Carioca Brixton Brunch – Review

To be brutally honest I have never understood the fascination or allure with brunches. To hang out in places that if they are any good are of course packed to the gills, with everyone suffering different degrees of a hangover, and food that no matter how many acclaimed ratings, I usually feel I can always make a better version of. So it takes a really great place to pull me out of bed to join the throngs of others in the pursuit of a great brunch.

One such place has managed to do this, Carioca – you’ve found a fan. Firstly, the location I love being a big fan of Brixton Village and Market Row that yes whilst this place gets damn busy, if you time it for around 11ish ( on a Sunday ) you will find it pretty easy to get a spot.

Whilst unusually I wasn’t suffering from a hangover I of course did have a Bloody Mary which they make using fresh tomatoes. My only addition I would add here would be more of a kick of fresh horseradish but that is purely down to my own taste. Where Carioca stands out well amongst the crowd is in their offering of Brasilian  brunches with a twist – such as the Favela Da Rossa a vegetarian twist on the eggs benedict with fried plantain slices sandwiched between mozzarella, topped with poached eggs, tomato and hollandaise sauce. Or the Ipanema – top knotch quality chorizo slices, with a poached egg, a little kick of chilli, creamy avocado all stacked on what they refer to as a maize muffin. Similar to a flatbread and is made from corn sometimes also known as an arepa so is perfect for those on a gluten free diet. This dish is then finished off with a salsa verde. For this dish I can’t fault one single thing. The cherry on the top here is that it will only set you back £6.95.

If you have any room left then their homemade cakes are brilliant. They change daily as they are baked fresh and on the menu today was Carrot cake, Vanilla Cheesecake and a Salted Butterscotch cake. I am not a great cake eater but Carioca has made a winner with the Salted Butterscotch cake – perfect with an espresso.

As a coffee addict and hailing from NZ my standards for a great coffee are pretty high. The coffee used here is from Caravan and is smooth with a good kick. I started with an espresso which was good and followed this up with a flat white. My only critique here is that whilst the quality of the coffee is good, the other half to a great flat white is in the preparation of the milk – which needs to be silky smooth and velvety. Fine tune this aspect and you’ve got a complete all round winner.

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