Back in the 1800’s, there is a special type of cooking, called churrasco (shoo-rhas’co) which was inspired by the European immigrants in Brazil. They would get together, start a fire burning and large portions of prime meat skewered together are slowly cooked to perfection. They wore conventional knives on their belts, sliced thin and succulent pieces of meat onto each person’s plate and make merry together.

This tradition gave birth to Brazilian Churrasco (barbeque).

Carnivore, located in Chijmes and Vivocity, prides itself with this concept and would be an ideal setting for birthday celebrations or functions at their alfresco or just a casual, laidback and slow date at the indoor area. It is also recently received the Singapore Service Star Award 2009, so for those who are particular about service, this would be a relief to you.

This is an eat-all-you-want with just one price feast and for a start, I was pretty amazed by the wide buffet selection of over 15 hot and cold salads and appetizers. The spread was very colorful and interesting that I filled my plate with all the fresh greens, red cherry tomatoes with mozzarella and tried on the different types of pasta. My personal favourites were the broccoli and asparagus simply because they were simple, fresh and mildly boiled, giving me a healthy-feeling! The sautéed mushrooms and roasted eggplants were interesting too without getting too dried. Then, there was the mushroom soup and being a mushroom soup lover, I found the texture could need some further improvement on. Please note to go easy and take only an introductory nibbles as you must save your appetite for the main course.

Carnivore adopts a green coupon red coupon system. Green to keep the meats coming onto your plate and the red is to scream stop, I’ve had enough. The cheerful knife-welding passadors (meat waiters) came to our table once we signaled our readiness to start on the meaty feast.

We started off with chicken thighs, couple of sausages and hams and before we knew it, the passadors kept coming one after another asking if we would like a slice of whatever meat they are holding. Honey ham and bacon with chicken breast were succulent and tasty. I was, however, not daring enough to try the chicken heart skew.

There were different parts of beef and lamb served and I loved the tenderloin and steaks the most. Do not expect the beef to be bloody as they were all pretty well-done though some people may find them chewy or dry.

Grilled pineapples can be requested in between the meaty meal as it is nice to have something that helps to neutralize the meaty feeling. Homemade capsicum vinaigrette was also served for the purpose of neutralizing the saltiness and dryness of meat. Pretty thoughtful of Carnivore to anticipate and provide this for the diners.

The passadors really made sure your plate never stayed empty as they gleefully come to serve you more of what they have till you really flip on the red coupon.

Overall, it was a pleasant Brazilian Churrasco experience for me as this is my first try at Brazilian food. I must say, I find it to be very varied and interesting cuisine, full of intense and contrasting flavors.