishment, but it can set you back around £30 per person if you get a few drinks along with the meal. If you can deal with the thirst though, £20 is a absolute steal for the amount of meat and food the you can...