Rio's Brazil Churrascaria

16 Bridge Street, Swindon, SN1 1BU

www.riosbrazil.co.uk

Parking: town centre car parks

Disabled access: yes

Adver ratings

Food: 10/10

Choice: 10/10

Décor: 9/10

Customer service: 10/10

Main course prices: £18.90, Tuesday to Thursday and £21. 50 Friday and Saturday. £18.90 Sunday.

TripAdvisor rating: 4.5

AFTER discovering there was sangria on the menu at Rio’s Brazil Churrascaria I was reluctant to be the one to have to write this review, because I knew the temptation to sink several flagons of the sweet Spanish punch would likely see me only remember the evening in a fond light. Or worse – remember nothing at all.

But my clever plan to rig our game of rock, paper, scissors turned out to be not such a bright idea, when my regular dining companions – the Adver’s very own Jay Rayner, Chris Humphreys, and Our Lad from The North Tom Haworth - overruled my attempt at ‘bomb’ (which destroys rock, paper and even scissors) and instead decreed I had forfeited the game.

Reviewer’s notepad at the ready then.

We were initially a little wary about the restaurant’s location on Bridge Street - could there really be a diamond in the rough down at this end of town that we were not aware of? We hoped so.

Stepping into the restaurant was like entering a different world – a far-off, distant land, with sandy shores and exotic cocktail menus, where the smell of roasting meat was strong in the air.

Still giddy from this summer’s Olympic exploits in Rio we soon forgot it was actually a dark October night in Swindon as we settled down to peruse the menu, and I afforded myself a single glass of sangria. And what a glass it was – packed with fresh fruit, it went down far too easily. I will definitely be making a return visit when more than one glass shall be ordered, and I likely won’t be able to remember whether I am actually in Brazil or not, let alone whether I enjoyed my meal.

We were then given a crash course in how the restaurant works by the incredibly helpful waiting staff. While there is a wide variety of cocktails on the menu along with an extensive wine list (save yourself the time of reading through it and opt for the sangria) the main event itself comes in the form of an all-you-can-eat buffet, served directly to your table (full Rodizio £18.90, Tuesday to Thursday or £21.50 on Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a bottomless pit for an under five-year-old, then this is well worth a visit, as they eat free.)

The process is simple: first off, set your course for the well-stocked salad bar, offering everything from potato salads, olives and crisp greens to rich beetroot, coleslaws and freshly baked miniature bread rolls. Having recently returned from holiday on the south coast with a bag of Dorset Knob biscuits for the office to try, Our Lad was initially quite cautious of the bread rolls, fearing his teeth may be in danger once again. With hindsight, I maybe should have gone for the fudge instead.

Happily though, these rolls were nothing like the molar-munching triple baked biscuits with the innuendo-laden name, but soft, warm and strangely moreish. Just as well you're allowed multiple return trips!

It was then on to the main course, which we had been watching with wide-eyed awe at the tables around us as we made our way through our mountains of salad.

After giving the barbecue chefs the green light by turning our wooden sign upside-down from red to green, they soon swarmed around us with different cuts of meat, still succulent on the spit, from which they sliced directly on to our plates – with the help of our very own razor-edged tongs. Before we knew it our plates were piled even higher than they had been during the salad course. But not wanting to miss out on anything we kept our wooden sign on green. The chefs here really lived up to the mantra of all you can eat.

There were the usual sniggers from a certain corner of the table at the offering of all-you-can-eat-meat, though it turned out that Our Lad actually had his fill long before even Mr Humphreys or I were ready to throw in the towel and turn the wooden sign back to red.

Among some of the mouth-watering cuts on offer were various different cuts of steak, beef ribs, chilli chicken, Brazilian pork sausages, gammon, pork loin with parmesan cheese and leg of lamb.

I was keen to give the garlic steak another going-over, just to ensure it was as succulent as I remembered. This resulted in me sat poised with my hand on the sign ready to flick it to green the moment I saw something that looked vaguely beefy with an aroma of garlic. I may also have accepted a second course of gammon while I waited. There was no excuse for mistaking it for the garlic steak, I just remembered how good it was and thought it deserved a second taste.

If there’s one thing we would recommend, it is to pace yourselves, and don’t feel ashamed to turn the stand back to red to give yourself time to enjoy one cut before moving on to another. You’re not competing against anyone, and the kitchen certainly doesn’t close early. The chefs’ hospitality seems to know no ends, and they enthusiastically ensure that if you’re on green, you’re kept well-fed – which we most certainly were.

Our error was solely down to being greedy rookies who didn’t know which way to look first, and so rather than take a strategic approach and enjoying our meal in a leisurely manner we were more like Augustus Gloop running amok in the chocolate factory.

But it was certainly worth it – and thankfully we were able to leave the restaurant under our own steam — just about!

We did take a look at the desserts, arguing with ourselves that we should try one of the tropical-laden delights described on the menu, which was almost as colourful as the cocktail menu. But we just didn’t have it in us.

Instead, we opted for liqueur coffees to round the evening off, which were divine. Although perhaps coffee at that time of night wasn’t the best idea, as we all found ourselves still wide awake at 3am chatting about how marvellous the evening had been.