Viva Brazil in the centre of Liverpool has gained a reputation for being one of the best steakhouses in the city. We visited the restaurant when it first opened a few years ago, we always intended to return so when a weekend break was planned for the city, Viva Brazil seemed the perfect restaurant to dine in.
On an early Sunday evening in Liverpool, the atmosphere inside Viva Brazil was warm and welcoming – unlike the unseasonal wet July weather outside.
How it works and cost
The concept of the restaurant is one where you are offered a range of different meat cuts, which are carved at your table by one of the servers – named Passadors.
If you decide on the full rodizio you will be offered an unlimited supply of ten meat cuts if you go at lunchtime, or 14 cuts if you go in the evening. All the cuts are cooked on an authentic Brazilian BBQ and carved at your table. The price for lunch Monday to Friday is £19.95 or £24.95 on weekends. Dinner is £34.95 every day after 4pm.
The price includes as many trips as you wish to the salad bar with a selection of hot and cold Brazilian dishes. Cheese balls and fries are delivered to your table, but I would advise not to fill up on these (tempting as they may be) – concentrate instead on the succulent cuts of meat.
For the meat selection, simply turn over the coaster on your table to the green side. Then when the Passador passes your table, he knows that you would like to try whatever meat he is carving and they will carve as much meat as you wish. If you need a break from eating, then you just turn your coaster over to the red side. They tend to cook the steak dishes medium rare as this is the Brazilian way, but they can also accommodate by preference.
My experience
The smoked gammon had a crisp outside and was succulent and extremely moreish, the sirloin steak was well marbled with a beefy flavour, and the garlic and chilli it was seasoned with gave a subtle spice taste. I particularly enjoyed the Brazilian Sausages which had a hint of leek to give them a delicious taste.
A bonus is the magician who, if in residence, entertains guests at their table with card tricks – sadly he will not make your bill disappear!
If you do have room for desserts, then you might enjoy the cheesecake de frutas – papaya cheesecake with a layer of passionfruit coulis – tangy and tasty with a good firm base.
A rare occurrence is when a restaurant gets everything right from the cleaning of the tables properly, to service, quality and attentive staff – Viva Brazil passes on all accounts and is somewhere we would return to next time we are in Liverpool.
