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| - There is a sense of magic about flipping over a small card and making meat appear. A sense of glee at summoning eager people armed with meat-laden swords and big knives, ready to carve hunks of fleshy goodness onto your plate. So Brasa starts with a star just for the awesomeness of concept, even if that concept isn't original.
The meal starts with a trip around the highly competent salad bar, a place one should approach warily - filling up on salad is a real danger. The salad bar also includes curried chicken, mahi in a coconut sauce, and a decent seafood selection. It is obviously the compromise offer for non-meat eaters - you know, like the hamburger that's on the menu of every Chinese restaurant - and it's a good, if spendy, option for the person dragged along to a group meal. But don't try to convince your flesh-avoiding boyfriend that this makes Brasa a good date destination.
After the salad bar, the magic card is flipped and the meat begins to arrive. The first couple slices you receive might seem skimpy, but there is a reason for that: with about 13 varieties of sword-borne meat coming your way, it won't take long for you to fill up. Once you've had the smaller tastes of the offerings, you become picky, dismissing seconds of less-favored items in favor of better offerings.
The flavor of the meats varies considerably. Brasa handles beef particularly well, pork not nearly so. The sirloin, parmesan-crusted tenderloin, and prime rib are all excellent. The Brazilian pork sausage is also very good. On the night we were there, the pork tenderloin was bland, and the pork ribs tough and dry. The bacon-wrapped turkey was dry, and the bacon used for both it and the bacon-wrapped fillet was flabby and overly salty. The leg of lamb was excellent, and the lamp chops tasty if a bit too well done.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is toned-down elegance, but the dining room tends to be noisy. The food is good, but I have to wonder where there is anything "Brazilian" about the menu other than the serving technique and the fried bananas. There is plenty to eat that's tasty and fresh, though, and it's a nice treat.
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