Samba Kitchen

I have recently visited a Brazilian restaurant in Amsterdam called "Samba Kitchen", in de Pijp area, with some colleagues. Because I could leave work earlier, I went with an Indonesian colleague for a walk in de Pijp. During Thursdays evenings, most shops in Amsterdam are open until later (koopavond). We visited then a toko, which is a shop especialized in Indonesian food and kitchen articles. I bought bags of cassava chips and kroepoek. I wanted to buy much more things but I was planning also to visit shop Duikelman, which unfortunately was already closed at that time. I still have to pay a visit to it on a Saturday (oops I hope my husband does not read this post). Duikelman is paradise on Earth for those who search top quality kitchen utensils, gadgets and accessoires. I would like, for example, to buy these kitchen towels with insects print as you see on the right side of the photo below.

But back to Samba Kitchen. The rest of my colleagues were already there when we arrived.

Time to start with some caipirinhas !

Samba Kitchen is a churrascaria type of restaurant especialized in the system of rodizio. For a fixed price (less than 30 euros, drinks and desserts not included) you can serve yourself from the cold buffet of salads and a warm buffet with warm regional dishes such as feijoada (black beans stew), cod stew, fish Bahian style (with coconut milk), "tutu a mineira" and others. My colleagues were fascinated and started to ask me the name of things and ingredients. They wanted to have a little of everything - or almost. I served myself with tomatoes, heart of palm and cod. You can always distinguish who is Brazilian and who is not in these kind of restaurants. The buffet is tempting for foreigners and they put much on their plates. I prefer to reserve some space for the grilled meat.

The red meat cuts, sausages, chicken and pork were being served at our table. The grand finale is picanha. I had it with a good serve of black beans. Zalig ! This is maybe one of the favourite meat cuts by Brazilian people and my husband is a huge fan of it (his friend Edwin also, right Edwin?).

There was a singer playing old and new Brazilian hits.

And my colleagues had also reserved some room in their bellies for the desserts: rice pudding, caramel pudding, and ice creams such as passion-fruit, acai and mango.

(Yes, this blog girl is on the photo !)

Althought Samba Kitchen is a tiny place and you can never compare it to the Brazilian sophisticated steak house temples devoted to rodizio and the opulence of buffets, I had a great time and ate very well. When in Amsterdam I do recommend you to visit this place. When in Brazil never ever miss the experience of going to one fancy churrascaria. You can't miss them, they are present in every city. In Rio I suggest Porcao, Esplanada Grill, Plataforma (it is also a show house and a souvenir shop) or Rio Brasa. They are the most sumptuous. In Sao Paulo I have heard Jardineira Grill, but because the city is a strong gastronomical center there are zillions of excellent others.

We left the place laughing and thinking about a next visit. My Indonesian colleague, by the way, is going there again with relatives this Thursday.