Nelore Brazilian Steak House — Restaurant in West Suffolk

I would rate this 3.5 stars. I've been to Brazilian BBQ (Churrasco) joints in the USA in a number of cities a number of times (Washington, D.C., Austin TX, LA CA, SLC UT, Las Vegas NV, etc.) This was my first spot outside of USA to attend one of these Churrasco. We ate here as a group of four (two couples) on a Saturday night mid-Jan2025. We had reservations and were sat quickly even as the place seemed to be busy and many tables were taken. We were offered a couple of different spots for our 4 and took a place farther from the entry and somewhat in a corner. Our placement in a corner did seem to play-a-part in the delivery of the meats over the course of our experience (more on that later in review). Managers and staff were very attentive and came by our table a few times throughout the evening to ask how things were (e.g. they appear invested in customer experience which is a plus). My wife and my friend's wife ordered drinks and both appeared to enjoy the drinks with solid flavor and strength. The buffet portion was OK yet limited in my view for the price. The array of vegetables (especially exotic and fermented), cured meats, salads, etc. were setup nicely (but again... very limited per my perspective). With it being a Saturday night and many people there, the staff maintained amounts of buffet food pretty well. Flavors of the buffet tended to be relatively bland (seemingly catering to the British population... rightfully so to stay in business in England, yet disruptively-and-disappointingly-so in my tastes and perspective). The mushroom sauce was the best thing I had from the buffet which was lovely with creamy texture and many-many mushrooms. I did eat quite a few things from the buffet and got two heaping plates even as I attempted to save-my-room for the meats brought to the table. My wife, who does not usually eat copious amount, got nearly a full plate of buffet and ate most everything which is a testament to the quality of the buffet food. She is usually very picky and she really went-to-town on the buffet food, which I was very happy for her. The spits-over-fire, primary reason to come to a place like this, had offerings of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and pineapple. Given we were in a corner, it seemed the attendants who brought out the spits of meat-and-such would either run out of meat on their spit (it was a Saturday night with many people in the place), or miss us completely over the first 10-15 minutes after we turned our wheel on the table to green (signifying we were ready for meat). We had chicken brought to our table quickly, yet the next maybe 5-7 times we saw an attendant begin to make rounds with a spit we ended up being skipped or missed-out. I finally said something to a worker and that was when the meat began to more regularly come. Variety of meats was special and a positive for this place. There were maybe 6-7 cuts of beef, chicken thighs and wings, one-cut of lamb, pork rib, ham, and pork sausage. I love good beef with or without spices. The best tasting thing in my perspective was the chipotle pork sausage. The next best was the top sirloin. After those two, my next favorite was the chicken thighs. I would have hoped to say the top were all beef, and yet as much as I love beef... the taste of the various beef-options provided left me wanting. I stuffed myself til-food-baby protrusion. I'm not sure I will go back unless my wife says she particularly wants to return. One-star off for the need to hail attendants to have the meat brought to our table and the average-array at the buffet-per-price point. Another half-star off for muted tasty-ness of the food. Positive marks for attentiveness of staff other than the spit-guys,...

I have tried several Brazilian Churrascerias in other countries and truly love everything about the concept, you eat unlimited great steaks and salads/sides, and you have the choice to pause or just keep going with the steaks!

Nelore was great, not exceptional but I will come back with lessons learned. See below:

With all due respect & honesty, their pan de queijo (cheese bread) unfortunately sucked. It was as hard as a rock, and was flavorless. To describe it, here’s something to imagine: when I attempted to make it at home & failed because I didn’t follow a recipe, it’s what theirs tasted like. Maybe I just cannot help but compare it to the others I have tasted. I would rate it a 1/5. For some people, pan de queijo is a reflection of the restaurant — like a dealbreaker; that you would know if it is a good Brazilian restaurant if they can serve great basic pan de queijo. But of course, not me, I kept going because I was there for the steaks/churrasco.

Sides: on the picture you will see that I literally tried all the sides because it was our first time. What stood out to me was their mushroom sauce/cream (not sure what it is called) but it was SO GOOD. 5/5

The Brazilian bean dish with herbs and cassava flour (I think it is called Farofa) — not a fan of it & will not eat it again when we go back. There was another dish with cassava flour and bacon (on the picture) & I was also not a fan of it. Just my opinion: 2/5

Creamy Cheesy Polenta with pulled/flossed meat (I think it was beef) - this was extremely addicting! 5/5 SO DELICIOUS!

Their basic salad — good, especially the broccoli/broccolini!

Tomato-Onion Vinaigrette (like pico de gallo), also delicious & tasted fresh!

Deli meats like prosciutto & salami — I would maybe skip this one next time just because they were way too salty for my taste. I also MAYBE got an old leftover batch that was very hard to chew. (I personally think prosciutto should be softer than what I had).

Cheesy Cauliflower - delicious & mild; 4/5

Cheese — I was sad that there was only one kind of cheese; Brazilian steakhouses I have tried before always had a variety of about 5-7 cheeses.

GRILLED GARLIC BREAD - I have never had this kind before! It was soooo delicious and addictive!!! I regret not eating 10 more when I was there (I only had 3 because the steaks went first & I was already full haha). 5/5!!!

Price/Value for Money: I will say this is more on the expensive side. More expensive than the great ones I have tried in other countries (not Brazil, take note). But I will definitely come back because why? Their steaks are delicious!!!! 😋 just a suggestion: you should maybe really offer the grilled pineapple in between rounds of steaks (instead of just at the end of the whole meal) as a form of palette cleanser because it is so good!!! I will come back here for special occasions like my birthday, or our Anniversary Dinner! Or Christmas if we are feeling lazy to cook at home! All in all, the steaks were 5/5.

Customer Service: I have nothing to complain about, our server was very kind & cheerful, and he checked on our table quite often with a smile on his face! I am sorry I forgot his name but he was wearing...

A group of 4 of us went for the buffet, I have a medical condition that limits my meal intake to approx 125-150g per portion (in perspective that’s about 1/3 of a normal 1 person ready meal from a supermarket) I explained this to the waiter - I foolishly left my medical card at home and kindly asked if I could opt for the children’s portion/pricing. The very quickly declined like she didn’t believe me, I was made to feel like I was taking the biscuit or being a cheapskate. I just said I won’t eat anything and ordered a cocktail instead. I couldn’t justify £42.50 for how little I could eat. In the end I just ate a few mouthfuls from my husbands, they done themselves out of £15 because I was more than happy to pay the kids portion. I tried 1 bite of each meat that came round with approx 4-5 chips and was full. I must admit the food was delicious, the staff came round very quickly with the skewers, they’re very generous with the meat. I just hated the comments from each server ‘oh you not eating’ couldn’t be bothered to explain the situation to everyone who came by. I understand that it’s hard with buffets because there are people that will try to abuse them but I was willing to pay a price reflected on what I could eat but as I was declined that. I did however accept and pay the £16 service fee. I don’t know if they offer desserts, wasn’t offered one or a dessert menu. On the fence if I’ll come back...