#85 – FEIJOADA at FAVELA GRILL

Once again Time Out New York released their Top 100 Dishes of the year and once again, I’m going to eat my way through every one. And no price point or subway delay will stop me. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100.

Is the National Dish of Brazil only eaten on Saturdays? Every restaurant I’ve ever seen it available at only has it on their menu on Saturdays. Before I came to Favela (which is located conveniently down the street from my apartment), I had previously eaten at Malagueta and the now closed Sabor Tropical – two Brazilian restaurants in Astoria and both advertised the feijoada on Saturdays only. And after doing some googling, most other Brazilian restaurants follow the same schedule.

I imagine the dish is very labor intensive, but why Saturdays? I would think you’d want to do all that work earlier in the week. But maybe it’s because the weekend is the best time to stuff yourself silly. And this dish will do just that.

Feijoada is a stew of black beans and as much salty meat as you can possibly fit in a pot. And it’s traditionally served with lots of rice, chopped collard greens, toasted farofa (cassava) flour, and sliced oranges. At least that’s what it says on Wikipedia. And since Favela served it exactly as described, they’ve either done their internet research or they’re truly an authentic Brazilian restaurant.

There was no doubt when we entered and were graciously seated in the romantic neighborhood spot (there’s even live music on the weekends) that the latter was true. And I quickly gave up trying to pronounce some of the dishes. My Spanish is pretty good, but my Portuguese is atrocious. Feijoada is pronounced with the “j” sound, by the way.

In addition to the feijoada, we also ordered the Entranha Grelhada, which is grilled skirt steak topped with a tangy chimichurri sauce. It was really tender and flavorful, but more meat on the table proved unnecessary.

The big black stew was served in a big black cauldron. They don’t win any awards for colorful presentations (although the side dishes of greens and oranges made up for that). With each spoonful of stew, it was hard to tell what was what. There was lots of salty (and sometimes cured) meat. I picked out a rib, some sliced beef, sausage, a few pieces of pork sinew, and lots and lots of black beans. The dish was slightly one note (that’s the point, I assume) with all the flavors coming together. It was quite salty, but also rich, buttery, and garlicky. The rice was a perfect foil, but I wasn’t quite sure what I should do with the rest of the accompaniments. I really liked the fried greens – they were crispy and earthy. And I dusted some of the cassava flour (which had been studded with bacon) on top of the stew. It gave it a nice texture and added some more meaty saltiness. I assumed the oranges were to be eaten separately as a palate cleanser or refresher.

I enjoyed getting a taste of Brazil’s national dish. I see why you could only eat (or prepare) this once a week. It was overly filling and in some ways it felt like an overload of smoky, salty meat. But what’s wrong with that once a week?

Would Favela Grill’s Feijoada make my Top 100 of the year? I’m sure it’s a great version of this dish and I liked the experience, yet I can only give it a 7 out of 10 since it was so incredibly rich and black bean-y.