Frevo – A Brazilian Churrascaria in Dubai

One of the best things about living in Dubai is that you meet new friends from all over the world, and those new friends will be more than happy to tell you about the best spots in the city to try their national cuisine.

Last year, one of Poul’s Mexican colleagues recommended us to try out the Mexican restaurant Maria Bonita, which is now one of our favorites, and yesterday we visited Frevo at Fairmont The Palm after Poul had heard a Brazilian colleague talk very warmly about this place. Frevo is a Brazilian churrascaria, and the concept is basically “eat as much as you like” from 18 different kinds of meat on skewers straight from the grill.

This time of the year you want to spend as much time as possible outside, and I had therefore asked for outdoor seating. Our table was ok, but the lamp on the wall wasn’t working, so we had our dinner in almost complete darkness. Luckily, my camera is a light-sucking little wonder, and I managed to get a few usable shots.

After a short introduction to the menu by a friendly young man who told us, he would be our waiter for the night, we went inside for the salad bar. In addition to different kinds of salads, there was also a decent selection of cheese and lots of delicious toppings. It looked appetizingly fresh and crispy, and a lot nicer, than what is usually on offer at similar establishments.

Back at our table we were then served a soup as a starter. It was good but so hearty, it was almost a main course itself. And soup wasn’t the reason why we came, so we just had a small sip of it before we asked the waiter to bring in the meat. This kicked off a never-ending stream of beef, lamb and chicken, brought to our table, for us to pick and choose. It only took a short while before we learned how to spot the really good pieces. I like my beef rare, so after having a few disappointing servings of the outermost very well-done cuts of the roasts, I found out that it was much better for me to wait for the inner, rare and juicy meat to appear.

Such an abundance of choice! Some of it a bit dry and boring (yes wagyu and flank roast, that’s you I’m talking about), and some of it, absolutely amazing (garlic beef, lamb chops and strip loin, you rule!) but all of it served by enthusiastic staff eager to make us try what was on their particular skewer. Halfway through the meal, a small scoop of pineapple sorbet provided the perfect amuse-bouche to clean our taste buds. Nice little detail, which was greatly appreciated.

At the end of the meal, one of the waiters came by and asked us, what our favorite meat so far was, and all of us agreed, it was the garlic beef. “I’ll bring you some more of that,” he said, and even though I felt like an 8-months pregnant woman, what could I do? I’m a meat-lover, and meat-lovers eat meat, even when they’re so full, they feel like they’re cracking up.

I didn’t remember reading anything about dessert included in the meal, but nonetheless, to round off the meal, we were offered a slice of sweet, grilled pineapple followed by two big plates of assorted Brazilian sweets and desserts. My heart sank because I knew there was no way we would be able to finish it, as we had already gone all in on the meat, but I made a brave attempt and managed to finish half of it.

We had an excellent evening and there’s no doubt Frevo is a place that I would like to visit again someday. In the meantime, I’ll work on my strategy as to how to best approach this overwhelming meat feast. Now I know what I like, so next time, I’ll save my appetite for my favorites and skip the so-so items. Another piece of advice? Skip lunch that day…and breakfast!

My blog about food and restaurants in Dubai

Frevo, Fairmont The Palm, Dubai