It's Mother's Day and Pampa is open (they are usually closed on Sunday afternoons) for this special day! The boys made a reservation on Open Table and I'm glad that they did. This place is packed (190 people seating capacity)! All kitchen gauchos, and front of the house staff were extremely attentive, pleasant and helpful. The owners made a smart move to hire enough staff for the afternoon. Presentation and attention to detail at the salad bar was amazing. Unlike Gaucho's, the salad bar is strategically placed in the centre of the dining area to facilitate large groups. There were also special drinks offered for the occasion; the spiced pineapple(pineapple juice with cinnamon and cloves) really hit the spot!
Salad bar items: beef carpaccio(seasoned perfectly and very tender), assorted lettuces, six different dressings and vinaigrettes, marinated mushrooms, grilled pineapple(sweet and and capicollo, sugar snap peas, roasted beets, hearts of palm salad, pickles, salt cod tortillas, Brazilian stuffed crepes(the beef filling was okay; I found the crepe a bit too thick), focaccia, sockeye salmon scrambled eggs.
On to the rodizio:
Beef top sirloin (Alcatra): deliciously tender and done just the way I like it (medium rare). It was clearly one of my favourites (and my son's).
Parmesan pork loin (Lombo de Porco Marinado): seasoned perfectly though a bit tough on some spots.
Pork belly(Leitao a Pururuca): this was absolutely to die for! The meat was juicy and tender with the crisp crackling on top. Nom, nom... Another favourite.
Pampa sausage (Linguica de Porco): juicy and flavourful.
Bacon wrapped chicken thighs(Sobrecoxa de Frango com Bacom): chicken thighs were tender and juicy (kudos to the bacon wrapping). It was a bit on the salty side.
I finished off my awesome Mother's Day lunch with a fresh papaya and French vanilla ice cream topped at table side with Creme de Cassis liqueur.
We will definitely come back for more!