Samba Brazilian Grill (website)
240 W. Gilman St.
3 Adjectives: showy, friendly, bountiful.
Price:
veg (15) meat (33)
Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: yelp, centralmadisonliving, wisconsinstatejournal, thedailypageforum...
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Now you might be wondering: why has Jahboh not stumbled upon such a place earlier in her adventures? Having previously been to a churrascaria in Florida and not having the best of experiences, I was quite wary of the Brazilian steakhouse that opened up in Madison. The past trip to Miami generated a bill of over $200, with fickle waiters who tried to guilt us into spending more and forcing obscenely large quantities of meat on our plates. Therefore, I had somewhat low expectations when I stepped into Samba with my friend two Sundays ago. Thankfully, Madisonians are wonderful and these folks know how to do churrascaria honestly; my trip this time was a fabulous laid-back experience.
Samba Grill, for those of you who do not know much about it, is a prix fixe churrascaria, which is essentially an all-you-can-eat meat fest. Although they do offer a salad bar only vegetarian option, my opinion is that it is not worth the price. Admittedly eating piece after piece of everything from fillet mignon to chorizo is not exactly healthy, but a trip once in awhile shouldn't hurt too much.
The interior of Samba is dim, elegant, and busy - even on a Sunday - which is very promising for the buisness. The restaurant is hard to spot when you are walking on State because of the large building - a church, I think? - on Gilman that blocks its way. However, once you arrive there, the interior is surprisingly chic and modern. Samba shares the building with its sister restaurant the Cabana Room (downstairs), which features normal dining. The emphasis of the design inside the restaurant is big and bountiful. The inside is spacious and has an upper balcony for more diners. There is also a stage with musicians playing slow jazzy music (click for music schedule). The salad bar itself features a giant vase with a cournacopia of flowers erupting from it, a typical centerpiece for a churrascaria (left).
3 Adjectives: showy, friendly, bountiful.
Price:
veg (15) meat (33)Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Other Opinions: yelp, centralmadisonliving, wisconsinstatejournal, thedailypageforum...
---
Now you might be wondering: why has Jahboh not stumbled upon such a place earlier in her adventures? Having previously been to a churrascaria in Florida and not having the best of experiences, I was quite wary of the Brazilian steakhouse that opened up in Madison. The past trip to Miami generated a bill of over $200, with fickle waiters who tried to guilt us into spending more and forcing obscenely large quantities of meat on our plates. Therefore, I had somewhat low expectations when I stepped into Samba with my friend two Sundays ago. Thankfully, Madisonians are wonderful and these folks know how to do churrascaria honestly; my trip this time was a fabulous laid-back experience.
Samba Grill, for those of you who do not know much about it, is a prix fixe churrascaria, which is essentially an all-you-can-eat meat fest. Although they do offer a salad bar only vegetarian option, my opinion is that it is not worth the price. Admittedly eating piece after piece of everything from fillet mignon to chorizo is not exactly healthy, but a trip once in awhile shouldn't hurt too much.
The interior of Samba is dim, elegant, and busy - even on a Sunday - which is very promising for the buisness. The restaurant is hard to spot when you are walking on State because of the large building - a church, I think? - on Gilman that blocks its way. However, once you arrive there, the interior is surprisingly chic and modern. Samba shares the building with its sister restaurant the Cabana Room (downstairs), which features normal dining. The emphasis of the design inside the restaurant is big and bountiful. The inside is spacious and has an upper balcony for more diners. There is also a stage with musicians playing slow jazzy music (click for music schedule). The salad bar itself features a giant vase with a cournacopia of flowers erupting from it, a typical centerpiece for a churrascaria (left).The food at Samba is a beast of in itself, so make sure you are hungry before you dig in. It is interesting to have seen the churrascaria phenomenon embraced in the US. After all, big steaks is what a large part of American food is all about. Each Brazilian steakhouse is nearly identical in design: a flamboyant salad bar and gaucho-dressing males walking around the room carrying impressive skewers of meat. It makes me wonder whether this is purely an American phenomenon or whether something like this actually exists in Brazil. Once we were seated, we were given the directions: enjoy the salad bar and then once you're ready, flip over the hourglass-like wood block in the middle of the table to "green" to start the meat course. Our waitress turned out to be a really nice and cheerful woman who helped us try each of the nine varieties of meat in the house by even finding the correct gauchos and leading them to our table. She also gave us a useful fact about the restaurant: the meat doesn't really change but the salad bar is always different.
The salad bar turned out to be rather mediocre. We tried a little bit of everything (right) and most of the food did not seem like it would constitute a full portion of meal. The pasta salads were average and many of the plates at the bar were filled with more snack-like items - such as pickles - than food that could actually be filling. One dish that was surprisingly good was the seaweed and octopus salad. Other items, like the salami, were downright uninteresting and some that had been clearly submerged in vinaigrette for hours were veering on the unedible. It is this reason that I feel compelled to tell vegetarians: don't eat here; it's not worth the price.
After a light trip to the salad bar to tempt our palate, we started our long haul through the nine meat options. Luckily, the portions served by the gauchos were nice and small. After polling each
other, we both arrived at nearly the same order for the meat:
1) duck breast
2) top sirloin
3) flank steak
4) beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon
5) pork tenderloin, rack of lamb
7) leg of lamb, beef ribeye
9) chorizo sausage
By far, the duck breast surpassed all other meats served. The meat was tender and had a delicious marinate. Among the beef, the top sirloin won out and was a nice balance of tenderness and flavor. It was surprising that the fillet mignon was not as appealing as the rest. Although the meat was incredibly tender, the bacon did not seem to be a good complement. The lamb and pork dishes were average and unremarkable. Finally, the chorizo is not worth trying at all; it tasted like an average breakfast sausage. There were no chicken entrees but our waitress did mention that they are in the development of a new chicken dish.
Our trip to Samba felt like a well-guided tour of steakhouse cuts and preparations. Since the price is steep and there is unlimited meat to consume, Samba is not for the faint of heart. I would recommend it for meat and steak lovers in Madison who are able to pay extra to eat a little bit of everything.
The salad bar turned out to be rather mediocre. We tried a little bit of everything (right) and most of the food did not seem like it would constitute a full portion of meal. The pasta salads were average and many of the plates at the bar were filled with more snack-like items - such as pickles - than food that could actually be filling. One dish that was surprisingly good was the seaweed and octopus salad. Other items, like the salami, were downright uninteresting and some that had been clearly submerged in vinaigrette for hours were veering on the unedible. It is this reason that I feel compelled to tell vegetarians: don't eat here; it's not worth the price.
After a light trip to the salad bar to tempt our palate, we started our long haul through the nine meat options. Luckily, the portions served by the gauchos were nice and small. After polling each
other, we both arrived at nearly the same order for the meat:1) duck breast
2) top sirloin
3) flank steak
4) beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon
5) pork tenderloin, rack of lamb
7) leg of lamb, beef ribeye
9) chorizo sausage
By far, the duck breast surpassed all other meats served. The meat was tender and had a delicious marinate. Among the beef, the top sirloin won out and was a nice balance of tenderness and flavor. It was surprising that the fillet mignon was not as appealing as the rest. Although the meat was incredibly tender, the bacon did not seem to be a good complement. The lamb and pork dishes were average and unremarkable. Finally, the chorizo is not worth trying at all; it tasted like an average breakfast sausage. There were no chicken entrees but our waitress did mention that they are in the development of a new chicken dish.
Our trip to Samba felt like a well-guided tour of steakhouse cuts and preparations. Since the price is steep and there is unlimited meat to consume, Samba is not for the faint of heart. I would recommend it for meat and steak lovers in Madison who are able to pay extra to eat a little bit of everything.
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