http://www.martiniboys.com/Montreal/Chez-Brasil-review.html

Chez Brasil Café is a little piece of South America in the heart of Montreal – a quaint sandwich spot, where everything is made in house and with love, the place is a pleasant surprise. Sit Down and have one of the many Southern Hemisphere inspired artisanal sandwiches, or walk around and pick up some exotic groceries to spice up your (yawn) Canadian home. If what you really want to do is sit down and have a freshly baked pastry and a cup of coffee, and by coffee I don’t mean that Juan Valdez stuff, I mean freshly roasted, handpicked, smoky, dark Brazilian coffee, then Chez Brasil is the place to do it.

Critique de La Presse

Publié le 16 avril 2009 à 09h10 | Mis à jour le 16 avril 2009 à 13h31

Brasil Café: spleen brésilien

Agrandir

Cecilia, l’une des sympathiques propriétaires du Brasil café, propose une carte faite de petites choses modestes, comme un robinet ouvert de l’exubérance tropicale assez loin des sentiers battus de la latinité.

Photo: Patrick Sanfaçon, La Presse

Robert Beauchemin, collaboration spéciale La Presse

Parfois, il suffit d’un petit rien pour vous mettre d’humeur bienveillante, malgré le temps, malgré les épreuves. De la nourriture simple par exemple, mais faite de produits frais, souvent exotique si vous aimez, et tout ça servi avec un sourire ravageur, un peu de bossa-nova en fond sonore et un décor qui appelle au voyage (dans le Sud, c’est sûr).

Ce café truculent, dont les murs aux couleurs jaune et rouge sont couverts de peintures, de photos ou d’affiches, propose une carte faite de petites choses modestes, comme un robinet ouvert de l’exubérance tropicale assez loin des sentiers battus de la latinité. Dans le genre rococo lascif, c’est assez réussi. Souvenez-vous de cette adresse dont l’ambiance et la nourriture rendent pourtant légèrement contemplatif, que vous soyez allé ou non au Brésil. Ça doit être ça la saudade que chantait Jobim. Un mélange triste et confortable, comme une mélancolie à la fois douce et amère. Car en dépit de l’allégresse du cadre, le Brasil Café a quelque chose de nostalgique. Le passé? Le Sud? L’amour perdu? Vieillir peut-être? En tout cas, on ne reste pas indifférent.

Alors qu’est-ce qu’on mange ici? Des empanadas, et des pastels farcis de fromage, de crevettes, de poulet, une sorte de sandwiche de là-bas dont la pâte frite reste affriolante malgré une certaine lourdeur. Et qu’on avale sur le pouce, littéralement toute la journée, en l’accompagnant de jus de fruits exotiques comme l’açai amazonien dont on dit qu’il serait le fruit le plus riche en antioxydants de la planète. Ça a d’ailleurs un goût entre le cassis et la réglisse, c’est épais et presque crémeux. Effet placebo? En tout cas, ça soulage le chagrin, tiens! ce truc.

Sinon, on peut aussi choisir le plat du jour. Ainsi, le week-end, on propose la feijoada, une sorte de cassoulet tropical et le plat national brésilien, qui me semble plus adapté au printemps québécois qu’à la chaleur équatoriale étouffante. Rempli de protéines, saucisses, viande rouge, et de haricots noirs cuits à l’étouffée et saupoudrée de farine de manioc, c’est une préparation étonnamment roborative (et d’une provocante lourdeur). Puis, on trouve aussi des petites douceurs, crémeuses, et de l’excellent café dont on nous garantit l’appellation pur Brésil. Du reste, ça ne doit pas être trop difficile, le pays est l’un des deux ou trois principaux producteurs mondiaux. Juste pour ça, on aime.

BRASIL CAFÉ

8, rue Rachel Est

Montréal

514-845-7070

On y retourne? De temps à autre.

(+) Le petit coin épicerie où l’on peut trouver des produits – rares – de l’Amazonie.

The Gazette Review

Casual Dining: Stew-y, gooey goodness

Our critic visits Chez Brasil Café, 8 Rachel St. E. (near St. Laurent Blvd.)

By Maeve Haldane, Gazette Casual-Dining CriticFebruary 20, 2009

The feijoada consists of stewed black beans, chorizo, pork and beef, collard greens with orange slices, and rice.

Photograph by: Allen McInnis, The Gazette

Chez Brasil Café

Good bet

$ – $$

8 Rachel St. E. (near St. Laurent Blvd.)

Phone: 514-845-7070

Website: www.chezbrasilcafe.com

Hours: Tuesday to Friday

9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Licensed: No

Credit cards: Major, Interac

Wheelchair access:

One step

Vegetarian friendly: Yes

Price range: Snacks $2 to $4, meals $6.50 to $14.50

I popped into Chez Brasil Café on a whim, in desperate need of a snack after a vigorous bout of yoga. I fell in instant like with the homey spot, and it wasn’t just because I was starving that the empanada seemed among the best I’d had, with a thin crust and plenty of nicely spiced chicken. I was further charmed by chewy pao de queijo, which are doughy cheese balls that would make any girl from Ipanema quiver. I decided to return for a full meal, particularly the feijoada, a hearty Brazilian bean dish (derived from a Portuguese version) served only on weekends.

The café seems like a hang-out for ex-pats, with business cards by the door for capoiera, Brazilian dance and beauty services. You can leaf through magazines like Boa Forma, the Brazilian edition of Elle or pick up the latest copy of Quebec Soccer as you settle into one of the comfy blue armchairs by the window and bask in the soft light reflected off the yellow and orange walls. There are pictures of fruity dishes and black-and-white photos of Brazilian personalities, but my favourites were the framed squares of tropically patterned fabric.

Bowls of Brazilian bonbons on the counter attract the homesick and curious with tubes of condensed milk, coffee candies and crumbly peanut sweets named paçoca. Energy fiends will want the chocolate bars with guarana. Wander to the back to peruse the shelves of pao de queijo mix, manioc flour, coconut spreads and biscuits. As for nibblies, choose from snacks, sandwiches or meals washed down with coffee or smoothies.

Don’t pass on the pao de queijo: golf-ball size with a taste not unlike cheese puffs, with a crusty and chewy tooth. Made with manioc flour, they’re gluten-free. On one day, the cheese balls were a bit drier, on yet another a bit airier, subject to micro-variations in oven time, I suppose. They hail from Les Délices Laurentiens in frozen form, and you can buy 15 for $5.90 to bake at home.

On to Saturday’s feijoada. First, our waitress arrived with rice specked with green onion alongside fried collard greens and slices of orange. Then came the protein hit we’d been waiting for: steaming bowls of black beans stewed with chorizo, pork and beef.

The meats looked as though they’d been roasted before being added to the mix, and imparted their flavour to the beans. There was lots of liquid to ladle onto the rice, and hot sauce served on the side. But the most fun accessory of all? You get to sprinkle on farofa – toasted manioc flour with salt and chopped boiled egg. It lends a lovely nutty flavour to the dish, plus adds texture.

On a mid-week visit, I tried the veggie option from among dishes of steak, chicken or shrimp. Chez Brasil’s cooks devised a cheesy manioc pudding-type dish with slices of tinned palm heart, dosed with yolky-coloured palm oil. It uses requeijão, a creamy Brazilian cheese. It may be vegetarian, but it ain’t light. Tangy, gooey, a little salty, spooned over rice and paired with the astringent collard greens, it kept me going all afternoon. A frosty smoothie of the açai berry – this decade’s “it” fruit – brought energy to my step.

Though Chez Brasil is just a small café, it serves up a large dollop of warmth and tough-to-find fare.

Our restaurant guide

The Gazette’s reviewers visit restaurants anonymously. They pay in full for all food, wine and services. Any interviews of the restaurants’ management and staff are done only after meals and services have been appraised. Reviewers do not accept invitations to evaluate restaurants. Ratings reflect reviewer’s assessment of food, ambience, service and prices.

Ratings:

Chancy, fair bet, good bet, great bet

$ mains under $10

$ $ $10 – $20

$ $ $ $20 – $35

$ $ $ $ $35+