BEST RESTAURANTS BUZIOS

"Searching for the best restaurants in Brazil? Jonathan and his family share some of their Buzios restaurant reviews and unique dining experiences..."

A lot of Brazilians who come to the Insolito leave Rio after work and arrive at 9.00 pm - so it’s only at breakfast the next morning that you get a real sense of who is staying with you. There are lovely tables near the pool that fill up with plenty of couples, and the great breakfast menu you would expect from a luxury boutique hotel.

A small note… Sheira has a strict dairy and gluten intolerance, which is a very handy litmus test for hospitality that goes that extra mile. We had told the hotel the night before that we needed gluten-free bread and soymilk - to no avail. They didn’t have any for breakfast, which makes things difficult (I feel too guilty to feast in front of my hungry wife, who already works around my jogging schedule and often has to eat alone!) In fairness, they did hop in the car and get it within 30 minutes but I felt this should have been taken care of. As it happens, Sheira was starving the morning after our transit day from hell.

Once you have experienced the next level of upmarket tweaking, when a luxury hotel requests your specific requirements in advance to ensure that you will be accommodated from the get-go (such as North Island in the Seychelles, or The Six Senses Hideaway hotels in Koh Samui), it just permanently raises the bar. We’re getting pickier, but our philosophy remains, “let’s smile.”

If, like us, you are drawn to mixing with the locals for your best dinner experiences then head to the small cluster of main streets in Buzios - which is the size of a small resort town, like Noosa in Australia. Our favourites were on Rua das Pedras, near the pier on gorgeous Orso Bardot beachfront…

This chic, French restaurant was recommended by a bubbly blonde lady from Uruguay, Vicky whom we met while shopping next door. With that Latin hospitality she personally popped in ahead to book for us and wrote a note for the chef, Sonia Persiani, asking her to look after her new Australian friends.

We loved the feel. Arty black and white photographs of Brigitte Bardot, looking lush and in her prime during her mythic, 60s sojourn in Buzios, really cast a spell. In fact, the restaurant is in the very house where she lived. The town has a great affection for her because her glamour and stardust changed it forever and put the village on the map.

The waiter was excellent and bought Sonia out to the table. Time for Sheira to whip out her “Hello, I am dairy and gluten intolerant can you help me” card like a Charles Dickens orphan asking for more gruel! But these are really informed, sophisticated people who get it: make your customers feel welcome. Sonia totally worked around it in the kitchen and even made Sheira her own little shot glass of goat’s cheese and quince paste.

The innovative cuisine really riffs on the savoury and sweet. Brazilian Baroa potatoes flavoured with vanilla, chicken breast spiced up with ginger and sweetened by melon and honey, the earthiness of beet as a foil to pungent cheese, shrimp and coffee. It’s the kind of food that is so fragrant and sensory that you close your eyes to take it in.

The best restaurants in Buzios offer an amazingly wide range of international cuisine for such a tiny town, from Japanese and Thai to Moroccan and omnipresent Italian. The prices are fairly expensive - but only in accordance with the range, character setting and the city slicker clientele who pass through.

Join Jonathan Said and his family on their luxury travel journeys as they share their best restaurants experiences and luxury hotels and resorts holidays around the world. The comprehensive travel tips and ideas include some of the most popular things to see and do at each destination including a local shopping guide, photos, video, music and much more.